Blagojevich tries to fill Obama’s Senate seat

Embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill President-elect Obama’s now vacant Senate seat. The move was quickly denounced by Senate Democrats, who are sticking to their pledge to not seat any Blagojevich appointment. The Illinois secretary of state has stated that he will not certify the appointment, which will undoubtedly trigger legal proceedings. President-elect Obama also released a statement against Blagojevich’s move.

Here is a statement from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:

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. We say this without prejudice toward Roland Burris’s ability, and we respect his years of public service. But this is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.

Next week we will start one of the most important debates of the year — outlining an economic recovery plan to create jobs and invest in America. And in the coming weeks, we will be working to protect homeowners and consumers, make America more energy independent, strengthen our national security, and improve health care and educational opportunities. There is much work to do and a lot at stake. It is thus critical that Illinois and every other state have two seated Senators without delay.

We again urge Gov. Blagojevich to not make this appointment. It is unfair to Mr. Burris, it is unfair to the people of Illinois and it will ultimately not stand. The governor must put the interests of the people of Illinois and all Americans first by stepping aside now and letting his successor appoint someone who we will seat.

President-elect Obama’s statement:

Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat. I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it. I believe the best resolution would be for the Governor to resign his office and allow a lawful and appropriate process of succession to take place. While Governor Blagojevich is entitled to his day in court, the people of Illinois are entitled to a functioning government and major decisions free of taint and controversy.

Palin officially becomes grandmother

Normally, we try and keep all things related to children out of our blog posts, as they deserve a measure of privacy, but this story we thought deserved a small measure of attention… more accurately, it is a slow news week (other than Israel’s attacking Hamas in Gaza).

Sarah Palin can now officially be called a grandmother. Her eldest daughter Bristol gave birth to a baby boy yesterday in Alaska.

Cue Andrew Sullivan’s reviving the questions about the circumstances of the birth of Trigg Palin.

Dept of what are you thinking: RNC chair candidate passes out racist song to RNC members

Chip Saltsman, a candidate for Republican National Committee chairman, sent members of the Republican National Committee a CD that includes a racist song titled Barack the Magic Negro. When confronted about his distributing the song, Saltsman defended his distributing the song citing that it was parody.

Since news of this has broken, not one Republican National Committee member has denounced Saltsman’s actions and younger Republican staffers are quite frustrated by this. One emailed us saying, “We are trying to figure out a successful strategy to employ to counter President-elect Obama’s policies and now we have a guy who wants to be head of the Republican Party making us look like racists and not a single senior Republican has come out against this. It is like they are content destroying the Republican Party from the inside and losing more seats in the House and Senate 2010.”

Update: Current RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, who is also running to remain in his position, put out a statement blasting Saltsman’s actions.

Sunday talk show lineup for December 28

Meet The Press: Senior advisor to President-elect Obama, David Axelrod, then a roundtable with Rich Lowry, Todd Purdum, Michelle Singletary & Richard Wolffe

Fox News Sunday: First Lady Laura Bush

Face the Nation: Senior advisor to President-elect Obama, David Axelrod, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn (D-IL) & Paul Krugman

This Week: Incoming White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta & former Reagan White House Chief of Staff Ken Duberstein

A Christmas message from Rod Blagojevich

President-elect Obama’s weekly address

Sunday talk show lineup for December 21

This Week: Vice President-elect Joe Biden, then a roundtable featuring Sam Donaldson, Cokie Roberts, Donna Brazile & George Will

Face the Nation: Kerry Kennedy, Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY), Geraldine Ferraro, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Joel Klein, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) & Dominic Carter

Fox News Sunday: Vice President Dick Cheney

Meet The Press: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, then a roundtable with Erin Burnett, Carol Marin, Andrea Mitchell & Michele Norris

AP: Coleman’s lead over Franken now 2 votes

The Associated Press is now showing the lead of incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman over Democratic challenger Al Franken to be just two votes. At current rate, Franken could end up defeating Coleman in the Minnesota senate race and become the 59th vote in the Democratic Senate majority.

Ron Kirk to be US trade rep

President-elect Obama has selected former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk to be US trade representative.

Solis to be labor secretary

California Congresswoman Hilda Solis has been selected by President-elect Obama to be the next secretary of labor. The pick will be announced tomorrow in Chicago.

GOP Rep. LaHood to be transportation secretary

President-elect Obama has selected Republican Congressman Ray LaHood to be his secretary of transportation.

Becerra turns down trade rep job

Congressman Xavier Becerra has turned down the position of US trade representative after having several weeks to consider taking the job. This is the first time that somebody has publicly turned down President-elect Obama after being reportedly close to accepting the position.

Vilsack to be ag secretary

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has been selected by President-elect Obama to be secretary of agriculture. Vilsack briefly ran for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, but dropped out at the start of 2007 when it became clear that he could not raise the money necessary to sustain a presidential campaign. He is expected to face an easy confirmation process as the committee that deals with his nomination, the Senate Agriculture Committee, is chaired by Vilsack’s friend and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin.

Obama nominates Arne Duncan for education secretary

Kennedy gets first endorsement in quest for Senate

Caroline Kennedy has gotten a notable endorsement from Upstate New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter. The endorsement is below:

I am pleased to endorse Caroline Kennedy for the United States Senate. She has spent her whole life fighting for what she believes in – she is a champion of public education, a lawyer, and an accomplished author.

Our nation is facing extraordinary difficulties. Caroline Kennedy understands that the stakes have never been higher for our state and our nation. We need our next Senator to have the skills and the stature to help bring about the change we need.

Salazar to be interior secretary

Colorado Senator Ken Salazar will be named as President-elect Obama’s nominee for secretary of the interior, following the tradition of naming a Westerner to the position. The appointment now sets of another vacant Senate seat that under Colorado law must be filled by an appointment by its  Democratic governor, Bill Ritter.

The two most prominent names that are already being mentioned are Senator Salazar’s brother, Representative John Salazar, who was also considered for interior secretary, and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. Salazar has the name recognition of his brother, but Hickenlooper has much broader appeal throughout the entire state, which is extraordinarily important given that the appointment must run for reelection in 2010. Hickenlooper flirted with the idea of running for governor in the 2006 election cycle and the then Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter found the prospect of facing Hickenlooper in the Democratic primary more of a threat to his election than facing Republican nominee Bob Schaffer Bob Beauprez in the general election. Hickenlooper also has the ability to raise a vast amount of money both within the state and nationally. Even more importantly, his policies have been praised by liberal and conservative publications.

Governor Ritter would be wise to appoint Hickenlooper, as he would avoid any potential challenge for governor and would be putting a Democrat in the seat who could easily defend it.

Correction: Bob Beauprez faced Bill Ritter in the 2006 Colorado gubernatorial race, not Bob Schaffer.

Duncan to be education secretary

President-elect Obama has chosen Arne Duncan, who runs the Chicago schools system, to be the secretary of education.

Kennedy officially throws her name in the ring to replace Clinton in Senate

Caroline Kennedy is now going public with her desire to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate and has lined up the support of some powerful players in the New York political scene. Kennedy has hired the former chief of staff to Senator Chuck Schumer, a signal that Schumer is comfortable with Kennedy in the Senate, been publicly praised by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Al Sharpton has even thrown his support behind her (in addition to her uncle Senator Ted Kennedy lobbying on her behalf behind the scenes), and is rumored to be meeting with New York Governor David Paterson about the seat.

Kennedy’s move is being met with resistance from some New York Democrats. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is also in the running for Clinton’s seat, has said that a person should not be appointed to a position because of their last name, but because of their qualifications. The statement is somewhat amusing as Cuomo himself was appointed HUD secretary by Bill Clinton because of his last name. Representatives Anthony Weiner and Gary Ackerman have also publicly come out against Kennedy.

US Attorney’s office asks Obama to delay releasing list of contact with Blagojevich

Patrick Fitzgerald, the United States Attorney, has asked President-elect Obama and his aides to wait until December 22 to disclose the Obama team’s contact with disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. From Obama transition communications director Dan Pfeiffer:

At the direction of the President-elect, a review of Transition staff contacts with Governor Blagojevich and his office has been conducted and completed and is ready for release.  That review affirmed the public statements of the President-elect that he had no contact with the governor or his staff, and that the President-elect’s staff was not involved in inappropriate discussions with the governor or his staff over the selection of his successor as US Senator.

Also at the President-elect’s direction, Gregory Craig, counsel to the Transition, has kept the US Attorney’s office informed of this fact-gathering process in order to ensure our full cooperation with the investigation.

In the course of those discussions, the US Attorney’s office requested the public release of the Transition review be deferred until the week of December 22, in order not to impede their investigation of the governor.  The Transition has agreed to this revised timetable for release,.

Salazar to be interior secretary?

Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO)

Reports are indicating that Colorado Senator Ken Salazar is poised to be the next secretary of the interior. According to the Denver Post, President-elect Obama has made it known that the job is Salazar’s if he wants it.