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IL-Sen: Burris Will Be Seated

by: James L.

Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 4:56 PM EST


From the pen of the Mighty and Fearless Harry Reid (and Dick Durbin):

The Secretary of the Senate has determined that the new credentials presented today on behalf of Mr. Burris now satisfy Senate Rules and validate his appointment to the vacant Illinois Senate seat. In addition, as we requested, Mr. Burris has provided sworn testimony before the Illinois House Committee on Impeachment regarding the circumstances of his appointment.

"We have spoken to Mr. Burris to let him know that he is now the Senator-designate from Illinois and as such, will be accorded all the rights and privileges of a Senator-elect.

"Accordingly, barring objections from Senate Republicans, we expect Senator-designee Burris to be sworn in and formally seated later this week. We are working with him and the office of the Vice President to determine the date and time of the swearing-in.
James L. :: IL-Sen: Burris Will Be Seated
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IL-Sen: Burris Will Be Seated | 48 comments
Please tell me a heavyweight is gonna primary this clown
Burris I mean. Though an argument could also be made for Nevada.
Spineless Idiots

Exactly
They couldn't have played this any worse if they'd tried. But I'll tell you what: it looks like Blago correctly judged the Democratic leadership.  
[ Parent ]
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Either they were racists or they were bending over for a corrupt governor.  
[ Parent ]
The racism thing was despicable
And Bobby Rush should resign in disgrace.
But that's not going to happen, and from a political hardball point of view, it was great strategy.  Especially since Reid didn't help himself by suggesting that Blago opt out of appointing a couple possibly unelectable African-American candidates and instead appoint a possibly unelectable Asian-American candidate (and, in fairness to Reid, a more electable White candidate).
[ Parent ]
Who knew things you say could come back and haunt you?

[ Parent ]
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael Madigan rushed thru an impeachment only to have Burris seated anyway.
Lulz. Thanx Har.
I have to agree with the Repubs saying that decision was political
They should have moved for a special election immediately.
[ Parent ]
A state running a huge defecit run a special election that could have cost up to 50 million dollars?
No thanks.  
[ Parent ]
Why?
We might lose!
[ Parent ]
Proves the point
It was a purely political decision and it backfired big time.
[ Parent ]
Yes and no
I agree that not legislating a special election was a political decision.  But, it's one I fully support.  And, I don't see how it has backfired at all.  Burris will be seated and will be a reliable Democratic vote for the next two years.  If there had been a special election, then the Republicans might have won the seat.  I'll take the sure thing.

While the whole controversy surrounding his appointment was a comical pie fight for Republicans to watch, it hasn't hurt Democrats or Obama nationally whatsoever.  Nobody will care about it in 2010, but people will care about how Obama has governed and having Burris instead of Kirk can help Obama govern more effectively.

[ Parent ]
You've completely ignored the fact I pointed out
that it could cost up to 50 million dollars in a state with large defecits already.  It was NOT a PURELY political decision.  There is a big financial factor bearing down on it too.  
[ Parent ]
Didn't ignore anything just don't agree cost was a major factor

[ Parent ]
We'll probably lose either way


Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens
[ Parent ]
Possible
But unlikely. If Dan Hynes or Alexi Giannoulias or anybody half decent primaries Burris it should be an easy hold.
[ Parent ]
Racialized primary.
Good luck to Jan Schakowsky in putting her coalition back together again after primarying Burris.  Hope she can win a general election in 2010 without the black vote.

[ Parent ]
I don't think he'll run
But if he can't be talked out of it then needs must.
[ Parent ]
Whoever beats him will need a heavyweight AA surrogate to vouch for them
I can't for the life of me think of one from Illinois. Can you? Doh!
[ Parent ]
There's certainly one
he'll be in the White House.
[ Parent ]
He won't get involved
I'm sure he'd want to endorse someone other than Burris but we all know he wouldn't.  It's basically an unrwitten rule that party leadership wouldn't back a non-incumbent over an incumbent.
[ Parent ]
But, he will
get involved in the general election.  To the extent there's a fear that someone primarying Burris will leave AAs disenchanted and unwilling to support the D nominee in the general, having Obama's active support should take care of that supposed problem (which I'm skeptical would exist in the first place).
[ Parent ]
Exactly the point I was making

[ Parent ]
Indeed
Snark not exactly my strong point! ;)
[ Parent ]
I doubt it
First, there's a good chance Burris won't run for re-election.  Second, if he does, he's likely to be defeated in the primary.  I much, much prefer our chances of holding this seat in November 2010, then I would have in a 2009 special election in the immediate aftermath of the Blago scandal.
[ Parent ]
I don't think a loss was and is very likely in either scenario
But I totally agree it is an embarrassing episode and nothing more.
[ Parent ]
Teh sky, it is falling!
Seriously, I'm just grateful this finally puts to bed the national implications of Blagogate.

Should he run (which I doubt he ultimately will), I peg Burris's odds at surviving the primary at somewhere between laughably slim and Senator DavidNYC.

The last thing we would have needed was a crowded, brutal Dem primary for a midyear special election... and a national media fawning all over faux-moderate, faux-reformer Mark Kirk.  In the middle of Obama's crucial first year in office, a political sideshow out of his home state would be a really detrimental distraction.

Damn, son.
Should he run (which I doubt he ultimately will), I peg Burris's odds at surviving the primary at somewhere between laughably slim and Senator DavidNYC.

That's one wide range!

[ Parent ]
If David doesn't get the New York gig
He could always primary Roland Burris...

I can see the campaign slogan already: "Imagine if Alan Keyes wasn't certifiably insane! Vote DavidNYC!"

[ Parent ]
Rest assured
DavidNYC will be running in both the 2010 and 2012 primaries.
[ Parent ]
Sucks
But, what were they really supposed to do?  I mean, the senate doesn't have THAT much power in controlling who is and isn't a member of it.  They had little legal capacity to stop the appointment.  Just thank God Blagojevich isn't getting 500K out of this.  

Burris will get primaried in 2010.  Hopefully by Schakowsky.  

Harry Reid & Jesse White
The posturing of Harry Reid and Jesse White on this was poorly thought out and ultimately fruitless.

Blago, like it or not, was still Governor.  Unless he was guilty of a further criminal act in naming Burris, there was little that should have been done.  Reid's waffling just gave Republicans fresh ammunition in the PR war.  We should be aiming at Bush and McConnell not arming the opposition.

White's conduct was what?  Beyond the scope of law certainly.  A thoroughly corrupt precedent for future skullduggery and perhaps driven by the hope that he, Jesse White, would be the place holder Senator.

Meanwhile, the legally elected Senator from Minnesota is being kept out by the shennanigans of Norm Coleman and his lawyers.  The DNC and DSCC should be running ads in Minnesota attacking this over reach.  These are, after all, the very same creeps that never let the Florida votes be counted.  Close with fine profanities and end the piece.

Good
Looks like this mess is quickly coming to a close.  Much better to get it resolved sooner rather than later.  We can use the vote and do not need the distraction.  Reid did the right thing to get this resolved.  No one will care about this in 2010 outside Illinois (and then only if Burris runs).
Ugh
What a terrible leader. I think Democratic primaries has produced a lot better leaders then the Senate Caucus. I know Durbin is technically part of the current leadership team but I'd like to give him a shot.  
Durbin would certainly be an improvement over Reid
And unlike Reid, he's sufficiently entrenched in an extremely blue state (Illinois) where he can afford to stick his neck out on progressive issues.

Visit Election Inspection for first-rate political analysis.
[ Parent ]
That's what people said about Daschle
Never assume someone is going to be better. Leadership, at least Democratic leadership, kills partisanship.
[ Parent ]
Daschle wasn't horrible
And he was in South Dakota during a presidential year. At minimum he was better at parlimentary procedures (which is important in an institution like the Senate).

Visit Election Inspection for first-rate political analysis.
[ Parent ]
Senate leaders
are never really partisan, certainly not as partisan as House leaders. The Senate, by design, is supposed to be anti-partisan. The base is supposed to have the House, not the Senate.

I think we're looking at this the wrong way because the Republican Senate leaders were uber partisan.

But think of the past, certainly Daschle wasn't partisan, neither was Mitchell or Byrd or Mansfield for that matter, who gave Nixon whatever he wanted in his first term.

We're never going to get a partisan progressive leader in the Senate.  

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens

[ Parent ]
And South Dakota isn't exactly a deep blue state either.
[ Parent ]
Alexi or Dan Hynes?
Which one will primary him? And how soon until one of them (or someone else) announces? The Illinois primary is really early.
Oh Well,
Burris may have been praying that he would get seated, but here's praying that he doesn't try to run for election in two years.

My Can Of Contemplation is now open to all for perusal.
With friends like Harry Reid
Obama won't need enemies in Congress to screw up his agenda.
i'm pretty happy actually
we get a reliable democratic vote for 2 years and obama/reid/durbin/white have all made it clear that they don't like burris/blago.

if you think this looked bad imagine how brutal the press would be if f@**%%'n kirk won a special.

and we'll get an untainted strong democrat in '10 - hynes/schakowsky or something.

special elections suck.

Especially now he'll have to give up his seat
So we'll get a likely pickup in IL-10, which has been stubbornly tough, despite it's dem lean, and the Blago scandal won't be fresh on voters minds.  
[ Parent ]
Hopefully there will be strong pressure
from Obama, Reid, Durbin, Quinn, and just about every sane Democrat for Burris not to run again.

Seriously, Blago is suck, but nevertheless intelligent.  He picked the one guy whose selection would cause the most shenanigans.

Fuck you, Blago.

Bill Posey is not half-alligator...and is outclassed by Davy Crockett anyway

[ Parent ]
After facing down Reid and prevailing...
...Burris can go up against more imposing opponents such as say a cardboard box.
Tom Daschle
I loved poking fun at his spinelessness back when he was the Democratic Senate leader.  But compared to Reid Daschle is made of steel.
[ Parent ]
IL-Sen: Burris Will Be Seated | 48 comments

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