…but the hypocrisy has already been exposed.
Former Fannie Mae Chairman James Johnson said he has quit Senator Barack Obama’s vice presidential search committee after the Wall Street Journal reported he may have received preferential mortgage terms from Countrywide Financial Corp.
Johnson said that while he has done nothing wrong, he left to avoid being a hindrance to Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee.
“I would not dream of being a party to distracting attention from that historic effort,” he said in a statement. “I believe Barack Obama’s candidacy for president of the United States is the most exciting and important of my lifetime.”
Johnson’s ties to Countrywide became a campaign issue after Republicans pointed out that Obama had been critical of the mortgage lender in campaign speeches. Johnson’s role as a political insider also contrasted with Obama’s pledge to bring change to Washington.
I don’t think this puts this issue to rest. As Dan Balz of the Washington Post notes, Obama’s defense of Johnson raises questions…
UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: Team McCain comments, from NRO’s The Corner:
Jim Johnson’s resignation raises serious questions about Barack Obama’s judgment. Selecting the vice presidential nominee is the most important decision a presidential candidate can make and one even Barack Obama has said will ‘signal how I want to operate my presidency.’ By entrusting this process to a man who has now been forced to step down because of questionable loans, the American people have reason to question the judgment of a candidate who has shown he will only make the right call when under pressure from the news media. America can’t afford a president who flip-flops on key questions in the course of 24 hours. That’s not change we can believe in.
Yep.
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