Senate pick bogs Obama down in racial politics

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s surprise decision to appoint Roland Burris to Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat threatens to bog down the president-elect in racial politics.

Suddenly a story that was about Chicago corruption is about race. And the “post-racial” president-elect whose transition has been bogged down in his hometown politics is dogged by questions of color.

{mosads}Obama on Tuesday quickly issued a statement that backed Senate Democrats, who said they would block Burris from becoming a Senator. But seeds of discontent emerged from a black lawmaker who suggested blocking Burris would be racist, and the head of a civil rights group, who stressed the importance of replacing Obama with another black senator.

Obama was the only black member of the Senate, which would include no African-Americans unless one fills seats being vacated in Illinois, New York or Colorado.

Race immediately was an unspoken element of Blagojevich’s surprise decision. Picking the veteran black politician Burris to replace Obama appeared to be a way for Blagojevich to make it more difficult for anyone to undo his controversial decision to fill the Senate seat under a cloud of scandal.

But then Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) made it a spoken element.

Rush, a co-founder of the Illinois Black Panther Party 40 years ago, took to the stage with Blagojevich and Burris at their Chicago press conference and tossed around loaded words such as “hang” and “lynch.” He said that because Burris is black and would be the only black man in the Senate, rejecting him would be racist.

“There are no African-Americans in the Senate,” Rush said, “and I don’t think that anyone – any U.S. senator, who’s sitting in the Senate, right now, wants to go on record to deny one African-American for being seated in the U.S. Senate.”

The Drudge Report quickly posted Rush’s statement under a headline “Race Card.” Rush, though, angered some in the black community when he backed white millionaire Blair Hull over Obama in the 2004 Illinois Senate race

Rush said Blagojevich’s pick would “continue the legacy established by President-elect Obama.”

But a few hours later, Obama rejected the idea that Blagojevich’s maneuver continued his legacy. He praised Burris, but firmly backed Senate Democrats’ plan to reject him.

“The people of Illinois are entitled to a functioning government and major decisions free of taint and controversy,” Obama said.

Even before Obama issued his statement Tuesday evening, it wasn’t as simple as white Democratic senators blocking Burris at the Senate door.

To get to a Senate vote, Burris will have to get past Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, the highest-ranking black elected official in Illinois. White Tuesday reiterated his stance that he won’t process any appointment made by Blagojevich, who was arrested earlier this month on charges he tried to sell the same Senate seat he sought to fill Tuesday.

“I cannot co-sign a document that certifies any appointment by Rod Blagojevich for the vacant United State Senate seat from Illinois,” White said in a statement.

Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), who like Rush is a black congressman from Chicago, doesn’t agree that blocking Burris is a slap at African-Americans.

“Maybe Bobby sees something I don’t see. I’m not prepared to suggest that there’s any slapping going on,” Davis said in a telephone interview with The Hill.

Davis, who had pushed for the Senate appointment before Blagojevich was arrested for trying to sell it, voiced doubts that Burris’s appointment will go through, before adding, “I’m not sure this closes the door on a black person serving.”

Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, “the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights and direct services organization,” said African-American voters and officials are eager to see a black lawmaker take Obama’s place in the Senate.

“It is important to many of us that there be African-American representation in the U.S. Senate. We’re very proud of Barack Obama, but it is a fact that the potential is there for the Senate to go back to being an all-white body.”

Morial said in an interview Tuesday he hadn’t heard Rush’s comments, but doesn’t think the Senate has the power to block Burris’s appointment.

“It’s a question of law, not a question of politics,” Morial said. “Cooler, more reasonable heads should prevail.”

The person with the greatest moral authority in the matter is Obama, who broke a ceiling in becoming the first black president. The question is whether his desire to rise above the Chicago-style politics that has weighed down his transition will cost him support among African-American politicians like Rush.

This story was updated at 10:49 p.m.