Dick Durbin has a good idea:
A former state legislator, Durbin said he spoke to a former colleague in the Illinois legislature early Tuesday to suggest a special election instead of any gubernatorial appointment.
“If the allegations are proven true, he has clearly abused the public trust,” Durbin said of Blagojevich. “I think the Illinois legislature should enact a law as quickly as possible calling for a special election to fill the Senate vacancy of Barack Obama. No appointment by this governor under these circumstances can produce a credible replacement.”
Not only is this the right thing to do, it’d also give us something to discuss over the coming months. But if this is going to happen, the state legislature needs to scramble and get this law passed as quickly as possible.
(Hat-tip: Tyler O.)
UPDATE: From The Hill:
The Illinois state House is set to reconvene Monday to consider a bill that would fill President-elect Obama’s old Senate seat by special election, according to a spokesman for Illinois state House Speaker Michael Madigan (D).
The state House is likely to return Monday, with the bill taking two days to pass, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said.
There will be a crowded primary mind.
was out of session and could not come back unless called back by Blago. Anyone know if this is true?
If it is, he may appoint someone between now and Jan. when the legislature comes back in session.
Governors appointing Senators is an inherently corruptible process. The potential for self-dealing is absurdly high, and there’s no need for this process in the modern era. With the transportation and communications infrastructure we now have, there’s no obstacle to running real statewide campaigns, to be held 120 days after a vacancy (rounded to the nearest Tuesday or whatever).
Massachusetts and Alaska have already ended the process of gubernatorial appointments of Senators. Illinois is about to, now that it has been burned by the process. Do we have to wait for 50 consecutive mistakes to be exposed, or can we just learn the lesson and start instituting special elections in every state that we control (17, last I heard)? The electorate has the right and the ability to fill these open seats. There is no need to delegate that power to governors, who in New York and Delaware as well as in Illinois, have been thinking as much of the self-interest of specific politicians as they have been of the will and interests of the electorate. (Obviously these other governors are calculating their self-interested in less crass and naked terms as Blago, but it’s self-interest nonetheless.)
And we might have won Mississippi if it had been a special election in November 2007, with no incumbent.
There’s no reason for appointed Senators any longer. Let’s end it. We have 17 states on the table…
Calls for immediate resignation come from Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, Comptroller Dan Hynes (D), and the GOP House Leader.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/m…
“Like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S.. Attorneys office today. But as this is an ongoing investigation involving the governor, I don?t think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time.”
“I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening,” Mr. Obama said. “And as I said it is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that I don’t think it’s appropriate to comment.”
http://hotlineblog.nationaljou…
Nearly all the Dems who can compete and raise money are from Cook County and I bet you it will be a crowded field with lots of infighting. The GOP can coalesce quickly around someone like Mark Kirk, a relatively good government Republican and with the suburbs, which already hate Chicago and cook county, along with downstate could swing the state to the GOP. A GOP senator from IL like Mark Kirk would make it hard for Dems to retake the seat in the future.
Would someone please remind me what’s preventing the Illinois legislature from just drawing up articles of impeachment tomorrow?
My fragile constitution cannot handle another (even vaguely) competitive election at this point… especially given the specter of Bill Jefferson’s defeat hanging over us.