The president finally spoke yesterday on the nagging issue that is nibbling around the edges of his administration.
After spending more than an hour yesterday being grilled over his administration’s response to the oil spill in the Gulf, Barack Obama called for one final question.
That’s when he was quizzed on “offer-gate.”
For those who have not been paying attention, that is the controversy surrounding Delco Congressman Joe Sestak’s claim that someone in the White House offered him a job to get out of the Democratic Senate primary race against Sen. Arlen Specter.
The White House has been tight-lipped on the issue. Some people might call it stone-walling. When Sestak, D-7, of Edgmont, first made the claim to veteran journalist Larry Kane, the White House responded that it did not happen.
But Sestak never changed his story, repeating his affirmative answer to the question about the offer every time it was brought up.
After his stunning win over Specter, the upstart Dem was on the Sunday talk shows and again stuck to his story. The match had been lit. Even the White House seemed to be softening its stance, indicating that the matter had been reviewed and nothing inappropriate happened.
In the meantime, there were increasing calls from both sides of the aisle for both Sestak and White House to lay their cards on the table and tell what happened. Even Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell, who was a big Specter booster and openly questioned Sestak’s candidacy, thinks this whole thing has gone on too long and both sides need to provide more information.
So what did Obama have to say? Two words. “Nothing Improper.”
The president said there will be a formal response from the White House “shortly,” while assuring he did not mean a matter of weeks or months.
“I can assure the public that nothing improper took place,” the president said.
In the meantime, Sestak has been silent on the issue, unusual for a guy’s whose staff peppers the newspaper with releases and events almost every day.
For now the wait for the White House response goes on.
I don’t doubt for a minute that some kind of offer was made. That’s part and parcel of politics. It’s happened before. It will happen again. In fact it happens all the time.
What made this instance so different is Sestak being so public in admitting that it took place.
Did anything illegal take place? I don’t know, but I do know it has created a splotch on both the White House and Sestak when neither need it. Obama is being hammered for his response on the oil spill. Sestak is about to embark on a tough campaign against Republican Pat Toomey.
We’ll see if the White House delivers that report today. If not, the buzz will continue.
This issue is not going away until the White House and Sestak make it go away. And they can do that by telling what they know about who offered what to whom.
We await their answer.
After spending more than an hour yesterday being grilled over his administration’s response to the oil spill in the Gulf, Barack Obama called for one final question.
That’s when he was quizzed on “offer-gate.”
For those who have not been paying attention, that is the controversy surrounding Delco Congressman Joe Sestak’s claim that someone in the White House offered him a job to get out of the Democratic Senate primary race against Sen. Arlen Specter.
The White House has been tight-lipped on the issue. Some people might call it stone-walling. When Sestak, D-7, of Edgmont, first made the claim to veteran journalist Larry Kane, the White House responded that it did not happen.
But Sestak never changed his story, repeating his affirmative answer to the question about the offer every time it was brought up.
After his stunning win over Specter, the upstart Dem was on the Sunday talk shows and again stuck to his story. The match had been lit. Even the White House seemed to be softening its stance, indicating that the matter had been reviewed and nothing inappropriate happened.
In the meantime, there were increasing calls from both sides of the aisle for both Sestak and White House to lay their cards on the table and tell what happened. Even Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell, who was a big Specter booster and openly questioned Sestak’s candidacy, thinks this whole thing has gone on too long and both sides need to provide more information.
So what did Obama have to say? Two words. “Nothing Improper.”
The president said there will be a formal response from the White House “shortly,” while assuring he did not mean a matter of weeks or months.
“I can assure the public that nothing improper took place,” the president said.
In the meantime, Sestak has been silent on the issue, unusual for a guy’s whose staff peppers the newspaper with releases and events almost every day.
For now the wait for the White House response goes on.
I don’t doubt for a minute that some kind of offer was made. That’s part and parcel of politics. It’s happened before. It will happen again. In fact it happens all the time.
What made this instance so different is Sestak being so public in admitting that it took place.
Did anything illegal take place? I don’t know, but I do know it has created a splotch on both the White House and Sestak when neither need it. Obama is being hammered for his response on the oil spill. Sestak is about to embark on a tough campaign against Republican Pat Toomey.
We’ll see if the White House delivers that report today. If not, the buzz will continue.
This issue is not going away until the White House and Sestak make it go away. And they can do that by telling what they know about who offered what to whom.
We await their answer.
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