Blago sucks. I get that. They have voted unanimously to impeach him.
Burris is African-American. I get that too. Seems like Blago picked him based only on the fact it would cause the most problems if he wasn’t allowed in. It feels like Blago is enjoying his time in the spotlight, kind of the way the heel wrestler might in the WWE.
We all know that Burris might have been the 23rd choice the people of Illinois would have wanted to replace Obama as senator. I might have stood a better chance at getting elected. Ok, that is being harsh to someone who IS qualified and has a good public service record.
However, Blago is still the Governor and he has the legal authority to appoint someone. Jesse White is the Secretary of State and doesn’t have the law behind him in his quest to take the moral high road.
So let Burris sit, and keep the seat warm, for when the next Senator destroys him in a general election.
Letting Burris sit for such a short time will do a couple things. One, it will keep the Blago thing from being dragged out forever. Two, it will get the next batch of qualified candidates chomping at the bit to win your vote in 2010.
But sometimes, you find a diamond in the rough. Burris might turn out to be the right choice after all. Some of the best leaders are discovered by mistake. It was only 5 short years ago when Mike Ditka was considering a Senate run. The Republicans appeared ready for that, and Ditka would have given the Democratic candidate a run for his money. Ditka opted not to run because of the scrutiny, but the footnote in the whole thing is the person he was running against turned out to be President-Elect Obama.
Aside from all that, the state really has nothing to lose. Being a junior senator with such scrutiny being place on every move, Burris is just going to vote the party line anyway. He will make no waves.
So I say let the man sit!
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