Politico has written an article about the Blago/Burris mess and in that article they discuss how the Senate Dems plan to block Burris and what the Illinois Dems plan to do to eventually to seat a Senator from Illinois to Obama's former seat.
http://www.politico.com/...
The Senate Dems have a Plan A and a Plan B.
Plan A consists of them using the U.S. Senate rules where they can block a Senator from a senate seat if he or she doesn't have the proper signatures filed including signatures from the Secretary of State. Jesse White who is the Secretary of State of Illinois has refused to sign the documents. As a result, Roland Burris has gone to court and is asking the Illinois Supreme Court to force White to sign the documents.
Plan B consists of the following:
But Senate Democrats have a "Plan B" to keep Burris from being sworn in, regardless how the Illinois Supreme Court rules. Senate officials tell Politico that if presented with Burris’ appointment, they are likely to give the Rules Committee 90 days to determine the propriety of it by looking into such issues as whether Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich received anything in return for it.
"A motion to refer credentials to the committee has the effect of delaying seating," a Senate Democratic aide said. "The motion is debatable and amendable."
Another official explained: "That buys us 90 days."
Those 90 days will buy time for the Illinois state legislature to finish the proceedings in impeaching the governor.
That should be enough so the senators won’t have to act to prevent Burris from joining the chamber. Blagojevich’s defiance inflamed Illinois legislators, speeding up the impeachment process.
"He will not be governor by Valentine’s Day," the official said.
What Obama plans to do is do as little as possible:
President-elect Obama plans to say as little about the matter as possible. But an official said he will declare when pressed that the Senate is well within its bounds not to seat Burris, and that it would be difficult for a senator to work effectively with this kind of cloud over him.
IMO, Obama did what he had to do which is stop Blago's hardball race card play in its tracks by issuing the statement that Burris is a good man but no one appointed by Blago should be seated in his old Senate seat for it would be tainted. Obama knows Chicago politics and saw that Blago/Bobby Rush race card play right away and nipped it in the bud. As a result, African-American leaders are NOT clammoring to seat Burris just because he is African-American. http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Davis had been offered the seat first by Blagojevich but said he did not accept it because "the environment was too murky for me." And both Sharpton and Davis said Obama's pointed opposition to the appointment could make it difficult for other blacks to support Burris.
"One of the things that the civil rights community should do is respect the president-elect," Sharpton said. "He's made a public statement, and media will play it as if we're against him."
What the Illinois Dems plan to do after Blago is impeached:
Sources say that, if Blagojevich is removed from office, his successor, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, is likely to appoint an African- American, but likely not Burris, because of the taint from Blagojevich, or Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill), because he would be too controversial.
Sources said the choice is likely to be someone young and dynamic, like Dan Seals, who ran in a northeast Illinois House district in 2006 and 2008. It needs to be someone who would appeal to the white Republicans in downstate Illinois, to prevent the seat going to the GOP in a future election, they said.
(I want to put my 2 cents in for Danny Davis because has demonstrated that he is a man of integrity).
Who is Dan Seals? Well here he is.
http://www.dansealsforcongress.com/