In other VP news, the head of Obama's vice-presidential vetting team, James A. Johnson (left), resigned on Wednesday to try to silence a growing commotion over his past business activities.Johnson is an experienced member of the Washington elite, and was in charge of the vice-presidential search and vetting teams of Democratic nominees John Kerry and Walter Mondale.
McCain has attacked Johnson--a former executive of Fannie Mae--for receiving mortgages on "favorable terms" from the Countrywide Financial Corporation, the mortgage company that was a central player in the subprime lending crisis.
In recent days, Johnson has also faced questions about his role on compensation committees that awarded large payouts to corporate executives.
Whatever the accusations are, the fact that Johnson is a Washington insider working for the Obama campaign goes directly against Obama's claim that he will run his campaign independent of special interests and the Washington establishment.
Obama had defended Johnson up until Tuesday, but issued a statement Wednesday in response to his resignation: “Jim did not want to distract in any way from the very important task of gathering information about my vice-presidential nominee, so he has made a decision to step aside that I accept.”
His experience in the VP vetting process will surely be missed by the campaign, but on the whole, considering his baggage and controversial past, his departure is a positive.
Plus, he picked two unsuccessful vice-presidential nominees--John Edwards and Geraldine Ferraro--so how great can this guy really be anyway?
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