The company he keeps

MANIFESTO

Needless to say, Barack Obama is falling all over himself, denying that he had anything to do with the selling of his Senate seat by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Indeed, it seems unlikely to me that Obama was at all involved in the naming of his successor—that was strictly the governor's task.

Nevertheless, Obama's past chumminess with Governor Bagman is a problem. Obama

supported his fellow Democrat for re-election in 2006, even though the governor backed someone else over Obama in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary race in 2004. Obama has said little about the many misconduct allegations that have piled up against Blagojevich, and he has complimented Blagojevich for running "a sound administration" with "the right priorities."

Unfortunately, this is an issue that the William Kristols, Sean Hannitys, and Mark Levins of the world will go nuts over—and will no doubt keep repeating ad nauseam. I'm sure they're ecstatic over being able to talk about something other than such non-issues as Obama's middle name and his acquaintance with a respected community organizer.

UPDATE &mdash Steve Benen provides some evidence.