White House: "As Mr. Romanoff has stated, there was no offer of a job"

[jefferson_dem]

Gibbs denies offering job to Colo. candidate

WASHINGTON – The White House on Tuesday denied accusations of back-room dealmaking after a Colorado Democrat said he had been encouraged by one of President Barack Obama's top advisers to apply for an international development job instead of challenging the candidate whom the president favored in a Senate race.

"There was no offer of a job," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement issued Tuesday morning.

But the claim by former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff 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 Sen. Michael 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 Tuesday, 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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100603/ap_on_el_se/us_colorado_senate

[polichick]

1. No offer, but three descriptions - I'd like to see the email...

Seems like strong implication - not change we can believe in, but hardly unusual.

[jefferson_dem]

3. Not sure about any implication.

Romanoff appled for a job. He followed up on the application prior to Messina's return call. That should be standard practice for any administration/organization. In this case, there's absolutely no there there.

[polichick]

6. What's this, if not a strong implication...

"chief of staff Jim Messina described three federal international development jobs that might be available to him if he were not challenging Sen. Michael Bennet for the Democratic nomination."

[jefferson_dem]

7. Romanoff applied for such positions.

Obviously, if he was competing for the Senate, he would not be able to fill them.

The only "implication" is that Romanoff decided to pursue political office instead of a position in international deveopment.

[polichick]

8. LOL - okay. :)

[jefferson_dem]

9. ...

Have a good day, polichick. :hi:

[polichick]

11. You too! Think I'll grab my rose colored glasses on the way out the door. nt

[VMI Dem]

2. Nothing illegal and thats all that matters.

[zipplewrath]

12. That's change?

It's not exactly the kind of Washington he claimed to want to create. It's fairly undemocratic as well. And is the worst of the Rahm version of politics. Yeah, it "matters", even if it isn't "illegal". Next we'll be hearing that there is "no controlling legal authority".

[Marsala]

13. Oh who cares

It's minor political dealmaking. I wonder what the White House said to all those potential challengers to Gillibrand who all dropped out oh so conveniently.

[zipplewrath]

15. Independents

Obama's standing with independents depends to some degree upon perception. This kind of news undermines the perception that the White House tries to create. True republicans aren't gonna support him no matter what. Many dems aren't gonna have any other choice. It's the independents that can and will "care".

[Marsala]

16. They don't care

This is a tiny inside-baseball issue. True independents are very politically... unaware. The vast majority will never even hear about this "issue".

[zipplewrath]

17. Oh yeah they will

It's what smears are all about. Smears affect the middle. The truly faithful aren't affected and the already convinced aren't either. The entire purpose of image management is for the "undecideds", ESPECIALLY the less "aware".

[jefferson_dem]

19. I think you're right about the indies...

That's why it's incumbent upon all rational political junkies to call out the bullshit "smear" stories for what they are. Don't perpetuate them. The indies need to be informed enough to know that the right wing (and a few supposed liberals) routinely spread phony outrages for political gain. That's our job.

[fugop]

20. Nah

I don't think the job offer stuff is sexy enough for independents. They want the really juicy scandals. Booze, women, money changing hands, missing girls, etc.

A turned-down job offer is too boring for the "politics, whatever" crowd. My opinion, of course.

[zipplewrath]

22. Drip drip

The political theory is that you move the disinterested middle by a barrage of stories over time that ultimately create an negative image. Yeah, a big scandal can help move that, but the little outrages create the context for the big scandal.

[muffin1]

21. I could be wrong,

but I've read many of VMI Dem's posts, and I think he's being sarcastic.

[MannyGoldstein]

4. So The White House Calls Just To Follow Up On A USAID Application

The Deputy Chief of Staff was just curious, that's all. Or, maybe he has a second job in HR at USAID - it's tough to make it on a single job these days.

Why would anyone understand this any differently?

[jefferson_dem]

5. So the scandal is that someone in the Executive should have followed-up with Romanoff...

but it shouldn't have been Mesinna.

Good luck with that thin gruel.

Seriously, it's shit like this that makes Obama-critics look silly.

[MannyGoldstein]

10. Well, We Can Certainly Agree That One Of Us Looks Silly nt

[fugop]

14. Ah, just like the good ol' days

Damn that Obama. He just won't give them any good scandals to hang their hats on, so they're stuck with this kind of weak sauce! Bet the GOP is missing Linda Tripp right about now. Maybe they can dig her up and let her interview all of the people Obama's administration talked to about jobs. Release the hounds!

But seriously. The job offer "scandals" just crack me up. I sure miss the good ol' days of burglars and blowjobs.

[freddie mertz]

18. I'm just amazed that the White House has been so clumsy and stupid about all this.

It is not only bad politics, but goes against the whole Obama brand of "change."

Someone better be learning from this over there.