Roland “I am the Senator” Burris

Today, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 114-1 to impeach Governor Rod Blagojevich.  Meanwhile, the state’s Supreme Court declined to order Secretary of State, Jesse White, to sign the certificate by which appointed Roland Burris to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat, but also ruled that the appointment document was valid without the Secretary of State’s signature.  White then reiterated that he would not sign the Governor’s certificate of appointment as a matter of principle.

Apparently clutching at this last remaining straw, Senator Dick Durbin said later in the day that the Senate still would not accept Burris without White’s precious signature.  But White, who complained the other day that the Senate was making him the “fall guy,” announced that he was sending his own separate document to the Senate stating that Burris’s appointment document is “true and accurate.”  And Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan declared that White was no longer an obstacle to Burris being seated, which was up to the Senate.  Perhaps confused by all this, a spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday evening that various Senate functionaries had to advise “the Senate Leadership as we consider a way forward.”

Reid and Durbin could use some good advice.  According to Politico.com, some Democrats are angry at the botching of the Burris affair and are blaming Reid, Durbin and Obama.

Maybe White’s separate certification will so obviously overcome grounds for Senate resistance that the issue will be gone by Saturday morning.  Still, what Reid and Durbin tried to do earlier today, after learning of the impeachment vote, was to put the issue into a holding pattern to see: (1) if the impeachment vote leads to enough pressure on Blago to get him to resign; (fat chance); or (2) how fast the Illinois Senate moves toward a conviction and removal from office (beats me).  If it looks as if Blago is going to be out and Lt. Governor Pat Quinn is going to be in quickly enough to head off further distracting theatrics involving Burris, Reid, Durbin and company may figure that they can stall long enough for Quinn to decide the matter.

But here’s the thing.  Will Quinn, who’ll immediately be looking to boost himself for election to a full term as Governor, really want to appoint someone other than Burris?  If he appoints, say, Lisa Madigan or Tammy Duckworth, both of whom are reported to be among the favorites but neither of whom is black, he will be feeding himself into a buzz saw, as Illinois’ large African-American constituency rallies around Burris as the legitimate appointee.

If he tries to dodge that bullet by appointing another African-American, unless Burris collapses and withdraws (not likely for a man who’s shown such spunk), Quinn will be setting up a black-on-black legal and political battle for which he’ll get no kudos from black voters.  In either case, a prolonged court contest over who is the rightful senator will ensue, keeping the national spotlight on the Blagojemess, as Barack Obama tries to move his program ahead.  In the end, the courts will almost certainly decide that Burris’ appointment is the valid one.

So the only course available to Governor Quinn that wouldn’t make him enemies, wouldn’t cast a shadow over Obama’s honeymoon period, and wouldn’t result in an ultimate defeat would be to appoint Roland Burris again!

And that means Burris is in like Flynn.

 

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Durbin, Burris and Reid enjoy a chuckle together

Wow, that was fast! One minute Harry Reid and Dick Durbin are vowing never to seat anyone appointed to the Senate by Hot Rod Blagojevich and turning the appointee away in the rain. The next, we’re all chums (“Rod who?”).

After several days in which only attacks on Hamas in Gaza by the entire Israeli Army could compete with the saga of Roland “I am the Senator” Burris for media attention, Reid caved. He didn’t blink or wink; he just collapsed and invited Burris to join him for a cozy schmooze.

Of course, there are still several “conditions” Burris must meet to get his seat. One is to get the signature of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White on his credential, as was supposedly required by the Senate rules. (One wag likened this to getting a note from the principal.) That got a lot easier when White, himself, being no fool, declared that his signature was merely “ceremonial” and “not required” for the Senate to seat Burris, and that he was not about to be made the “fall guy.”

A second condition is that Burris must testify to the Illinois Legislature’s impeachment committee about the circumstances of Blago’s offering him the appointment, presumably so Burris can swear there was no hanky panky involved. Burris testifies Thursday. Consider the condition fulfilled.

Finally, Reid still insists that the Senate Rules Committee will have to look into the appointment and recommend action to the entire Senate, which would then vote to seat Burris — or not. This gives Harry a bit of time to let the issue sink from public view and also allows him to force Republicans to vote, yes, along with Democrats, thereby diluting future partisan charges of caving to Blago-mail.

Meanwhile, Senators Diane Feinstein and Patrick Leahy broke ranks with the Majority Leader early to say they supported seating Burris, thus opening a potential flood. The Congressional Black Caucus voted unanimously to urge the Senate to seat him. President-elect Obama said it was a Senate matter but he thinks Burris is a fine fellow. According to Burris, Jimmy Carter phoned in an endorsement while in Washington for a photo op. And several sources reported that Obama urged a quick “amicable resolution” of the Burris mess when he met with Reid on Monday.

No wonder. Here we have Obama arriving in Washington to rev up his economic plan and finalize his top appointments, and the new Congress with its lop-sided Democratic majorities convening for the first time to great expectations, but CNN, MSNBC and Fox News had wall-to-wall, day-long coverage of the Burris drama. To use the old cliché, Burris was sucking up all the oxygen.

So, it is now clear, Burris is the Senator, or soon will be, and Blago has outfoxed everyone. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald reportedly went public early — before he could obtain a grand jury indictment — with his charges against Blago in order to head off a corrupt appointment to fill the President-elect’s Senate seat. Yet, all the Illinois pols — Pat Quinn, the various Madigans, Boss Daley, Durbin, White, et al. – the Democratic Senate Majority headed by Reid, and Obama himself, along with his highly touted transition team, “Rahmbo” and the rest, have managed to muff the play and let Blago make the appointment anyway. It’s not a corrupt appointment, now, to be sure, but it’s a big Blago win. I suspect this will not be the last we hear of Hot Rod.

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Roland “I am the Senator” Burris after Senate turned him away

I’m starting to like this Burris guy. OK, so he’s Rod Blagojevich’s personal choice to fill Obama’s vacant Senate seat, which is a very, very bad way to start a Senate career.  Still, he’s showing himself to be smart, cool, dignified, and capable of marching right up to Harry Reid and all the rest to claim his seat.

 

Few pols have that kind of genuine moxie. Oh, sure, they talk about strength and courage and what not, but put a little pressure on them — say, the pressure of the whole national Democratic Party leadership — and not many wouldn’t fold. But Chicago’s Roland Burris seems positively eager for a fight.

 

A major factor in the way Harry Reid, Dick Durbin and others have backed themselves into their present corner is the sense they seem to have that no African-American — especially not one chosen by Blago — will win election to a full term in 2010, handing the seat to the GOP. (And of course, the reason both the Senate and Illinois Democratic leaders backed away from their initial call to strip Blago of the appointment power and set a special election was that the GOP might win the special.) But Burris is proving himself to be one tough cookie. He’s shrewd, yet disarmingly smooth; sharp, while exuding a kind of grandfatherly kindness; combative while giving one and all a nice smile.

 

Of course, Republicans will do their best to tie him to Blago, whatever happens to the Blagovernor, and he’ll have a lot of explaining to do to voters who believe Blago is more crooked than the average Illinois governor. But Democrats in Illinois could do a lot worse than having Burris, as an incumbent, running for the seat two years from now.

 

In any case, Burris is going to win this fight. Reid and company don’t have a legal leg to stand on. Their hope of winning lay with scaring Blago and any prospective appointee off, and they failed at that. So they might as well welcome the guy and make the best of it.

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Harry Reid and Could-Be Senator Roland Burris

As Rod “I am the Governor” Blagojevich’s pick to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat, Roland Burris, vowed to fight for the office, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Whip Dick Durbin went on Sunday talk shows and declared again that they have the authority to refuse to seat Burris and still plan to exclude him.

 

After drawing a line in the sand, however, Reid immediately invited Burris to ignore it, indicating that while the appointment by Blagojevich was tainted, Burris was a fine fellow and Reid might be willing to negotiate a solution to the problem. Reid is now scheduled to meet with Burris on Wednesday.

 

Of course, Reid may be just acting polite to avoid giving the bum’s rush to an African-American about whom no one seems to have anything bad to say. Black ministers and community leaders in Chicago are rallying behind Burris, and he’s also getting some key editorial support.  And although Reid denies it, he’s clearly been embarrassed by a claim from the Blago camp that he urged the Governor not to appoint any of several leading Black Illinois elected officials, supposedly because they wouldn’t be able to hold the seat for the Democrats in 2010.  Perhaps most significantly, there seems to be a growing consensus of opinion, cutting across partisan and ideological lines, that the Senate lacks the authority to exclude Burris and would be unwise or unfair to try to do so.

 

Reid is working to buy time. When Burris shows up on Tuesday, he’ll likely be given some acknowledgement — perhaps even accepted as a “Senator-elect” — with the issue of his credentials referred to the Rules Committee for study. With a little luck, the Illinois Legislature will impeach Blagojevich and remove him from office as early as next week before the Committee completes its “study.”

 

Trouble is that even a quick impeachment wouldn’t change the question of whether the Senate must recognize Burris’s appointment by Blago when he was still Governor. One way out would be to persuade Lt. Governor Pat Quinn to appoint Burris again after taking over as Governor, thus saving face for Reid, making no concession on the Senate’s ultimate authority, and dodging a potentially ugly race-tinged fight. For his part, Burris might be persuaded to agree not to run for a full Senate term in 2010.

 

It’s hard to see a “compromise” like this flying. After putting himself out on a limb by accepting Blago’s appointment, why should Burris agree to give up the office in two years, when his legal case is probably a winner. Why should Pat Quinn appoint him anyway? Why would all the other Illinois pols who want the appointment for themselves fall in line? And how can anyone be confident that Blago will be out of office anytime soon?

 

Nope. The Blagojemess is just going to continue to get messier.

 

(Visit me at The Purple Center)