The AP's Philip Elliott reports:
Administration officials dangled the possibility of a job for former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff last year in hopes he would forego a challenge to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. Administration officials on Wednesday declined to specify the job that was floated or the name of the administration official who approached Romanoff, and said no formal offer was ever made. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not cleared to discuss private conversations.
As much as the White House might want to claim that Romanoff was merely offered an unpaid White House internship or a spot on an unpaid advisory board, the Denver Post reported that Romanoff had specifically been offered a job to head USAID. If true, that would appear to be a quid pro quo in violation of the law.
"Clear the air on Romanoff deal," says today's Denver Post editorial.
President Obama's White House apparently isn't that committed to dispensing with the business-as-usual kind of politics he campaigned against. Senate primary races in Pennsylvania and Colorado instead have revealed an Obama political machine that engages in favoritism and behind-the-scenes wrangling and deal-making that seem decidedly old-school. The two contests, in which someone from the administration allegedly offered a candidate some type of job to drop out of their race, have raised key questions that remain to be answered, especially in Colorado's Senate race. The White House — and Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff — should speak up. In Pennsylvania, the administration has admitted it enlisted no less a power player than Bill Clinton to ask Rep. Joe Sestak to stop his bid against Obama ally Sen. Arlen Specter. Clinton suggested Sestak remain in the House and accept an influential, but non-paying, role on an advisory panel. (Sestak has since ousted Specter.) The Denver Post last September quoted unnamed sources that said Obama's deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina, contacted former state House Speaker Romanoff, who hadn't yet announced his candidacy, with specific suggestions for Washington jobs in exchange for his staying out of the race against appointed Sen. Michael Bennet. The White House denied any such offer, but sources told The Post's Michael Riley: "Romanoff turned down the overture, which included mention of a job at USAID, the foreign aid agency." Obama endorsed Bennet the day after Romanoff formally announced he was in the race. We read Riley's story with particular interest. Only days before it ran, after hearing whispers of a Romanoff job offer, we asked the former House speaker directly whether he had been offered a job by the White House to drop out of the race. He told us unequivocally that he had not been offered a position.