President Obama has distanced himself from scandal-tainted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But as an Illinois state senator, Obama went to bat for more than a dozen people to get state jobs or promotions in Blagojevich's administration, according to records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.There's no suggestion the president did anything illegal.
Indeed, in seeking hiring favors from the governor, Obama was doing what many other Democrats were doing at the time, the records show.
Obama made his pitch for 16 people, according to the records. Five got hired.
The highest-paid? Two $75,000 administrators -- Laura Hunter, hired by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and Michelle D. Jackson, by the Department of Children and Family Services. The others on Obama's list who got jobs: Mal Williams, a business manager for the Department of Human Services; Shneare Mitchell, an administrative assistant in the commerce agency, and Brian Wojcicki, a student worker with Central Management Services.
In a March 2008 Sun-Times interview, Obama said Blagojevich's staff approached him seeking job recommendations.
"I think we submitted just a list of people that were mostly, you know, some of them were people who'd sent us resumes in the past or other people we thought ... might be interested," Obama said. "But they weren't people who were connected to our political organization in any meaningful way. Or they weren't people I knew particularly well."
Among those Obama recommended was a former campaign consultant, Cynthia Kay Miller. She didn't get hired, though.
Another candidate the records show Obama recommended for a post as a state agency lawyer didn't make a good impression. "Failed to show up, cancel or confirm for ... interview," Blagojevich aides wrote. "Will no longer consider due to a lack of respect/professionalism."
Two of the highest-profile figures in the Obama administration also were identified as job sponsors by Blagojevich aides -- White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
| Clearly I'm missing something -- it looks like business as usual, to me. |