From Howard Kurtz' Washington Post column:
If critics have their way, when you hear the name Barack Obama, you'll start hearing the name Tony Rezko.
I mention this because my blog-reading, and sense of political dynamics, tells me that the senator's relationship with an indicted fundraiser is about to break out of the Chicago media and go national.
This may not be a big deal in the larger scheme of things. It's not clear that Obama did anything wrong. But it's a taste of what lies ahead if the Illinois lawmaker indeed decides to jump into the presidential sweepstakes.
If Monday was a day for media swooning over Obama's New Hampshire foray--and that was before he did his little Bear cap-wearing shtick at the start of "Monday Night Football"--yesterday featured the conservative counterattack. Not so fast, these critics on the right are saying. Who is this guy? What does he stand for? Isn't he a garden-variety liberal? This is the sort of debate that usually takes place in the run-up to the first primaries, but with everything on a speeded-up timetable, it's already under way.
Kurtz goes on to explain the Obama-Rezko real estate deal. Obama's ties to Rezko--he donated money to his state senate campaign--go back years. What made the last year's real estate deal unusual is that Obama had to have known that Tony Rezko was under federal investigation for his role in various "pay to play" schemes on behalf of Democratic Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Related posts: Daily Herald's Eric Krol writes a script for a 2008 attack ad on Obama
More on Obama and Rezko: UPDATED
Cong. Gutierrez got special real estate deal from Tony Rezko
Obama: Dealings with Rezko "a mistake"
Obama on Rezko real estate deal details: "I don't recall"
Technorati tags: Obama National politics Politics Barack Obama Illinois News Tony Rezko Democrats real estate
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