| | Barack Obama resigned from his position as one of the two U.S. Senators from Illinois upon being elected president. That created a vacancy to be filled, according to Illinois law, by the Democratic Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. On December 9, 2008, the Governor of Illinois was arrested by federal officials based on secret tape recordings of his recent phone conversations. "Federal authorities said wiretaps caught Blagojevich conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat in exchange for financial benefits for himself and his wife, Patti."<ref name="Scandal">http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/09/illinois.governor/index.html</ref> The investigation in this case could become the top news story of early 2009, as there were reportedly at least five people trying to be appointed to that U.S. Senate seat. "Obviously, like the rest of the people of Illinois, I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S. attorney's office today," President-Elect Obama said. "But as this is an ongoing investigation involving the governor, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."<ref name="Scandal"/> | | Barack Obama resigned from his position as one of the two U.S. Senators from Illinois upon being elected president. That created a vacancy to be filled, according to Illinois law, by the Democratic Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. On December 9, 2008, the Governor of Illinois was arrested by federal officials based on secret tape recordings of his recent phone conversations. "Federal authorities said wiretaps caught Blagojevich conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat in exchange for financial benefits for himself and his wife, Patti."<ref name="Scandal">http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/09/illinois.governor/index.html</ref> The investigation in this case could become the top news story of early 2009, as there were reportedly at least five people trying to be appointed to that U.S. Senate seat. "Obviously, like the rest of the people of Illinois, I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S. attorney's office today," President-Elect Obama said. "But as this is an ongoing investigation involving the governor, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."<ref name="Scandal"/> |
| − | Completely independently, when Hillary Clinton recently resigned from her U.S. Senate seat from New York to become Secretary of State in the upcoming Obama Administration, Caroline Kennedy (daughter of former President John F. Kennedy but never elected to public office) immediately and surprisingly asked to be nominated by the New York Governor as Hillary's replacement. Caroline Kennedy, and particularly her powerful uncle Ted Kennedy, the long-serving U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, supported Barack Obama's candidacy for nomination by the Democratic Party at a pivotal moment in early 2008. | + | Completely independently, when Hillary Clinton recently resigned from her U.S. Senate seat from New York to become Secretary of State in the upcoming Obama Administration, Caroline Kennedy (daughter of former President John F. Kennedy but never elected to public office) immediately and surprisingly asked to be nominated by the New York Governor as Hillary's replacement. Caroline Kennedy, and particularly her powerful uncle Ted Kennedy, supported Barack Obama's candidacy for nomination by the Democratic Party at a pivotal moment in early 2008. |