One-third of Illinois voters (32%) say there is no way that Barack Obama was involved in the Blagojevich corruption case as questions mount over whether an Obama adviser discussed the president-elect’s vacant Senate seat with the Illinois governor or his staff.

Only 13% say it is Very Likely that the president-elect was involved, with another 13% saying it is Somewhat Likely, according to a Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Illinois voters on Wednesday night.

Thirty-seven percent (37%) say it’s Not Very Likely, with six percent (6%) undecided.

In a press conference on Thursday, Obama again insisted he and his staff had no involvement in any negotiations over his successor in the Senate. He also promised to disclose any discussions between his transition staff and the office of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who has been charged by federal law enforcement officials with, among other things, trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder.

Speculation increasingly has focused on Rahm Emmanuel, a Chicago political veteran and congressman, who is Obama’s proposed White House chief of staff. Emmanuel refused to answer a Chicago Sun-Times reporter yesterday when asked if he spoke with Blagojevich or his staff about the Senate seat.

Men are more suspicious than women, with 18% of male voters saying it is Very Likely Obama was involved in the scandal, compared to eight percent (8%) of women. But 38% of women and 24% of men say the president-elect was not involved at all.

The partisan divide is predictable. Among Republicans, 20% say it is Very Likely Obama was involved in the corruption case, and another 26% say it is Somewhat Likely. Only seven percent (7%) of Democratic voters think it is Very Likely, with four percent (4%) saying it is Somewhat Likely.

Fifteen percent (15%) of unaffiliated voters rate Obama’s involvement as Very Likely, while 14% say Somewhat Likely.

Forty-six percent (46%) of Democrats and 30% of unaffiliateds say Obama was not at all involved, but just nine percent (9%) of GOP voters agree. Fifty percent (50%) of African-American voters say Obama was not involved, versus 29% of white voters.

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Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Illinois voters strongly approve of Obama’s performance so far as president-elect, while only 12% strongly disapprove. Fifty-two percent of voters in the state had a Very Favorable view of Obama in the last survey before Election Day. Obama carried Illinois with nearly 62% of the vote.

Nationally, in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index, Obama on Friday has a +28 rating, matching his highest levels to date.

In a telephone conversation wiretapped by federal authorities, Blagojevich says he told an unnamed Obama advisor what he wanted in exchange for appointing a close Obama confidante, subsequently identified as Valerie Jarrett, to the Senate.

"They‘re not willing to give me anything except appreciation," Blagojevich told his chief of staff in another intercepted call. Obama declined to speculate when asked at Thursday’s press conference why Blagojevich thought the Obama people weren’t going to give him anything.

Eighty-four percent (84%) of Illinois voters say Blagojevich should resign.

The political fallout from Blagojevich’s arrest and the release of details from the wiretapped conversations has already hurt one of the candidates for Obama’s vacated Senate seat.

lllinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is now the first choice on the list of Democratic favorites to serve out the final two years of Obama’s term at the expense of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

Court documents quote Blagojevich saying a representative of Senate Candidate 5 would raise money for him in exchange for the Senate appointment. Jackson, since identified as Senate Candidate 5, has emphatically denied offering Blagojevich anything.

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