Obama sides with Senate Dems against Blagojevich

President-elect Obama has weighed in against the appointment by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) of Roland Burris to his old Senate seat.
 
“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,” Obama said in a statement.
 
{mosads}Obama also repeated his call for the Democratic governor to resign.
 
“I believe the best resolution would be for the Governor to resign his office and allow a lawful and appropriate process of succession to take place. While Governor Blagojevich is entitled to his day in court, the people of Illinois are entitled to a functioning government and major decisions free of taint and controversy,” Obama said.
 
Obama, however, did not call for a special election to decide his successor. Illinois Democrats originally favored that option.
 
But they soon backed away, saying it would be too expensive to hold a statewide election. Republicans have continued to push for that process, which could put an expected Democratic Senate seat in play.
 
Burris has found support of his appointment by Blagojevich among some in Washington. Reps. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), members of the Congressional Black Caucus and from the Chicago area, are behind his appointment.
 
Senate Democratic leaders, however, have weighed in against the move by Blagojevich. Casting no aspersions on Burris, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the upper chamber would not seat him because of the corruption allegations surrounding the Illinois governor.  
 
Burris was the first African-American elected to statewide office in Illinois as comptroller and attorney general. He ran for governor three times but came up short each time.
 
Obama endorsed Burris in his Democratic primary battle against Blagojevich in the 2002 governor’s race. Obama later sided with Blagojevich in the general election.