Several polls today suggested that a quarter or more of Americans, although not a majority, have questions about what contacts President-elect Obama or his team might have had with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about filling the seat Obama vacated after he won the White House.
A majority of Americans say President-elect Barack Obama has done enough to explain any discussions that he or his representatives may have had with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the filling of the seat he vacated after winning the White House, according ton a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted Dec. 11-14. Fifty-one percent said he has done enough, but 34 percent said he hadn't and 14 percent expressed no opinion. ABC News polling director Gary Langer characterized the 51 percent as a "tepid" vote in Obama's favor. The view that Obama had not done enough was held by 51 percent of Republicans.
However, the poll said the public considered Obama honest and trustworthy by a 67 percent to 22 percent margin and three-quarters approve of the way he is handling the transition.
A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Dec. 12-14 said 26 percent believed that some member or members of Obama's staff had something illegal in connection with the Blagojevich matter and 29 percent said they believed an Obama staffer had done something unethical. Sixty percent of those surveyed did not believe anything illegal or unethical had been done. Among Republicans, 49 percent said they believed something illegal had been done and 54 percent said something unethical had been done.
As with the Post/ABC News poll, Obama continues to get good grades overall from the public. Sixty-eight percent said they are confident in his ability to be a good president.
A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Dec. 11-12 found 45 percent of voters believed it was very or somewhat likely Obama or one of his top aides was involved in the scandal. Forty-six percent said it was not very likely or not likely at all.
Obama said at a press conference last week, "I have never spoken to the governor on this subject. I'm confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat." He added, "I've asked my team to gather the facts of any contacts with the governor's office about this vacancy so that we can share them with you over the next few days."
The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others have reported Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, did have contacts with Blagojevich's office about the seat.
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