Could David Obey Be in Even More Hot Water?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

The Rest of the Story

There is more to the story we brought you last week about Democratic House Appropriations Chairman David Obey's eruption against colleague Dennis Kucinich during a meeting of House Democrats.

The Politico reports Obey says the anti-war Kucinich accused the Democratic leadership of trying to privatize Iraqi oil reserves. Obey said, "this isn't the first time that Dennis has twisted the facts." He called the Kucinich claim a "falsehood" and said other Democrats were tired of it.

As for two colleagues who said that Obey's response had been profane and offensive — Obey said Diane Watson was "clueless" that he had already addressed Kucinich's concerns in another meeting.

And of Maxine Waters, Obey said, "Even I could win a charm school award against her."

Political Firing

Another former federal prosecutor is suggesting he was fired for political reasons. Karl Warner says he was never told why he was dismissed as U.S. attorney for southern West Virginia in 2005.

The Justice Department disputes any political motive — but says unless Warner signs a privacy rights waiver it cannot give the actual reason for his dismissal.

The Associated Press reports a state legislative audit turned up e-mails in which Warner had offered to secretly contribute to a county political campaign — which could have been an ethics violation — but the donation was never made.

Deepening Trouble

Barack Obama appears to be falling into deepening trouble with the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus and specifically the African-American leadership of Detroit.

Obama last week delivered what was called a "scalding" speech in the Motor City, castigating the major American automakers for driving the country's dependence on foreign oil. Detroit Democratic Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick told Newsweek magazine that Obama "left a lot to be desired with that message."

The mayor's mother is Carolyn Kilpatrick — the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus. She was not pleased when Obama joined other Democrats in pulling out of a presidential candidates' debate scheduled for Detroit — and co-sponsored by the Black Caucus and FOX News.

Go Down in History

Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback says he'll probably go down in history — but not the way he would want.

Out in Wisconsin the other day he used a football analogy to make a point about the need to focus on families. "This is fundamental blocking and tackling," he said, "This is your line in football. If you don't have a line, how many passes can Peyton Manning complete? Greatest quarterback, maybe, in NFL history."

The trouble is, in Wisconsin, the only quarterback who counts is the legendary Bret Favre of the Green Bay Packers. The crowd booed Brownback. He finally apologized and put his head in his hands, saying, "That's really bad. That will go down in history. I'm not sure how I recover from this."

—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.