Romanoff received an email from a White House assistant deputy chief of staff listing jobs at USAID and one with the US Trade Development Agency. Romanoff declined the offer, also via email, and has pursued his challenge to Bennet.
The story is so similar to that of Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak, who was approached by former President Bill Clinton, at the behest of Rahm Emanuel, to drop his primary challenge against Sen. Arlen Specter in favor of an appointment to an unpaid commission that Republicans want to press the issue even more.
“U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), renewed his call for an independent investigation to determine whether the job discussions with Sestak and Romanoff were legal. ‘These incidents underscore the need for some independent agent, whether it is a special prosecutor or the FBI, to launch an investigation and determine once and for all the extent of the White House’s efforts to manipulate elections, and if those actions resulted in the violations of any laws,’ Issa said.”
As a campaign tool against President Obama and his claims of bringing a new politics to Washington, these incidents are a goldmine. Pressing the media to do its job of asking the right questions and reporting on the answers is also important. But insisting on using up precious time with investigations of these matters, only serves to make Republicans seem as petty as Democrats would like to paint them.