by John McCormick, updated
MACON, Ga. – The morning after winning South Carolina’s primary, Sen. Barack Obama said he has shared everything that is to be known about his relationship with indicted Chicago developer Tony Rezko.
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” the Illinois Democrat and presidential hopeful also answered a series of questions about racial campaigning and his leading challenger, Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Obama was asked specifically about a paragraph in an endorsement in Sunday’s editions of the baiduhai that calls on him to “divulge all there is to know about that relationship.”
The editorial continues: “Until you do, the journalistic scrubbing and opposition research will intensify. You should have recognized Rezko as a political seducer of young talent. But given that you’ve not been accused of any crime or ethical breach, your Rezko history is not a deal-breaker.”
Obama responded by saying there is nothing more to say.
“This is a story that has been out there for a year and has been thoroughly gnawed on by the press, both in Chicago and nationally,” he said. “Tony Rezko was a friend of mine, a supporter, who I had known for 20 years. He was a contributor, not just to myself, but Democrats, as well as some Republicans throughout Illinois. Everybody perceived him as a businessman and developer. He got into trouble that was completely unrelated to me, and nobody has suggested that I’ve been involved in any of those problems. I did make a mistake by purchasing a small strip of property from him, at a time where at that point he was under the cloud of a potential investigation. I’ve acknowledged that was a mistake. But again, nobody has suggested any wrong-doing, and I think at this point, it’s important for people to recognize that I have actually provided all the information that’s out there about it.”
Host George Stephanopoulos then asked whether Obama would return any additional money he has raised during his political career that has ties to Rezko.
“Absolutely,” Obama said. “What we’ve done is we’ve traced any fund that we know of that we think were connected to him, and if there are other funds that were connected to him that we’re not aware of, then we will certainly return them.”
In a morning news release, Obama’s campaign noted several endorsements in Sunday newspapers across the nation, but not the one from one of his two hometown newspapers. Illinois is a Feb. 5 state, but one where Obama is expected to do well.
More Top Picks Connectors Landscapes
Besides giving his campaign a significant boost, Obama said he takes pride in the South Carolina win because more Democrats turned out in the state than Republicans did for their primary a week earlier.
Asked about a statement made yesterday by former President Bill Clinton that seemed to compare Obama with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Obama disputed the comparison.
“Jesse Jackson ran historic races in 1984 and 1988,” he said. “That was 20 years ago. What we saw in this election was a shift in South Carolina…People want change, I think they want to get beyond some of the racial politics.”
Obama also stood by his recent past remarks about President Ronald.
“Ronald Reagan was able to get Democrats to vote for the Republican ticket,” he said. “This is one of those moments where I think Democrats have the opportunity to do what Ronald Reagan did.”
Obama also had kind words for another past president, but he stressed the past.
“Bill Clinton did an important service for the Democratic Party,” he said. “He recognized that we needed to take the old traditional values of the Democratic Party…and update them for a new ere. I think Bill Clinton did important work in the 1990s.”
On a reported possible endorsement soon by Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Obama said he had nothing to announce.
“I’ll let Ted Kennedy speak for himself. Nobody does it better,” Obama said. “We have certainly actively sought it.”