CHICAGO - Brushing aside charges that he tried to sell Illinois' vacant U.S. Senate seat, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the post yesterday in defiance of Senate leaders who said they would not admit anyone the governor selected.
It was an abrupt about-face by Blagojevich, who had said after his arrest Dec. 9 on federal corruption charges that he favored a special election for a successor to President-elect Barack Obama. But the governor said he acted after Illinois' Democratic-controlled General Assembly declined to approve legislation for a special election.
"Please don't allow the allegations against me to taint this good and honest man," Blagojevich said while introducing Burris at a downtown news conference.
Senate Democratic leaders say that it is not the candidate Blagojevich has chosen but rather the tainted governor himself that prevents them from accepting Burris as a replacement for Obama.
"This is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat," the Democratic leadership said in a statement issued yesterday. "Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus."
In a statement yesterday, Obama said: "Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat. I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it."
Blagojevich's move seemed designed to trump fellow Democrats who control the U.S. Senate and have unanimously warned him against making the appointment because of the criminal charges. His choice of Burris, Illinois' first African-American elected statewide, presents senators with the dilemma of saying no to a black replacement for Obama, who was the nation's only African-American senator.
That point was driven home at the news conference by Rep. Bobby L. Rush, who said it is a matter of national importance that an African-American replace Obama in the Senate.
"Let me just remind you that there presently is no African-American in the Senate. ... This is just not a state of Illinois matter," the Chicago Democrat said.
