First Sign of Obama Mud

If critics have their way, when you hear the name Barack Obama, you'll start hearing the name Tony Rezko.

I mention this because my blog-reading, and sense of political dynamics, tells me that the senator's relationship with an indicted fundraiser is about to break out of the Chicago media and go national.

This may not be a big deal in the larger scheme of things. It's not clear that Obama did anything wrong. But it's a taste of what lies ahead if the Illinois lawmaker indeed decides to jump into the presidential sweepstakes.

If Monday was a day for media swooning over Obama's New Hampshire foray--and that was before he did his little Bear cap-wearing shtick at the start of "Monday Night Football"--yesterday featured the conservative counterattack. Not so fast, these critics on the right are saying. Who is this guy? What does he stand for? Isn't he a garden-variety liberal? This is the sort of debate that usually takes place in the run-up to the first primaries, but with everything on a speeded-up timetable, it's already under way.

That's what prompted me to check out some Chicago Tribune stories from last month on the Rezko matter. Bottom line: Obama says his dealings with the longtime donor were a "mistake" that he regrets, and he has given the latest contributions to charity.

It seems that Obama and his wife closed last year on a $1.65-million house on the city's South Side on the same day that Rezko closed on a $625,000 vacant lot next door. Then Obama paid Rezko $104,000 to buy part of the lot. Well, none of that seems terribly unusual to me, except maybe the part about Obama paying his landscaper to mow Rezko's yard and Rezko agreeing to pay for a $14,000 fence along their property line.

The problem is that during this period, Rezko came under grand jury investigation. He has since pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to obtain kickbacks from companies seeking state business, according to the Tribune. Rezko has also pleaded not guilty to separate allegations that he bilked a loan company through the fraudulent sale of his pizza businesses. (I hereby copyright "Pizzagate" if this story takes off.)

Suddenly, Obama had a PR problem, or as he put it to the Chicago Sun-Times, "I misgauged the appearance presented by my purchase of the additional land from Mr. Rezko . . . It was a mistake to have been engaged with him at all in this or any other personal business dealing that would allow him, or anyone else, to believe that he had done me a favor."

This seems like a minor-league issue. But as Bill Clinton learned about his money-losing Arkansas land deal, when you run for president, everything in your past gets magnified.

Here's what the right is saying about the Obama hype:

"Generally speaking, I don't write about obscure left wing politicians much anyway unless they do or say something hilariously stupid," says Rick Moran of Right Wing Nuthouse. "But this recent boomlet for Senator Obama seems to have taken everyone by surprise. And still more than a year away from the first Presidential primaries and caucuses, it amazes me so little information has been disseminated about this likable, thoughtful man.

"First, it must be said that a Democratic corpse plucked from a Chicago graveyard could have won the race for Illinois senator in 2004. You might recall that the Republican nominee Jack Ryan was forced to withdraw 4 months before the election following revelations contained in child custody documents relating to Ryan's divorce from actress Jeri Ryan (the sexiest Borg in the Star Trek Universe) that he forced the comely actress to go to sex clubs with him . . .