Word: blagojevich
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...press conference, Blagojevich brought more trouble, including the issue of race, to an already florid scandal. He announced that he was appointing a successor, former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, to Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat - a move that will continue to roil the political waters in Illinois and ensure a continuing distraction for the President-elect. By naming Burris, the governor blatantly ignored warnings by Senate majority leader Harry Reid that any Blagojevich appointee would not be seated by the Senate. The governor also belied the assessment of his own defense attorney, who earlier said that Blagojevich...
...Part of me is shocked and stunned. Part of me just thinks this is typical Rod Blagojevich," says Kent Redfield, a political science professor at the University of Illinois in Springfield. The Democratic caucus in the Senate released a letter that said in part, ?It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety." In Illinois, the circus atmosphere continued; the governor left...
Burris, 71, has decades of experience in state politics. In 1978, he was elected state comptroller, becoming the first African American to win statewide office in Illinois. He was Blagojevich's rival for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2002. "Don't allow the allegations against me to taint this good and honest man," Blagojevich said in making the appointment. Answering questions at the press conference, Burris was eventually overwhelmed by queries aimed at Blagojevich, who returned to the podium to say, "I don't want to hog the limelight," and defended his right to appoint Burris, insisting...
...governor has received support from elements of the black community throughout his ordeal. One night shortly after Blagojevich's initial arrest, a group of black ministers gathered at his home to hold a prayer vigil. Yet Blagojevich has previously expressed concerns that Burris' race has affected his electoral chances. In a 2002 radio interview, the governor said Burris lost the primary contest for the gubernatorial contest that year because the color of his skin "hurt...
...former spokesman for Chicago's first black mayor, Harold Washington (no relation), wrote that on election night, during a discussion over who might succeed Obama in the Senate, Burris turned to a friend of hers to say, "Why not me?" In mid-December, as the controversy raged over Blagojevich's alleged plot to sell the seat, Burris held a press conference, declaring, "I am more than happy and willing and able to come to the call of my friends, to try to be able to bring some sanity and help to the people of the state, and the people...