Blagojevich to name Obama successor

CNN:

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected Tuesday to name former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate, CNN affiliates the Chicago Tribune and WLS-TV reported, citing sources familiar with the decision.

Burris' appointment would fill President-elect Barack Obama's former Senate seat. Blagojevich is to announce his choice at a news conference at 3 p.m. ET.

Burris, 71, is African-American. According to the newspaper, he expressed interest in the Senate seat shortly after the November 4 election.

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I suspect the gold that Blagojevich hopes to get out this appointment is an acquittal on charges of trying to sell the seat.

Jim Geraghty says:

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First thought: Is Blago testing Harry Reid's pledge that he would never seat anyone named by the tainted governor? Does Reid have the guts to reject the seating of an African-American who, at first glance, appears untainted by this particular scandal?

UPDATE: Jim Warren of the Chicago Tribune says he's "dumbfounded." He describes Burris as "a political machine hack, with no great achievements beyond being the first African-American elected to statewide office in Illinois... a very, very uninspired selection." He later adds that he thinks that Harry Reid is going to have a very tough time with his pledge to not seat anyone Blagojevich named.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Awesome - he's a Blagojevich donor who has worked as a lobbyist in Springfield for Blagojevich allies...

I think Blagojevich's impeachment lawyer and defense attorney probably had some input in this pick.

Here is the Chicago Tribune story on the expected appointment. The Chicago Sun-Times indicates the Illinois Secretary of State intends to block the appointment by not certifying it.

Senate Democrats have said they will not seat the Blagojevich appointment.

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