I had a letter to the editor published in the Chicago Sun Times last week. (I had checked once, didn't find it, and didn't keep checking. A friend told me that he had seen it, so I checked again.)
The URL is here, but I have printed the entire letter as published after the jump.
Rezko is a guy who was quite rich at one point, apparently honestly. At that point, he contribute to a lot of political campaigns. These included all the  campaigns of Barack Obama and the gubenatorial campaign of Rod Blagojevich. Rezko's fortune, which was based on risky real-estate deals, went south. He responded by selling his influence in the Blagojevich administration. the Republicans have tried to push this onto Obama as guilt by association.
The Sun Times published an article recalling that McCain had connections of his own, notably his starring role in "The Keating Five." My letter pointed out the differences. Obama had contributions from somebody who sold his influence with another politician. McCaion did favors for a contributor who ended up in a showy trial; he continued to do favors for other contributors.

Barack Obama is running one of the most impressive primary campaigns in American history by most quantifiable performance indicators.  He has raised more money, from more people than in any other primary campaign ever.  His website is superior to any other politician's; Barackobama.com features the most powerful social networking tools and demographic information database available in politics.  He has mobilized America's youth to turn the lever for him at an unprecedented rate.  Perhaps as importantly, Obama's team has mastered the arcane art of the caucus, trouncing his opponents in nearly every single state caucus beginning with Iowa.  Most strikingly, he has accomplished all of this as a half-black Washington newcomer, beginning his national campaign just two years after stepping into the Senate for the first time as a guy that most Americans knew little to nothing about.  

Other diaries last week noted that, as Magorn put it;

.. that  Tony, who once hosted  a BUSH fundraiser at his home,  called in the help of few famous Republicans to try to de-rail the investigation into the corruption for which he's now on trial:

The Chicago Sun-Times.

A prosecutor told the judge in the Tony Rezko corruption trial Wednesday that a witness is prepared to testify about efforts by top Republicans to get the Bush White House to fire U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald at a time he was spearheading investigations of Gov. Blagojevich's administration... The key players were Robert Kjellander, a Republican National committeeman from Springfield, and Kjellander's old friend, Karl Rove, who, at the time was a top White House adviser.

And the witness has testified!

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that a witness in the Tony Rezko corruption trial is ready to testify under immunity that Rezko and others allegedly hatched a plot with Karl Rove through RNC operative Robert Kjellander to remove U. S. Attorney and Scooter Libby prosecutor Patick Fitzgerald.

I can't find a decent MTP thread, so I'll post here about the shark-jump that is Tim Russert's TV empire. Today I just felt terrible for poor Geoff Garin. He's no Mark Penn.
EDIT:
Perhaps going to bat against Penn, however, brought out a very un-Obama instinct in Axelrod. Something about him, the whole time, bothered me. It's perhaps a hardening that has taken place, where once he was distinguishable from your everyday operative, now he gives off a sort of Charlie Black vibe.

But what of Geoff Garin?

How many words has Barack Obama spoken during this campaign? Hundreds of thousands? Yet we obsess over 25 words that he recently uttered about Americans’ bitterness with the way their government has let them down. And we act as if his entire essence is determined by these 25 words alone.

"Why didn’t he write a book about the joys of basketball?"

When I first saw these on a search, I thought they were a joke. But, no, they were both published. Obama appeared last year on "This Week." The date of the interview. The subjects. How Gorge proceeded. April 16, 2008 was strongly foreshadowed by this meeting.

This interview provides further proof why ABC should have made Steph recuse himself. Notice again, this is May 2007. And notice the points he brings up which Hillary later indeed did bring up. The interview started with the military, is the country ready for him, and yes, Obama was asked how much of his 'cool style' is because he is black.

Couple of things to discuss in this diary

100 Keystone State Mayors Endorse Hillary. Link here.

"I am proud to have such strong support from 100 of Pennsylvania’s finest mayors," Senator Clinton said. "From small towns to big cities, these mayors work hard every day to improve the lives of the people they serve and they know they need a strong partner in Washington to help them bring affordable health care and revitalize their local economies."

The 100 mayors endorsing Hillary today will work in the final week of the campaign to get out Hillary’s message of change for Pennsylvania and the country.

An interesting piece is up today about Hannah Jones Rodham at Pennsylvania Progressive

At first I wondered "did he just go there?"

Then, I remembered that the author is an undecided Pennsylvania Democrat who feels he has a difficult decision to make on April 22. The Rodham family history is rooted in the Keystone State's Democratic Party , and a great deal of the politics in the Keystone State (I am learning on the ground) is much about the past.

The time is right to reverse the field. Obama has always been the one calling for a more positive campaign. If he ups the ante on this point right now, it will be both the right thing to do AND politically effective.

If ever we needed proof that the media is totally in the tank for Barack Obama, this weekend proves it.  All we have heard this weekend is "Norman Hsu this" and "Norman Hsu that."  Nary a word has been spoken about Tony Rezko or Jeremiah Wright!

Not that this is anything new.  On and on and on the MSM has been droning about the 100s of past and present Clinton scandals.  Everytime I turn on CNN all they can talk about is Gennifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky, and the list of totally irrelevant scandals below the fold.

A recent recommended diary states that the main reason Obama did his diaries on the Rezko trial is because he's clearing the decks to go on the offensive against Clinton. Although clearing the decks for an attack is a secondary benefit of doing the interviews, the main reasons he did the interviews at this moment are obvious yet unnoticed. More Below.

In making the effort to get potentially crippling matters behind him and to move on, Obama is now freer than before to go after Clinton’s lapses on the ethics and disclosure fronts.

WOW...I just thought of something.  All along we have been blaming the right wing nuts and Billary camp about the hit job on Obama and his pastor.  Lets say for a moment that this came from the Obama campaign.

Why?

So it takes the BBC to say what needs to be said about Rezko and going negative.

See below the fold.

Time after time Obama has run a holy - than - thou campaign. At one point I was starting to buy this notion "I am not a Washington Politician, turns out, yes he is.

I know that the LA Times and many other sources have reported that Rezko, a businessman long active in Chicago politics, played a deeper role in Obama’s political and financial biography than Obama has acknowledged. Why is this out of the spot light. I think people are called politicians when they try to dodge issues like these the American people need to know about. So is Obama secretive, "yes he is"!

Since January of this year, Obama has sought to down play or shall we say minimize the nature of the soon to be perfect storm. What has been Obama’s take on this. "A mistake." Obama, is that all you have to say about this, I guess that is your response to your 120 + votes for "present" in the IL state senate.

This was the week (long forseen) in which the invincible Clinton Machine bounced back from the brink of defeat to an electoral rout in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island.  Moreover, the media is finally being fair to Obama, beginning to seriously question his qualifications to be commander in chief.

...or so you would believe, if you listened to the reporters that actually get paid to cover politics.  After nearly two weeks of media coverage that is even more vapid than usual, I figured I'd examine for myself if there actually is anything to the ideas that are currently promoting Clinton as up-and-coming winner: her "momentum", her qualifications as commander in chief, her argument for using popular vote as a measure of support, and the negative press Obama's received lately over NAFTA-gate and Rezko.

Recently the clinton camp, most notably that great American howard wolfson, seems to have the same answer to inquiries regarding senator clinton's record, her character or her health care plan.. Tony Rezko. Why wont Senator clinton release her tax returns? Tony Rezko. In what way does Senator Obama's campaingns request for Senator clinton to release her tax returns compare to the investigaton by Ken Star? Tony Rezko. How is Senator Clinton plan to solve child poverty? Tony Rezko.

Please take a look.
http://www.time.com/...

Its basically an assesment of what has happened the last week and how Obama plans to move forward with his campaign. I think it speaks perfectly to the difference between clinton and Obama's philosophy concerning how politics should be conducted and frankly I thinks its a good strategy going forward. Take a look/ listen to/at the interview and see if u agree. I couldnt get the audio to work