Hillary Clinton's willingness to concede the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama dominated the front page today in newspapers nationwide, but news that former Obama fundraiser Tony Rezko was convicted on charges of fraud, money laundering and bribery was largely absent from Page One.
Papers across the country ran with headlines like "Clinton Unlikely as No. 2" (WSJ), the "Clinton Ready to End Bid and Endorse Obama" (N.Y. Times), "Battle Begins: Mccain-Obama contest presents stark choice on issues" (Miami Herald) and "Clinton Set to Bow Out" (Philadelphia Inquirer). Yet nary a reference was made to Rezko on the front pages of USA Today, the L.A. Times, Washington Post, Toledo Blade, Houston Chronicle, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Des Moines Register, Kansas City Star, Seattle Times, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and Cleveland Plain Dealer, to name a few.
Of course, there were exceptions. The Chicago Tribune went with a four-column-wide headline, "Rezko Convicted," and the Sun-Times went with a full-page photo of disgraced governor Rod Blagojevich, who was implicated in the testimony. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch also ran a story on A1, and the Boston Globe, N.Y. Times and WSJ each directed readers to look inside the first section. (The Detroit Free Press, for its part, was too distracted by the Red Wings' win last night in the Stanley Cup finals to run anything but an uplifting sports piece by Mitch Albom.)
Meantime, The Republican National Committee seized on the conviction yesterday by posting a video on its website linking Obama to Rezko, whom they called his "longtime friend and money man."