Pay Rod Gives Democrats Fits with Senate Choice

You gotta give Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich some credit; he sure knows how to make some news!

Three weeks after being arrested by federal officials for trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, Blagojevich has thumbed his nose at the political establishment by going forward and naming former State Attorney General Roland Burris as his choice to fill the remaining two years of Obama's term.

Burris is the first black elected statewide in Illinois, and is also a former state comptroller. He has a long and distinguished career in public service, and that will make it very difficult to deny him the seat.

But U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and 50 Senate Democrats have made it clear that they will not accept any Blagojevich appointment into their exclusive club. The Senate returns next week, and Illinois may be left with only one senator, which could pose a problem.

But the bigger problem now is in the hands of Senate Dems, who will be forced into a showdown: Do they want to get back at Blagojevich and deny his choice, which means denying an African-American — the only one — a seat in the U.S. Senate?

If this plays out, we're looking at a constitutional showdown not seen since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the House of Representatives couldn't deny a member of Congress their seat. That person? Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, considered the most effective Black congressman in U.S. history. Democrats can't fathom this scenario, and the last thing they want to do is mess with their most important constituency: African-Americans.

And where does President-elect Barack Obama stand? He praised Burris, but says he backs Reid and doesn't believe he should be seated.

But folks, here is the problem: Dems are to blame for this mess.

They all thought Pay Rod would resign, but he didn't. They had the chance to approve a special election to replace Obama, but they got greedy. They didn't want a Republican running for the seat, and opted to keep the appointment. But Pay Rod won't go away, and he's giving Obama, Senate Dems and Illinois Democrats fits.

But truth be told, what should they have expected? He hasn't been indicted. Hasn't been convicted. And hasn't been impeached. He holds the cards and is willing to play them to the end. Blagojevich is operating like a cornered rat: either succumb to getting killed or fight like hell to escape. This guy loves to fight, so no one should be surprised to see him battling this to the end. Unlike disgraced former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, Pay Rod doesn't have a dad with a billion-dollar real estate firm. He has no job options. He needs the paycheck, so forget him quietly resigning.

Blagojevich has made a shrewd move with the pick. Like it or not, it's a masterful political stroke. Let's now see who will blink first. I got a feeling that Senate Dems, facing a sure Supreme Court loss, will grudgingly swear Burris in as the fourth black U.S. senator since Reconstruction. And Pay Rod will be laughing his butt off.

Roland S. Martin is an award-winning CNN contributor and the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith." Please visit his Web site at www.RolandSMartin.com. To find out more about Roland S. Martin and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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