Kwame caper reveals how Obama intends to stop smears

On the heels of two grandstanding preachers, the last person Barack Obama needs to walk with is a scandalous mayor.

So with the ink still tacky on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Father Michael Pfleger's sanctimonious sermons, you can be sure that Mr. Obama tonight will not be seen with Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

The married Kilpatrick is facing criminal charges, public humiliation and an impeachment movement after his relationship with former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty. Mayor Kilpatrick and Ms. Beatty face a Sept. 22 preliminary examination on perjury and other charges. Both are accused of lying during a whistle-blowers' trial last year. They were testifying about their roles in the firing of a Detroit cop and whether they were having an affair.

The centerpiece of the charges is sexually explicit text messages left by the mayor on Beatty's city-issued pager. After hearing denials that such communiqués existed, the Detroit Free Press newspaper obtained and printed the texts on its front page. It is a sordid affair, even by Detroit standards, that has consumed the city's newshounds.

So, even though Obama will make his first campaign stop in Detroit since knotting the Democratic presidential nomination, Mayor Kilpatrick -- an avowed Obama super delegate -- will be absent from the huge rally.

"I would love for Barack Obama, the next president of the United States, to have this opportunity free from all of the scrutiny that may come from the Kwame Kilpatrick moment," Kwame Kilpatrick said.

When the Illinois senator steps on stage at Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit tonight, Kilpatrick says, "I will not be there. It's my choice."

Sure it is.

Just like you have a choice of gas prices.

It was probably Kilpatrick's choice not to show up after a phone call from Obama's Chicago HQ suggesting that he spend Monday night at home exercising his text-message thumbs.

Speaking of choices, apparently there aren't enough good criminal defense lawyers in Detroit from which to choose. Kilpatrick, who denies any and all wrongdoing, has retained Chicago attorney Dan K. Webb to represent him.

Maybe the news hasn't reached Detroit yet, but Mr. Webb's most famous public corruption defense didn't turn out too well. Webb handled the courtroom duties on behalf of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan.

Unless President Bush grants a late-term pardon for Gov. Ryan, Webb's largely pro-bono work will have been far less than a success.

Maybe it just seems like it, but is there any state or big city in the nation that hasn't been singed by graft, bribery and sweetheart deals?

The corruption game has become a cottage industry for lawyers and public relations spin doctors. Now you have Mr. Webb, a former U.S. Attorney, and his boss Jim Thompson, also a former U.S. Attorney and Illinois governor, fresh from defending the corrupt Gov. George Ryan, moving onto the allegedly corrupt Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Of course, the only thing that might divert their attention is if current Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich were to get himself indicted. Even though he is a Republican, Mr. Thompson's allegiance to Gov. Blagojevich would certainly place Thompson's law firm, Winston & Strawn, high on the list of potential Blagojevich defenders.

For now though, the Detroit mayor is still on the job and still considers himself a devout Obama-ite. He also describes himself as a trusty adviser to the campaign. Kilpatrick claims he had "a 10-hour meeting with the campaign" last week and that "I've had numerous conversations with the senator. Numerous. We have a very good relationship."

Just like Messrs. Wright and Pfleger once had.

If Mayor Kilpatrick becomes a liability for Barack Obama, at least now the Obama campaign has a mechanism in place to deal with any scurrilous rumors that may surface concerning their relationship. It is the Internet, the very same source of many inaccurate Obama stories that continue to dog the campaign.

For instance, if a blogger or some other electronic-based creature states that Kilpatrick and Obama once drank out of the same milk shake with two straws, the candidate's fightthesmears.com would immediately discredit the rumor.

"The Obama campaign isn't going to let dishonest smears spread across the Internet unanswered," campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said. "Whenever challenged with these lies, we will aggressively push back with the truth."

As soon as they determine what it is. Or should be.