Ill. gov. names former state AG as Obama replacement in Senate

CHICAGO -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday appointed a black political trailblazer in Illinois to Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat, putting his opponents in the position of vowing not to seat a veteran politician who would become the Senate's only black member.

Blagojevich, arrested Dec. 9 on charges of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder, appointed former Illinois attorney general Roland Burris to the seat. He praised the 71-year-old Burris' integrity and asked that the corruption allegations don't "taint this good and honest man."

"The people of Illinois are entitled to have two United States senators represent them in Washington, D.C.," Blagojevich said at a news conference in Chicago. "As governor, I am required to make this appointment."

Burris, standing at the governor's side, said he's eager to get to work in Washington "to face a convergence of parallel crises." He said he has no connection to the charges against Blagojevich and first discussed the appointment with Blagojevich on Sunday.

Burris was the first black elected to major statewide office. He's served as Illinois' comptroller and ran for governor three times -- the last time losing to Blagojevich.

Roland Burris

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush came out of the crowd at the news conference to urge U.S. senators to seat Burris, noting Obama's departure leaves the chamber without a black member.

"This is a good decision," Rush said. "Roland Burris is worthy. He has not in 40 years of public service had one iota of taint on his record as a public servant."

In a statement Tuesday, Senate Democrats maintained Blagojevich should not make the appointment because it is unfair to Burris, unfair to the people of Illinois and ultimately won't stand.

"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," the statement said.

Obama said Tuesday he supported Senate Democrats' decision.

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn said Blagojevich's decision to appoint Burris is an "insult to the people of Illinois."

"We believe in clean government, and Rod Blagojevich has unclean hands," Quinn said.

One of the accusations brought against Blagojevich is that he schemed to benefit from his power to name Obama's replacement in the Senate. Federal prosecutors said they recorded conversations in which Blagojevich discussed appointing someone Obama favored in exchange for a position in the new president's Cabinet or naming someone favored by a union if he got a high-level union job.

Blagojevich has faced a flood of calls for his resignation, and the Illinois House has begun impeachment proceedings. He maintains his innocence and has vowed to stay in office.

His own lawyer said recently there would be no point in Blagojevich naming someone to the Senate because leaders there would reject his appointment.

Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago, a member of the impeachment committee, said Burris' appointment will have no bearing on their decision.

"Anybody that wants to put the race card in there, they're playing with the wrong group of people. We're not going to operate that way, we're not going to deliberate that way, we're not going to say, 'Oh, look what a good thing he's done.' We're not going to do it," Davis said.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who handles the state's paperwork, said he would not formally certify any appointment made by Blagojevich "because of the current cloud of controversy surround the governor."

It's not clear whether White's administrative hurdle would be enough to prevent a Blagojevich appointment from taking effect.

Burris was the first black politician elected to major statewide office in Illinois and has connections across the state. He's a native of Centralia in Southern Illinois who graduated from Southern Illinois University before earning his law degree from Howard University.

Burris served as Illinois' comptroller from 1979 to 1991 and as the state's attorney general from 1991 to 1995. He also served as vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1985 to 1989.

More recently, however, Burris has had a string of political disappointments.

He lost campaigns for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1994, 1998 and 2002 -- the last time losing to Blagojevich. In 1995, he was badly beaten when challenging Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in the primary.

Before taking public office, Burris worked in banking and served as national executive director and chief operating officer for Operation PUSH, the Chicago-based civil rights organization.

He failed in his first brush with politics -- a 1968 run for the Illinois House. But five years later, his political service got him appointed as an aide to Gov. Dan Walker.

Burris has been a consistent donor to Blagojevich, giving thousands of dollars to his campaign in recent years. Burris donated $1,000 to the Friends of Blagojevich fund in 2005, $1,500 in 2007 and, $1,000 in June 2008, according to Illinois campaign finance data.

On a national level, Burris has given to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as well as several members of the Illinois congressional delegation, including Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.