Johnson Steps Down From Obama VP Team, Marking First General Election Casualty

[Dos Equis]

Obama’s VP Selection Team Member Steps Aside Amid Controversy
by FOXNews.com
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
 

Jim Johnson, right, emerges with former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, left, Monday in Washington, D.C., after meeting with top Democrats on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo)

The adviser Barack Obama tapped to lead his search for a running mate has stepped down amid criticism from Republicans about the Washington insider’s lucrative past with financial corporations and lenders.

Jim Johnson, a former Fannie Mae CEO who also helped vet running mates for Walter Mondale in 1984 and John Kerry in 2004, was under fire following reports that he received favorable loan terms from a mortgage lender Obama has sharply criticized on the campaign trail.

The Obama campaign announced Johnson was stepping down Wednesday, after three straight days of criticism.

“Jim did not want to distract in any way from the very important task of gathering information about my vice presidential nominee, so he has made a decision to step aside that I accept,” Obama said in a statement.

“We have a very good selection process underway, and I am confident that it will produce a number of highly qualified candidates for me to choose from in the weeks ahead. I remain grateful to Jim for his service and his efforts in this process,” Obama said.

Republicans immediately said the move from the Obama camp rang hollow.

“Jim Johnson’s resignation raises serious questions about Barack Obama’s judgment,” John McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement, adding “the American people have reason to question the judgment of a candidate who has shown he will only make the right call when under pressure from the news media. America can’t afford a president who flip-flops on key questions in the course of 24 hours.”

The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that Johnson received favorable loan terms from lender Countrywide Financial Corp., a firm Obama has criticized for contributing to the home mortgage crisis. That report opened the door for several others, including by The Washington Post and The New York Times, which revisited Johnson’s history with Fannie Mae before the company drew the scrutiny of regulators and his role on several boards granting hefty payouts to CEOs.

The announcement from Obama Wednesday came after Democrats lined up to defend Johnson.

Kerry, speaking on a conference call Wednesday, praised Johnson for the work he did for him four years ago, and said the criticism is just “one of those … Washington grab stories.”

“Jim Johnson is a very experienced, very discreet, very capable individual who is performing a voluntary function without pay … he’s not seeking a job,” Kerry said.

“Jim Johnson is a capable guy. He has been vetting VPs for a while” Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told MSNBC Wednesday. He said Johnson is just doing a volunteer job and “this is nothing to do with special interests and influence in the campaign, unlike John McCain.”

After McCain called the Johnson connection Monday a “contradiction” for Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee told reporters he can’t be expected to track down the mortgage history of his search committee members. The committee also includes former first daughter Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general.

“I would have to hire the vetter to vet the vetters,” Obama said in St. Louis, Mo., Tuesday, adding that Johnson was not technically working for him.

Obama strategist David Axelrod repeated that argument in an interview Wednesday morning.

“We honestly didn’t ask him for his mortgage statements of his financials and I don’t think anyone would expect us to,” he told MSNBC. “We can’t vet all the vetters.”

But he stressed that Johnson is playing a part in “perhaps the most important” decision of the campaign.

McCain’s campaign went after Obama Tuesday for being “in a state of denial” about Johnson’s role in the campaign and his past taking “sweetheart deals” from Countrywide.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/06/11/obamas-vp-selection-team-member-steps-aside-amid-controversy/

[24KT]

Obama’s VP Selection Team Member Steps Aside Amid Controversy
by FOXNews.com
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
 
...

“Jim Johnson’s resignation raises serious questions about Barack Obama’s judgment,” John McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement, adding “the American people have reason to question the judgment of a candidate who has shown he will only make the right call when under pressure from the news media. America can’t afford a president who flip-flops on key questions in the course of 24 hours.”...

Here we have the old Karl rove strategy in play again of hammering an opponent in his strong areas.
They're going after Obama's judgement because unlike other candidates, he has demonstrated he has some.

Then they cue the old rhetoric of Democratic "flip-flopping" that they ingrained into voters mind in 2004.

...and the sheep will fall for it.

[headhuntersix]

Longtime Washington insider Jim Johnson became the first casualty of the general election campaign Wednesday, leaving his role on Barack Obama’s running-mate search team after coming under fire for his lucrative past with financial corporations and lenders.

Johnson, a former Fannie Mae CEO who also helped vet running mates for Walter Mondale in 1984 and John Kerry in 2004, stepped down following reports that he received favorable loan terms from a mortgage lender Obama has sharply criticized on the campaign trail.

“Jim did not want to distract in any way from the very important task of gathering information about my vice presidential nominee, so he has made a decision to step aside that I accept,” Obama said in a statement issued after three days of criticism.

John McCain’s campaign had used Johnson’s prominent, albeit hush-hush, role in the campaign to portray the presumptive Democratic nominee as hypocritical.

And when he stepped down Wednesday, the campaign attacked Obama for caving to pressure.

“Jim Johnson’s resignation raises serious questions about Barack Obama’s judgment,” spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement, adding “the American people have reason to question the judgment of a candidate who has shown he will only make the right call when under pressure from the news media. America can’t afford a president who flip-flops on key questions in the course of 24 hours.”

The crossfire portends the scrutiny that every campaign aide or adviser could easily face in the months leading to the November election.

During the Democratic primary, Obama and Hillary Clinton each waved goodbye to several aides and advisers who in some way had offended the other side. Obama foreign policy adviser Samantha Power left after calling Clinton a “monster” in an interview with a Scottish newspaper. Geraldine Ferraro, a former vice presidential candidate, left her seat on Clinton’s finance team after saying Obama was being aided politically by his race.

The general election campaign formally began last Tuesday when Obama clinched the Democratic nomination, and Johnson swiftly became the opening target for Republicans.

The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that Johnson received favorable loan terms from lender Countrywide Financial Corp., a firm Obama has criticized for contributing to the home mortgage crisis. That report opened the door for several others, including by The Washington Post and The New York Times, which revisited Johnson’s history with Fannie Mae before the company drew the scrutiny of regulators and his role on several boards granting hefty payouts to CEOs.

Don’t expect Johnson’s exit to end criticism about either candidate’s campaign team.

The Republican National Committee released a statement Wednesday saying, “If Barack Obama is concerned his campaign’s ties to special interests are distracting from his VP search and message, why is Eric Holder still on his search committee?”

Holder, a former deputy attorney general, has come under Republican criticism for his role in helping fugitive financier Marc Rich get a pardon from President Clinton. He is still on the running-mate search team for Obama along with Caroline Kennedy.

Obama’s campaign in turn issued a fiery counterattack on McCain, criticizing him for keeping lobbyists, or former lobbyists, close.

In recent weeks, McCain has endured a mini-staffing purge, getting rid of campaign operatives whose lobbying ties had come to the surface.

“We don’t need any lectures from a campaign that waited 15 months to purge the lobbyists from their staff,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. “It’s too bad their campaign is still rife with lobbyist influence and doesn’t see a similar ‘perception problem’ with the man currently running their own vice presidential selection process.”

The campaign was referring to Arthur Culvahouse, a former Reagan official and former lobbyist who is advising McCain in his running mate hunt.

Meanwhile, Johnson continued to garner kind words from Democrats Wednesday, despite his exit from the campaign.

“We have a very good selection process underway, and I am confident that it will produce a number of highly qualified candidates for me to choose from in the weeks ahead. I remain grateful to Jim for his service and his efforts in this process,” Obama said in his statement.

Kerry, speaking on a conference call Wednesday, praised Johnson for the work he did four years ago, and said the criticism is just “one of those … Washington grab stories.”

“Jim Johnson is a very experienced, very discreet, very capable individual who is performing a voluntary function without pay … he’s not seeking a job,” Kerry said.

“Jim Johnson is a capable guy. He has been vetting VPs for a while” Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told MSNBC Wednesday. He said Johnson was just doing a volunteer job and “this is nothing to do with special interests and influence in the campaign, unlike John McCain.”

After McCain on Monday called the Johnson connection a “contradiction” for Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee told reporters he can’t be expected to track down the mortgage history of his search committee members.

“I would have to hire the vetter to vet the vetters,” Obama said in St. Louis, Mo., Tuesday, adding that Johnson was not technically working for him and was an unpaid volunteer.

Obama strategist David Axelrod repeated that argument in an interview Wednesday morning.

“We honestly didn’t ask him for his mortgage statements of his financials and I don’t think anyone would expect us to,” he told MSNBC. “We can’t vet all the vetters.”

McCain’s campaign went after Obama Tuesday for being “in a state of denial” about Johnson’s role in the campaign and his past taking “sweetheart deals” from Countrywide.

[headhuntersix]

Good job barry!!!!!

[24KT]

This thread needs to be merged with BB thread on the SAME SUBJECT!

http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=218890.0

Just like a typical Republican HH6, ...you've come up a day late and a dollar short.

[240 is Back]

both teams are full of scumbags like this.  You seen Phil Graham's resume?  He's running camp mccain now.

[headhuntersix]

Yep except Barrack is for hope and change...as opposed to business as usual.....thats what he professes..plus u don't call out Countrywide numerous times while ur guy is getting blown by them in the back room...again good job barry.

[bigdumbbell]

good riddance.  what a fuckin thief.