Ex-Operative Says Jackson Sold Endorsements

CBS TV Chicago reports:

Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. has acknowledged that he is "Senate Candidate No. 5" in the criminal complaint against Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But he says he's not a pay-to-play politician.

But as CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports, not everyone agrees.


Throughout his career, Jackson Jr. has portrayed himself as a political reformer. But a one-time campaign associate paints a starkly different view of Jackson and his motivations.

Former city worker Frank Coconate was Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Northwest Side point man when Jackson flirted with the idea of running against Mayor Daley.

Now, Coconate says, he's not shocked by federal wiretaps in which Blagojevich discusses selling Barack Obama's Senate seat to someone described as a Jackson emissary.

"He was always looking to deal," Coconate said. "If he couldn't get it outright, he'd buy it."

In a 2005 meeting with a longtime Jackson aide, Coconate says, he was told Jackson only endorsed candidates who sent money Jackson's way.

"He said, 'We have a criteria before we support anybody,'" Coconate said. "`They have to have $50,000 to $10,000. They have to take our polls, which can cost $8,000 or $9,000 … and any endorsement with Jackson, you have to take a picture with him, which costs you.'"

In short, Jackson's office was selling endorsements, Coconate said. He said the Jackson aide he dealt with is likely the one referred to in the Blagojevich case.

That's The Chicago Way.Who could forget that Jesse Jackson Jr. was the national Co-Chair of the Barack Obama Presidential campaign?