WASHINGTON — It took three tries in as many days for President-elect Barack Obama to roll out a strategy for defusing the crisis over Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich's alleged attempt to put his old Senate seat up for sale.
In his initial reaction, Obama said he was saddened by the episode, that he hadn't talked about the Senate seat with Blagojevich and that he wouldn't discuss an ongoing investigation. On day two, he added his name to the avalanche of public officials calling for Blagojevich's resignation, but questions mounted about which members of Obama's staff might have discussed Obama's Senate seat with Blagojevich.
Finally, in a news conference Thursday, Obama pledged to ferret out more facts. He also struck an emotional chord that had been absent. He said he was appalled by the scandal and would quickly release all contacts that his staff had with the Democratic governor, who is accused of seeking favors from the president-elect in exchange for elevating a preferred candidate to the Senate.
Obama's evolving response was the first test of his team's capacity to cope with a fast-moving political scandal while staying true to his promise to run a transparent shop with a minimum of secrets.
"This may be an early test run for his administration," said Scott McClellan, a former White House press secretary for President Bush. McClellan is the author of a book saying the Bush White House was not forthcoming with the public.
"This is how he might handle a scandal within his own administration, even though this may only tangentially involve members of his team," McClellan said.
"Initially, I don't think he quite had his footing. . . . Today, he certainly had his footing under him and is making the right moves in terms of addressing the scandal."
Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said: "The first answer -- I don't have any comment on an ongoing investigation -- sounded exactly like the comments we've gotten from President Bush. And I don't think that's much of an answer. The answer that he'll [make public] the complete list is finally the right answer."
After basing his campaign for president on a promise to transform Washington, Obama is obliged to set the highest ethical standards, some government watchdog groups say. His transition co-chair, John Podesta, further raised expectations when he vowed last month to run the most open transition in history.
