Defiant Blagojevich Names Obama’s Replacement
A defiant Gov. Rod Blagojevich ignored calls for him to step aside, instead naming Former State Attorney General Roland Burris to replace President-Elect Barack Obama in the United States Senate:
Blagojevich, arrested Dec. 9 on charges of trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder, appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the seat. He praised the 71-year-old Burris’ integrity and asked that the corruption allegations don’t “taint this good and honest man.”
“The people of Illinois are entitled to have two United States senators represent them in Washington D.C.,” Blagojevich said at a news conference in Chicago. “As governor I am required to make this appointment.”
From a political standpoint, this is a brilliant move. If the Senate votes to not accept Burris, they’ll be turning down an accomplished minority politician:
Burris was the first African-American elected to major statewide office. He’s served as Illinois’ comptroller and ran for governor three times, the last time losing to Blagojevich.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush came out of the crowd at the news conference to urge U.S. senators to seat Burris, noting Obama’s departure leaves the chamber without a black member. Earlier in the day, Senate leaders released a statement saying they would not seat anyone Blagojevich appointed. “This is a good decision,” Rush said. “Roland Burris is worthy. He has not in 40 years of public service had one iota of taint on his record as a public servant. “
Based on their official statement, it’s obvious that Senate Democrats aren’t happy getting painted into this corner:
“It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety,” the statement said.
“Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.”
I suspect that Harry Reid and Co. are upset with Gov. Blagojevich but that they’ll seat Burris because they can’t afford the political hit they’d take if they didn’t seat a qualified black politician. In this context, it’s irrelevant that Gov. Blagojevich is embroiled in a scandal.
Technorati Tags: Scandal, Rod Blagojevich, US Senate, Barack Obama, Roland Burris, Attorney General, Bobby Rush, CBC
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog