In regards to the article in Chicago-Sun Times Reid tried to dissuade Blago from appointing JJack Jr see link to article here for full story:
http://www.suntimes.com/...
Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com thinks Reid was doing his job.
Jump for Nate's take
Nate says at 538:
In all probability, though, this seat would be considerably more vulnerable to Republican takeover if Jackson were the nominee than if Madigan were instead, or for that matter someone like state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.
If Harry Reid hadn't expressed that concern to Blagojevich, then Harry Reid really wouldn't have been doing his job.
(my emphasis)
Nate took a look at the Rasmussen poll just before Blago scandal broke and what did he find? Take a look for yourself the link is below:
Is Jesse Jackson Jr. Electable?
On December 4th, about a week before the Blago scandal broke, Rasmussen released a poll asking Illinoisans who they preferred to succeed Barack Obama. Jackson Jr. was named by 23 percent of Illinoisans, essentially putting him in a three-way tie with Lisa Madigan (25%) and Tammy Duckworth (21%).
A look at the internals of the poll, however, suggests that Jackson's support was fairly limited outside of his base.
Candidate preference by party:
Candidate DEM Indie GOPJackson, Jr. 36% 14% 9%Duckworth 29% 19% 12%Jones 2% 3% 6%Madigan 17% 23% 37%Schakowsky 8% 9% 5%Nearly all of Jackson's support came from Democrats, among whom he was the plurality favorite to succeed Barack Obama. He placed a fair bit behind Madigan and Duckworth among independents, and received very little support among Republicans.
Unsurprisingly, these results are strongly tied to the issue of race:
then he looked at it by race:
Candidate preference by racial group:
Candidate White Black OtherJackson, Jr. 10% 81% 21%Duckworth 22% 6% 31%Jones 2% 4% 6%Madigan 31% 0% 23%Schakowsky 9% 2% 5%Jackson had the support of 81 percent of black voters in the Rasmussen poll, but just 10 percent of whites. He did do reasonably well among those in the "other" category -- which in Illinois, means mostly Hispanics -- getting 21 percent support, though he still trailed Duckworth among that group.
Now, it is hard to translate the results from a straw poll like this into a prospective matchup against a Republican opponent. But a reasonable worry for Reid is that, while African-American voters would probably have supported another Democrat in a matchup against a Republican, white voters who might have gone for someone like Madigan might not have gravitated to Jackson.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/... Nate Silver
Once again I am hearing people say that Reid's stance could hurt the Dems. I am like WHAT DUH HELL!!!
Some folk think that this will cause a race problem between the AA and white senators along with the Burris appointment.
Well, as a black person I have to say Thank you Senator Reid for having our Prez's back.
Repubs are just salivating at the chance to get this seat and if we are not careful in the black community it just might happen.
Black folk who are allowing Blago and company to turn this into a major race fight need to get their heads out of their you-know-what and see the damn trees!
The prize is the Presidency. We.got.that. NOw we just need to do like Obama and be cool. There will be times we need to get riled up about race but this is not one of those times.
I am usually against Reid's decision and I think he has squandered alot of goodwill in the party but on this one he is standing of firm ground and I for one am glad he was willing to speak up to Blago about it.
Love Jesse but like the poll says my love for him as a black candidate is not being felt across the board. So for right now it is about winning and keeping the majority not going with my heart but with my head.
Like Nate said Reid is doing his job and it is about damn time!!!