CNN has a newsflash on their politial ticker announcing that a "prominent Democratic source close to President-elect Barack Obama" confirmed Sunday that Valerie Jarrett is Obama’s choice to replace him in the United States Senate.
Jarrett (born November 14, 1956) is a Chicago lawyer and one of Obama’s closest advisers. She is also one of the leaders of Obama’s transition team.
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the incoming chief of staff, said Sunday that he had not seen the report from Chicago’s WLS-TV that named Jarrett as Obama’s top pick, but he praised her as a "valuable ally."
"People should know that Valerie Jarrett is — and people do know — she is a very dear friend of the president-elect and a valuable ally of his, not only prior to running for president, in his Senate life, and just personally for Michelle and Barack," Emanuel said on ABC’s "This Week"
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...
Besides Jarrett, many other names have been mentioned. And local politics will play a role as according to rumours Gov. Blagojevich is aiming at a third term and thus is in need of (black?) allies or can use it to "dispose" of a competitor...
In the end, its a constituency [Gov. Blagojevich] of one who'll decide who will succeed the president-elect. But who'd you pick for Senator if you were the contituent?