Burris To Be Seated

by: Chris Bowers

Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 16:56


"Barring objections from Republicans," Roland Burris will be the next Senator from Illinois:

Eager to put the scandal-tainted standoff behind them, Senate Democrats accepted Roland Burris as President-elect Barack Obama's Senate successor on Monday and said they expect to swear in the new Illinois senator this week.

"He is now the senator-designate from Illinois and, as such, will be accorded all the rights and privileges of a senator-elect," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said in a joint statement after Senate lawyers determined that Burris' paperwork met Senate requirements to be seated.

The two senators said they expect Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, to be sworn in and seated this week, barring objections from Republicans.

Hard to imagine that there will be any objections from Republicans. If anything, they will salivate over Burris as a potential 2010 opponent, due to his connections with Blagojevich. They are right to do so, making it necessary to defeat Burris in the Senate primary next year, should he decide to run.

Still, in the meantime, it is best that Burris be seated. For one thing, it is a perfectly legal appointment. Second, it is a distraction, and there is much real governing that we need to focus on instead. Third, it is best not to start a precedent of rejecting Senate appointees for political reasons. That is a can of worms that Republicans would be certain to use in the future, once their numbers in the Senate increase.

This is the right outcome. Seat Burris, but let's work to make sure someone else in the Democratic nominee for Illinois Senate in 2010.

Chris Bowers :: Burris To Be Seated

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right on all points (0.00 / 0)
defeating him in a primary will be a must. hopefully the fear of a primary challenge causes him to vote on the party line.

Burris will lose in the primary. (0.00 / 0)
He lost the Democratic primary during the last 3 races for Governor. He got less than 35% of the popular vote in 1994 against Dawn Clark Netsch in a three way race, He got 30% of the popular vote in 1998 against Glenn Poshard in a 4 way race. In 2002- He came in third place against G-ROD and Paul Vallas.

Burris will come in third place in the primary. He won't get more than 25%- Jan Schakowsky comes in 2nd place with 35% appealing to White Liberals in the Chicago Area. Dan Hyne will get 40%- appealing to Downstate and NW Illinios.

Hynes or Schakowsky will be the Democratic Nominee for the Illinios US Senate Race.


[ Parent ]
Thank god... (0.00 / 0)
The sooner Burris gets seated the sooner America forgets all about him. There are plenty other scandals and crises to take our attention without dragging out a Dem vs. Dem infighting story.
Hopefully, once Obama takes office the media will be rightly distracted and Blago's idiocy can revert to a local news store and not a nationwide spectacle.

"Don't hate the media, become the media" -Jello Biafra

yeah, it's great for us (0.00 / 0)
Washington Democrats capitulate to crooked governor and egomaniac.

Is there any route to push Senate Dems to replace the leadership?

It's time to dump the spineless wimps Reid and Durbin.

First they roll over for the Republicans.  Then they roll over for Lieberman.  Then, out of fear of upsetting mean old Rod Blagojevich and mean old Roland Burris and the mean old Republicans, they turn around and capitulate on Burris.

It's pathetic.  Illinois Dems do their job.  White doesn't certify, the State Supremes kick it back to the Senate, the House Impeachment Committee gets Burris to admit that he lied in his sworn statement to the Senate Leadership.

But Reid and Durbin roll over.  Pathetic.  Spineless.  Weak.  Disgusting.  And we get rewarded with the very likely result of Senator Mark Kirk.  Grr.


[ Parent ]
Reid (4.00 / 2)
The Dems should have never said they would refuse to seat any appointment. They backed themselves into a corner and got played by Blago. It was pretty impressive actually. In fact, it has been consistently impressive how Reid can be such an effective fighter against other Dems and such an absolute failure when dealing with the opposition.

I blame this, and everything, on Reid. As far as I'm concerned he is now the biggest impediment to effective Democratic leadership. If there is any way to remove him (I don't think there is) I promise to give all the time and money I can to the cause.  

"Don't hate the media, become the media" -Jello Biafra


[ Parent ]
"...a precedent of rejecting Senate appointees for political reasons." (0.00 / 0)
The Democrats already set this precedent.

They refused to seat Burris, and changing their minds for no particular reason after they already refused to seat a Senator appointed according to the law in Illinois won't undo the damage.

It's just another brilliant episode in the political career of Harry Reid, who isn't just a slimy collaborator with genocide in Iraq...

He isn't just a coward who rolled over again and again and again and again while Bush eviscerated the Constitution...

Harry Reid is also a complete moron who can't even remember what he ate for breakfast, much less that he broke with 200 years of settled procedure in the Senate and then flipflopped ten minutes later.

But in spite of being a coward, a collaborator with genocide, and a complete moron, Harry Reid has one outstanding feature that qualifies him to remain Majority Leader of the United States Senate:

He's an absolutely typical Democrat, and that's good enough for them.



I think the case for keeping Burris out was pretty strong, (0.00 / 0)
and I do worry that we're going to find out later that everything was not necessarily on the up-and-up with respect to this appointment. I don't trust Burris at all; he clearly prizes his own ego above all else, and he's already been caught in a lie about not having contacted any of Blago's people about the open seat.

BUT...this is hardly the most important thing in the world, and the fact of the matter is that Burris was going to press his case with all his might, and the only way to keep him out would have been a long, acrimonious legal battle that would have made sure to keep this on the front page that much longer, and it's just not worth it.  


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