Illinois GOP sees it slipping away with possible Burris deal
Roland Burris at a news conference on Wednesday
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - In the latest turn this morning in the roller-coaster ride involving criminally charged Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, it’s starting to look as if the U.S. Senate will seat Blagojevich’s Senate appointee, Democrat Roland Burris, after all (see latest story, here).
This has prompted a frantic bit of last-minute media lobbying by the Illinois Republican Party, which has viewed this whole Democratic debacle as a chance to get its foot in the door of that vacant Senate seat (formerly under President-elect Barack Obama).
The state GOP has been trying for weeks to get state and national Dems to go back to their initial plan of holding an open special election for the seat, instead of letting Blagojevich or some other Democrat appoint it. If the Senate seats Burris, of course, the possibility of a special election is gone.
As the Burris story rolled out in Washington this morning, my email (and, I assume, that of other reporters covering Springfield) has been inundated by notes from Illinois Republican Party officials trying to keep alive the idea of a special election.
One note, from state party Chairman Andy McKenna, calls on Democratic Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn to “keep his promise” to seek a special election (in fact, that’s just one of numerous positions Quinn has taken on the issue) and warns that it’s his “first test of leadership.” Another note lists suggested questions for reporters to ask about whether some kind of improper deal was cut between Burris and Senate leaders.
The Illinois House impeachment committee considering charges against Blagojevich meets at 3 p.m. today. Burris is expected to testify before the committee tomorrow.
Won’t they have their shot to unseat burris in two years?
So we have a good and honest guy like Burris who has to fight to get the U.S. Senate to do the legal thing (the Constitution restricts the Senate to expulsion, not denial) - and now we have a bad comedian in Al Franken awaiting to be seated. What’s wrong with this picture - and country?
Amen Scott_Simon. Burris does seem like a good guy. Further,
Senator Reid is merely publicly airing his incompetence. I’m unclear as to what “legal authority” he was referring in excluding Burris. Absent an ex post facto 2/3 vote of the Senate, Burris’ Senate position has been lawfully vested in him and he has every right to it. It’s better the Senate give up this pointless little attempt at proving to the People they’re tough, and just swear him in, let him represent Illinois, and get on dealing with the more urgent issues facing our Country.
Why all the faux outrage? We all know that this occurs all the time. Just not usually on a federal wire tap. I am sure Mr. Burris is an honest and decent citizen. He is also a public servant with a long track record of service for Illinois. The real question is why haven’t Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden resigned their positions yet and how are their Senate seats going to be resolved? Probably the same as this one, but not on a federal wire tap. It happens all the time. Nothing to see here, time to move on citizens.
The Illinois GOP under Andy McKenna is a joke. This guy has broken more promises than all the Dems put together.
McKenna can’t even run a state convention for his own party that isn’t a rigged disaster. McKenna doesn’t even allow Republican voters to have a say in the State GOP. But he now wants to throw mud at the Dems?
Most Republicans in Illinois are sick of Andy McKenna and his hypocrisy. He’s been a horrible, selfish leader who has led the GOP to 2 statewide disasters in a row in Illinois.
McKenna must have thought he could save himself by this latest distraction. Most everyone has been calling for him to move on. No one takes McKenna seriously in the IL GOP anymore. Republicans are going to keep losing ground in Illinois as long as McKenna hangs around.
For more excellent background see:
http://www.championnews.net/article.php?sid=1487