Burris has submitted a new affidavit seeking to supplement his testimony before the state house impeachment committee in which he failed to disclose that he had talked to Robert Blagojevich, Blago's brother, prior to the appointment, and in fact, Burris was asked by Robert to contribute to Blago's campaign. None of this was revealed to the impeachment committee despite some fairly close questioning by State Rep. Jim Durkin. The Chicago Sun-Times quotes Durkin as saying: "I'm very surprised he didn't make these disclosures. I don't know if Mr. Burris was purposely being evasive during the committee or had selected memory issues."
Interestingly, some Dem sources are already throwing Burris under the bus, with one comparing him to Alberto Gonzales, if you can believe that.
Interestingly, some Dem sources are already throwing Burris under the bus, with one comparing him to Alberto Gonzales, if you can believe that.
The article also says this:
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) said Burris' new statement regarding his contact with Blagojevich's emissaries represents a "fatal wound" to a potential 2010 Burris re-election bid. His new account contains "extraordinary detail" Burris should have disclosed to the impeachment panel when he testified and to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) before being seated, Radogno said.
"If it turns out this was some sort of attempt to avoid this coming out as part of the appointment process, then he doesn't deserve to be senator," Radogno said. "I think the whole thing stinks to high heaven."
As many know, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias seems to be already laying some serious groundwork for a 2010 bid for the U.S. Senate seat (including praise just short of an endorsement from senior Illinois Senator Dick Durbin), with a presumed primary against Burris the only roadblock. (UPDATED: Capitol Fax Blog has a lively discussion going on about U.S. Senator Dick Durbin taking Alexi along on a trip to Greece, presumably to burnish Alexi's foreign policy creds!) If Burris has now 'fatally wounded' himself, if forced to step down or commit to not running in 2010, that clears the field for Alexi, whose problems would have included alienating the Dem African-American base and not being sure of having President Barack Obama's support (even though Alexi is known to be a favorite of Obama's, it would have looked bad for Obama to have endorsed against the only African-American in the Senate, don't ya think?)Now that Burris' already tarnished political reputation has taken another hit, if it clears the way for Alexi (who is associated with Obama much more closely than with Blago), that takes away a major argument for the GOP in the 2010 race, and makes it a lot less attractive for any GOP wishfuls, including our own Mark Kirk of the 10th District. Alexi is young, wealthy and a prolific fundraiser, and would have the full force of the Dem machine (plus Obama, no doubt) if he were not forced to beat up on Burris in a bloody primary battle.
Wonder if Mark is having second thoughts this morning about that Senate bid?
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20 comments:
TA, I hope that our Congressman is thinking and weighing everything about this latest news item from old Roland. I for one hope that Mr. Kirk holds onto the seat in the 10th, that he continues to rise in leadership within his committees in Congress. Timing is everything. Look what it did for our former junior senator. While I am certain that there will be a primary battle on the Democrat side since Jan has been salivating for this chance for a long time, I think in the end this is the break that Alexi needed. Perhaps it was known, maybe this was all pre-done and not a memory lapse at all. Think about it, TA, because it might make sense.
I did consider that, Anon, briefly, but ultimately, I don't think Burris was conspiring with any other Dem on this, for a couple reasons:
1) The Dem machine is devious, but not that devious, and they are factious and don't play nicely together.
2) Burris' super-size ego would not have willingly taken yet another hit like this.
3) If this was planned to take Burris out of the picture for 2010 and Burris was in on it, it was all unncessary. All he had to do was state he wasn't going to run in 2010 and endorse Alexi. He gets to be a hero and team player and suffers no bruises.
All that being said, I would not for a second doubt that Alexi's people might be behind forcing this issue, with Burris trying to fend off a coming accusation of perjury from some quarter and trying to go public before it hits. It seems clear to me that this was damage control prompted by something that was going to hit along these lines, whether Alexi was behind it or not.
I would like to see Mark run for the U.S. Senate. It would be refreshing to have an honest and hard working U.S. Senator representing the State of Illinois for a change. Last time that happened was Peter Fitzgerald.
And with this new "Keep the Democrats in Office Package" about to be signed on Tuesday, he may have a chance.
There will be hundreds of thousands of talented Republicans and Independents that are unemployed and will have the time to knock on doors, register voters, in the same fashion as the unions...it may work after all!
1. The organization that this mobster, Giannoulias will have compared to what the state gop has is like night and day.
2. The Obama white house will pour its heart into seeing this one through. It would be a nationl disgrace for Obama to lose his own senate seat 2 years after becoming the 3rd democrat in history to get over 50% of the vote.
3. There is no one in the country who can come close to help Mark raise the kind of money that obama will help alexei raise. Obama can raise as much in an email written by some low level hack in the dnc as mark has raised in his best 3 months ever.
3.a)Illinois is a big blue democratic state and very very expensive, with much more winnable seats elsewhere, Mark won't get the support of the national party that Alexi will get. Roughly $5 million or so.
4. Mark's never faced a full national democratic campaign. They will trash his ties to bush like none other.
5. Thanks to McKenna's failed leadership, the seat is as good as gone unless jodi anderson runs if Mark jumps ship.
6. The Democrats have made HUGE gains in once gop strongholds like this, so while Mark can't touch the city, democrats will have the ability to fight HARD for votes in the suburbs.
FOKLAES
FOKLAES- I don't always agree with you, but you make some very good points here. Hope Team Kirk is taking notes.
Team Seals (what's left of it) probably is, too, but they are hoping Kirk runs for the Senate, no doubt.
Alexi Giannoulias is a mob banker who the NRSC has a file on a mile long. He will have a lot to answer for in the operations and organized crime connections of the Broadway Bank - which he was a leading officer of that mob bank and signatory on mob-connected loans.
I hope he runs because his law enforcement file is a mile long.
I seldom agree with Foklaes but today he's right on the 'money' so to speak. There is no way that the Kirk organization can combat what will surely come into IL to get that seat for Alexi. It doesn't matter one bit about Alexi's past, since he has the full blessing of his sometime basketball partner and mentor, the former junior senator from out distinguished State. It just doesn't make sense to swim upstream in 2010. OK, I know we might end up losing the 10th District now that Rahm and his side-kick, David Axelrod, have taken over managing the Census. Will they be fair? The answer is obvious. If Mr. Kirk thinks that it's 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other, I know that I'd still hang on to the seat and fight like hell to show the inequity of how the Democrats WILL politicize the Census. We do live in more than interesting times, but Foklaes makes valid points, is right on target today. Yep, never thought I'd say that, but I agree with everything he said today.
I used to work at Broadway Bank. I found your blog on Google. I hope he runs. I will have quite a lot to say about his friends and his family's associates in the mafia.
Some of you think I'm some sort of anti-gop assclown that reads this blog and rips your hard work and our fine congressman out of some sort of spite. That's not the case, I can't stand the cuntmuscle democrats, what they've done to this state or what they stand for, which I really haven't figured out yet.
Fact is, there are bureaucrats and pundits in d.c. that will tell you that Mark knows government and has better ideas than 95% of the douchebags that work there. Yet because he and McKenna have not taken a bold sustained "screw this obama thing, let's go destroy the &^*&^(&^ democrats" that Rahm took in 2006 and that the hard right takes 24/7, we are going to be stuck with scum like the madigans, most of the local state legislators and Burris who frankly belongs in a zoo.
Also once you run statewide in Illinois you are usually vetted and if memory serves whatever loser who ran against this young prince mobster, tried to tie him to it and it didn't work.
As far as Mark goes on the Senate, the IL GOP is at its weakest right now facing a president from the state with an approval rating over 60%. Peter Fitzgerald BARELY beat a beleaguered democrat 10 years ago when the GOP brand wasn't in the gutter and when there was a lot more solid GOP turf-that was John Porter's last race here and had ZERO opposition. Things to weigh.
FOKLAES
FOKLAES,
you do have a way with words ;)
Yeah, LOKLAES, do you kiss your mom with that mouth? I'd like to be able to let my kids read this blog, someday. Try to keep it couth, OK?
Mark should run. He would get the endorsement of every Chicago media outlet. Trib would endorse him the first day after the primary. They hate AG. Bet you he would get the Sun-Times too. He would destroy Alexi in debates. Yes, the machine would probably outmatch us 5-1, but America was outmatched 5-1 against the Brits and somehow pulled off a victory. Mark has earned the right to be a U.S. Senator. I believe he is destined for this. The time is ripe. The anti-Chicago, anti-Blago wave is in full force. Hell Paul Vallas is running on the GOP ticket. Suburban vote is now bigger than the Chicago vote and Mark would wipe Alexi out in the suburbs. No experience mobster won't play well up here or down in southern Illinois. Mark also has the ability to clear the field in the Republican primary. Alexi will have Jan to worry about as well as Roland. Burris ain't going anywhere. He has too much of an ego. Kirk for Senate! Coulson for Congress.
If Rep. Kirk runs for the U.S. Senate, he'll at least win the primary. In 2008, Dr. Sauerberg was moderate, and he won his primary. In 2006, then-Treasurer Topinka was moderate, and she won her primary.
If Kirk doesn't run for re-election, St. Rep. Elizabeth Coulson should run for his House seat. She agrees with him about many issues, and she's been a legislator since 1999.
Phil Collins
Reasons why Mark shouldn't run:
1) Lexi will outraise him financially 10 to one.
2)He's backed by the machine who is backed by the unions who are backed by the mob.
3)Banks will send him their TARP money (in hopes of getting more).
4)Any corporation, business owner or individual of any means will be targeted by Madigan vis a vis legislation that will hurt their business, investigations by the Attorney General (his daughter), etc.
5)ACORN is about ready to recieve billions of dollars in bailout money to register people that do not exist and implement a GOTV effort with the assistance of the SEIU and the YWCA.
6)Voting machines in Chicago will be rigged, AGAIN...
If he does run...at his announcement should ask his supporters the following:
Do you believe we can take on the mob? Do you believe we can take on Mike Madigan, Mayor Daley and the machine? Do you believe we can take on labor leaders? Do you believe we can take on ACORN? Do you believe in a government of you, and by you and for you?
Then join me and let's storm the beaches....
Otherwise it is over before it begins....
Anon 11:46 you are funny, but correct in how you frame the 'announcement' should there ever be one by Mr. Kirk. I share your feeling that in this State, in this environment, with these Democrats in the majority here, there and most everywhere, running for that seat is an uphill climb perhaps worse than Mt. Kilimanjaro. Hard to know what our Congressman is thinking, but some of us are hoping that he's reading TA's Blog and putting the comments into his thinking as he makes a decision.
1146, thank you for agreeing with me. At this point a year ago Obama raised $55 million in a month. Mark has never raised $5 million over 2 YEARS. He is surrounded by entrenched Democrats and failed GOP leadership.
He will however be ranking member on Foreign OPS in the 112th congress and therefore be feted in foreign capitals throughout the underdeveloped world.
Correction 9:17, Mr. Kirk raised OVER 5.3 million in this past election cycle. That aside, in this economy I'm not sure that a repeat is possible. Then again, our Congressman has shown that he's very able to mount a major cash stash when needed. This past election proved that everything is possible.
Mark Kirk is UNDOUBTEDLY one of the best statewide candidates that the GOP can hope for. But I doubt he can win a statewide primary, and here's why:
1. The Illinois State Rifle Association is pushing a concealed weapons bill again this year. No statewide GOP candidate can avoid that issue. Kirk is on the wrong side.
2. One of the responsibilities of U.S. Senators is confirming Supreme Court nominees. Abortion will be front-and-center in the GOP primary. Kirk is on the wrong side.
3. Illinois hasn't elected a GOP moderate to the U.S. Senate since women got the right to vote.
If Mark Kirk was SMART, he'd run for Governor, where GOP moderates are actually welcomed.
Yellow Dog, please go back to your hole as you know nothing about dear congressman. As well your political knowledge is, to be gentle, nonsense.
Mark Kirk is a nationally and internationally respected wonk on matters of foreign and domestic affairs. He has no interest in a backwater like Springfield where low level hacks work in obscurity on trivial issues.
On your last point, 30 years ago, Charles Percy was a Senator from Illinois and before him Everett Dirksen. Percy would have stayed in office, but the Israel lobby took him out for a pro-kremlin thug named Paul Simon. Percy came from the once vaunted New Trier Republican organization, which has fallen into severe repair of late thanks to feckless leadership from Chief McKenna and his merry band of braves that can't shoot straight.
Anon 7:40 p.m., thanks for jumping in and reminding Yellow Dog Democrat about Senator Charles Percy.
I was around when he was senator. For one terrifying second I thought I was almost 100 years old! :-)
Louis G. Atsaves
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