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  Clear the air on Romanoff deal
NEWS DETAILS
Parent(s) Race 
ContributorScott³ 
Last EditedThe Sunset Provision  Jun 02, 2010 03:44pm
Logged 1 [Older]
CategoryOpinion
AuthorDenver Post
MediaNewspaper - Denver Post
News DateWednesday, June 2, 2010 09:40:00 PM UTC0:0
Description"President Obama's White House apparently isn't that committed to dispensing with the business-as-usual kind of politics he campaigned against.

Senate primary races in Pennsylvania and Colorado instead have revealed an Obama political machine that engages in favoritism and behind-the-scenes wrangling and deal-making that seem decidedly old-school. The two contests, in which someone from the administration allegedly offered a candidate some type of job to drop out of their race, have raised key questions that remain to be answered, especially in Colorado's Senate race.

The White House — and Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff — should speak up.

In Pennsylvania, the administration has admitted it enlisted no less a power player than Bill Clinton to ask Rep. Joe Sestak to stop his bid against Obama ally Sen. Arlen Specter. Clinton suggested Sestak remain in the House and accept an influential, but non-paying, role on an advisory panel. (Sestak has since ousted Specter.)

The Denver Post last September quoted unnamed sources that said Obama's deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina, contacted former state House Speaker Romanoff, who hadn't yet announced his candidacy, with specific suggestions for Washington jobs in exchange for his staying out of the race against appointed Sen. Michael Bennet.

The White House denied any such offer, but sources told The Post's Michael Riley: "Romanoff turned down the overture, which included mention of a job at USAID, the foreign aid agency."

Obama endorsed Bennet the day after Romanoff formally announced he was in the race."
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