Obama's patronage with U.S. ambassador posts raises questions

The U.S. has a long tradition of reserving a place in the world's most comfortable capitals for a president's political supporters. Under Barack Obama, the tradition lives on.

By one independent count, 19 of the people he's nominated to become ambassadors were responsible for raising nearly five million U.S. dollars in political contributions.

“Too many sensitive overseas posts are being given to Obama fundraisers,” writes former U.S. diplomat and blogger Mark Dillen.

Dillon calls patronage “the transparent reason for many otherwise inexplicable choices.”

OpenSecrets.Org, a Washington activist group, matched-up ambassadorial nominations with public records about campaign contributions.

*The new ambassador to Sweden will be Internet tycoon Matthew Barzun, a big contributor to the Democratic Party who raised more than US$500,000 for the Obama campaign.

*The new envoy to Switzerland will be car dealer Donald Beyer, a Virginia state politician who raised more than US$500,000 for the campaign and US$245,000 for the president's inauguration celebration.

*The new man in Belize will be Vinai Thummalapally, Obama's former college roommate. He raised more than US$100,000 according to OpenSecrets. It's such a familiar thing that Americans don't seem angry or surprised.

There's no suggestion that anyone tried to sell the postings to fundraisers in advance and every embassy always has experienced hands on its senior staff.

Publicly, the president even considers the political appointees as able as the professionals.

“Americans will be fortunate to have these distinguished men and women as their representatives abroad,” he said, announcing the nominations of both trained diplomats and political supporters.

“Their talent, experience, and dedication will be invaluable.”

I once spent an entertaining and eye-opening evening with a previous president's appointee: a rich attorney who got a coveted Nordic capital.

He didn't speak the local language and had only rudimentary knowledge of the country, but he said he enjoyed it because he said it was 'small enough to get your arms around.'

One of Barack Obama's own supporters is now headed to that same embassy. Money talks, and in U.S. politics, it travels.

Jonathan Mann hosts the weekly half hour program “Political Mann” on CNN International.

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