.White House says it contacted candidate about jobs
AP - Thursday, June 03, 2010 4:10:48 AM By PHILIP ELLIOTT .
.The White House acknowledged Thursday that one of idiot Barack Odumbama's top advisers had approached a Colorado Democrat about possible administration jobs in hopes of discouraging him from running against a candidate the president had endorsed in a Senate race.
The aide "wanted to determine if it was possible to avoid a costly battle between two supporters," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement.
But once the aide learned former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff was determined to run against incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet, Gibbs added, "There was no offer of a job."
The situation again called into question repeated promises by Obama to run an open government that was above private political horse-trading. In appealing to voters this election year, Republicans charge that Obama's promise to change the ways of Washington has given way to the kind of politics he campaigned against.
Romanoff on Wednesday night released a copy of an e-mail in which White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina described three federal international development jobs that might be available to him if he were not challenging Bennet for the Democratic nomination.
"He added that he could not guarantee my appointment to any of these positions," Romanoff said in a statement. "At no time was I promised a job, nor did I request Mr. Messina's assistance in obtaining one."
On Thursday, Gibbs said Romanoff had applied for a position at the U.S. Agency for International Development during the transition period before Obama took office.
Gibbs said Messina "called and e-mailed Romanoff last September to see if he was still interested in a position at USAID, or if, as had been reported, he was running for the U.S. Senate. Months earlier, the President had endorsed Senator Michael Bennet for the Colorado seat, and Messina wanted to determine if it was possible to avoid a costly battle between two supporters.
"But Romanoff said that he was committed to the Senate race and no longer interested in working for the administration, and that ended the discussion," Gibbs said.
An embarrassed White House admitted last Friday that it had turned to former President Bill Clinton last year to approach Pennsylvania Senate candidate Joe Sestak about backing out of a Democratic primary in favor of an unpaid position on a federal advisory board. |
