Redstate

Posted at 9:42am on May 23, 2008 Barack Obama goes with Dizzy City Fatcat for VP selection job.

Because he's all about *change.* That you can *believe* in.

By Moe Lane

You've probably read Soren's first piece (starring Jim Johnson) about the lobbyists and bundlers that are lurking around Senator Barack Obama's campaign. Some of you might have even been bitterly going, "So what? The Obama knows what he's doing: he might let people like Jim Johnson give him money, but the Obama certainly doesn't trust them."

Yeah. About that:

Obama has asked former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson to begin vetting potential vice presidential picks, Democratic officials said Thursday. Johnson did the same job for Democratic nominees John Kerry in 2004 and Walter Mondale in 1984.

[Via Mickey Kaus, who has been watching this guy with horror for years (H/T: Glenn Reynolds). See also Dan's take on the political acumen of Johnson in the first place.]

But, hey! Jim did such a great job for Mondale, Kerry, and Fannie Mae: why not let him work his peculiar magic for the Obama campaign? I mean, clearly if Johnson's good enough for Obama, he should be more than good enough for all the little people that are faithfully supporting the Senator. Even if Johnson was involved in shenanigans that are now making us contemplate doing a $300 billion dollar bailout of the home mortgage industry.

Great choice there, Barry. Who's going to be your pick for helping the DNC with their fund raising, by the way? I hear Jeffrey Skilling's not doing anything these days: of course, he can't really travel...

Moe Lane

Quick PS: Reread Obama's supposed denial. Note that it does not say "Jim Johnson will not be the person to lead my VP selection process." It merely says that Obama's not paying him. It is, in fact, a rather ornate weasel of a statement.

But I suppose that people will cling to what they cling to.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama Bundler | Fannie Mae | Jim Johnson — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:55pm on May 22, 2008 Meet Jim Johnson, Obama bundler

By Soren Dayton

Barack Obama says that John McCain has a lobbyist problem. But that's only because Obama isn't being honest about himself.

Barack Obama has lobbyist-bundlers. He doesn't really admit it but ... he does. Here at Redstate, we are going to introduce you to these people. The press doesn't want you to know that these people exist, but we have ways of getting around the press.

The first one that we will introduce you to is Jim Johnson. Mr. Johnson was a lobbyist, US representative of a former African prime minister, former CEO of Fannie Mae, business partner with former Clinton UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, and other things. Read on.

Posted in Archived | Barack Obama | Barack Obama Bundler — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Read More »