Jim Johnson Falls on His Sword

June 11, 2008— -- Obama VP vettter Jim Johnson resigned on Wednesday, a mere 24 hours after Barack Obama was caught flat-footed answering questions about the former Fannie Mae executive's business ties.

"I would not dream of being a party to distracting attention from that historic effort," Johnson said in a statement. "I believe Barack Obama's candidacy for President of the United States is the most exciting and important of my lifetime."

Johnson said he had done nothing wrong, saying "blatantly false statements and misrepresentations'' had been written about him.

Johnson came under scrutiny over the weekend when The Wall Street Journal reported that he had received $7 million in loans for mortgages with rates below market averages from a special account controlled by the CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp, Angelo Mozilo.

Per ABC's Jake Tapper, the "perceived chasm" between Obama's rhetoric and his association with Johnson served as "a distraction for his campaign and an opportunity for his critics."

Obama and his aides have railed against Countrywide for its role in the on-going mortgage crisis.

While Johnson's decision to step aside will keep "vetting the vetters" in the headlines for the next 24 hours, it gives Obama a chance eventually to move on.

Both the presumptive Democratic nominee -- and his top surrogates -- had been struggling over the past couple of days to answer questions about the Washington insider who conducted vice presidential searches for John Kerry in 2004 and Walter Mondale in 1984.

Obama got the awkwardness rolling on Tuesday when he sought to downplay Johnson's importance by telling ABC's Sunlen Miller that his VP vetter was merely a volunteer.

"I am not vetting my VP search committee for their mortgages," said Obama. ". . . I would have to hire the vetter to vet the vetters."

While praising the leak-free process Johnson ran in 2004, John Kerry found himself downplaying Johnson's importance in the Obama campaign by saying on a Wednesday conference call with reporters that Johnson "hasn't been proposed for a confirmable position."

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