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John Harris, former chief of staff, testified on June 24 that subsequent names on Obama’s Senate choice list were Tammy Duckworth, about whom the Honolulu
Advertiser had stated that, like Barack Obama, was “born outside the country”; Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, who is an advocate for “universal health care;” Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., and Illinois State Comptroller Dan Hynes. Harris’s testimony indicates that race was a factor in Obama’s selections for his Senate seat and that Emil Jones, the “political godfather” who reportedly had “provided critical support that gave the little-known legislator legitimacy, keeping him from being instantly trampled by the front-runners” in Obama’s bid for the U.S. Senate, was not on the list, even though Jones had wanted “to see a black president before he gets called home.
“political godfather”