LOL: Blago to Appoint Fmr. AG to Senate Seat

[Mr. Morden]

Pay-Rod is attempting a chess move of some sort, but I cannot figure out what his game plan is. 

Blago's goals with this would be:

1) Create sympathy for himself in the black community, so that he has at least *one* group of political allies.

2) Try to convince the jury in his eventual criminal trial that the stuff he said on the tapes was just idle chatter.  ("See!  I wasn't selling this Senate seat.  I appointed a well respected elder statesmen who offered me nothing in return.")

3) Blow up the senate seat selection process as a giant f you to everyone else involved.

On another topic.......I concur with those who are suggesting that Reid would be on shaky ground to deny Burris the seat.  However, what about the Illinois Secretary of State?  He's refusing to certify the appointment.  Is he legally within his rights to do so?  Can they block Burris's appointment just by having the SoS refuse to certify it?

[Mr. Morden]

On another topic.......I concur with those who are suggesting that Reid would be on shaky ground to deny Burris the seat.  However, what about the Illinois Secretary of State?  He's refusing to certify the appointment.  Is he legally within his rights to do so?  Can they block Burris's appointment just by having the SoS refuse to certify it?

Sounds like he has to certify it for it to count, but he has no business not certifying it if it was a legal appointment.

What happens if he simply refuses to certify it?  It goes to court, and Burris certainly prevails?  Then Reid tries to block his being seated, and it goes to court, and Burris wins again?

Why not simply pass the special election law today?  Maybe by the time Burris is able to force his appointment through the legal process, the special election will have already occurred, and his appointment will be moot anyway.

[Mr. Morden]

Actually, yeah, thinking about this some more, that may be the only way for the Democrats out of this mess without things getting really ugly: Just pass the special election law.  Even if Burris is forced upon the senate, it will only be for about two months, at which point, whoever wins the special election will replace Burris.  Bobby Rush can try all the race baiting he likes, but if it's the Illinois voters who are pulling the Senate seat out from under Burris rather than Harry Reid, there won't be the same sting.

[Mr. Morden]

I guess the problem is that the legislature empowered the governor to make an appointment, no legislation revoking this power was ever passed, and an appointment has now been made.

Perhaps the law empowering the governor has a provision that the legislature has a window to nullify the appointment, but I don't know if that is the case or not.

OK, gotcha.  So, if Reid tries to throw up roadblocks, to prevent Burris from being seated, and the courts ultimately rule in Burris's favor, then it's impossible for the Illinois legislature to cut Burris's term short by passing a special election law (maybe)?  It presumably wouldn't matter if they passed such a law as early as today, because Blago has already made the appointment.  If Blago's appointment of Burris is found to be legally legitimate, then it's already too late for the IL legislature to act, I guess.

[Mr. Morden]

Democrats in IL are not going to pass a special election law because the odds are too strong that they would lose the election.

Putting the seat at some risk of going to the GOP in a special election might not be as bad as a months (years?) long legal battle that results in Burris being seated as a pariah Senator.....which could just lead to the GOP winning the seat in 2010 anyway.  But it's a moot point if, as emailking suggests, it might already be too late for the IL legislature to act anyway.

[Mr. Morden]

CNN TV just reported that Burris is asking the Illinois Supreme Court to force the certification of his appointment.  He's also planning on flying to DC this weekend in order to take his seat as the junior senator from Illinois.  No word on when Reid plans on changing the locks to the capitol dome.

Edit:  AP:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ijDA5bgxiHlTvS_r-SSjskS1Tq1wD95DVSQ00

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