While Obama tries to minimize his involvement with Rezko, the story has taken a life of its own with article after article pointing out his ties to Rezko, the inner city Chicago slumlord.
AP:
Barack Obama sought to distance himself Wednesday from a real estate developer and fast-food magnate facing federal corruption charges, saying he had no indication of any problems when he accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Antoin "Tony" Rezko.
The Baltimore Sun:
In Monday night's Democratic presidential slugfest, er, debate in South Carolina, Sen. Hillary Clinton hit Sen. Barack Obama with the charge that as a young lawyer he represented a now infamous Chicago "slumlord" named "Rezko."
Here's a theory. Clinton chose that allegation because she knew the word "slumlord" would resonate with a black audience in a state that has some of the poorest black communities in the nation.
The New York Times:
Mr. Obama has said that even though 11 of the 30 buildings were in his State Senate district, no one ever complained to him about the problems.
Mr. Obama also worked for a small Chicago law firm, and the firm has said that in the late 1990s, when the housing developments were being rehabilitated, he reviewed some of the documents for a total of five hours. The firm also said that it was working mainly for community groups that teamed up with Mr. Rezko, and that Mr. Obama’s role was modest.
Still, Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Rezko remains controversial. In 2005, Mr. Obama bought a strip of land from Mr. Rezko even though the developer was under federal investigation. And while Mr. Obama has not been implicated in any wrongdoing, his campaign announced Saturday that it would give to charity more than $40,000 in past political donations that were linked to Mr. Rezko.
The Chicago Sun Times:
On Tuesday, the Clinton campaign, in a memo, said Obama "has thus far failed to return all contributions associated with Mr. Rezko, which included money that was given through straw donors or obtained from Illinois taxpayers."
Clinton was referring to political donations Rezko solicited, or bundled, for Obama's U.S. Senate -- not presidential -- campaign fund.
The LA Times
A review by the Los Angeles Times shows that Rezko, a businessman long active in Chicago politics, played a deeper role in Obama's political and financial biography than the candidate has acknowledged.
For example, Rezko, his employees and business associates -- such as his consultants, lawyers and their families -- have provided Obama more than $200,000 in donations since 1995, helping fuel his rapid ascent in Illinois and U.S. politics. Although Rezko is not Obama's largest bundler, he was there at the start and at critical moments along the way, helping support the candidate when few others were.
In addition to being a campaign benefactor, Rezko also surfaced when Obama and his wife purchased their house on Chicago's South Side in 2005. On the day the Obamas bought their house, Rezko's wife, Rita, bought an adjacent lot from the same sellers, part of which Obama later bought back.
Obama is portraying himself as someone who is going to bring about change, but his actions aren't matching his words. He sounds like any other typical politician...To me he is worse because he is lying about who he is. We now know he is no better than anyone else. His change seems to be more of the same old politics of deception.
The Boston Globe:
Obama ties to embattled donor go back over 15 years
Obama's mistake of attacking Hillary Clinton in the last debate gave her the opportunity to attack him about Rezko. She has scored in that she forced the story into the news.
The Chicago Tribune
Hillary Clinton's charge this week that Barack Obama represented a Chicago "slum landlord" in the 1990s introduced to a national audience one of Obama's potential political vulnerabilities: his long ties to Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the once-highflying developer soon to go on trial in federal court.
In my opinion, this story not only brings into question Obama's judgment, but it also brings into doubt the entire point of his campaign and the idea that he is an outsider who can bring about change.
One last note: I don't care if this diary causes me to get banned from this site. This is a true diary. This story is now in the news because Hillary brought it up in the debate. It also does cause concern about Obama's judgment and character. If you can post negative Hillary diaries, I should be allowed to post an anti-Obama diary. If that's not allowed, this site sucks anyways for not allowing open discussion. You people call yourselves progressives and you don't even have the ability to let other people have different opinions. I'm sure there are other sites that allow people to post who also happen to like Hillary Clinton. You're not hurting me at all by censoring me here. I am not going to delete my diary this time out of pity for you either!