Did Reid Try to Snub Black Senate Prospects?

UPDATE (Jan. 6)
Burris Denied Seat in US Senate
WASHINGTON - Roland Burris announced Tuesday he was rejected for Barack Obama's Senate seat, in a bizarre rainy-day scene on the Capitol grounds as lawmakers awaited the gaveling of the 111th Congress into session. > Full Coverage

This thing with Blagojevich keeps getting deeper the longer it plays out, and the political soap opera is likely going to keep producing bubbles long after the presidential inauguration.

But the racial side of it, initially baited when Rep. Bobby Rush pretty much declared that there should be a black U.S. Senator whether he is elected, properly appointed or artificially placed there just because he's black.

But now the rumblings of the Washington opposition are starting to surface since allegations have been made that Sen. Harry Reid (above-left), the Democratic majority leader had made calls to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich encouraging his own preferences to fill President-Elect Barack Obama's Senate seat. The people he reportedly suggested to Blagojevich were state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth (above-right) or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

The people he didn't want were Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Rep. Danny Davis and State Senator Emil Jones; all African American
Now reports say he pushed against the three because he didn't feel they would be electable when it came time for the 2010 midterm Congressional elections. But that begs the question, who is he -- a Congressman from Nevada -- to determine what the voters of Illinois will want nearly two years from now?

Rush, although I disagree with his premise, is correct. There are now no blacks in the U.S. Senate. If none are elected during the midterms, then that means the Senate will be without representation from the African American community throughout Obama's first term. A black president, but no black Senators? Not a good look.

Jackson, Davis and Jones could well run for Senate themselves in 2010, and there's a high probability that African Americans from states all over the country will make their own bids. But for Reid to determine those three are not electable, but insist the other two are is suspicious to me.

On NBC's Meet The Press, Reid says he doesn't even remember all the details of this conversation with Blagojevich (at 7:35 of the video above), but a long time ago they used to call this type of thing "selective amnesia." Regarding the discussion of who he didn't want, Reid says Blagojevich is making it up. But at least some of this conversation is possibly on tape, as part of the investigation against the governor and if it comes out that Reid did say these things, he'd better be ready to do some damage control.

To be fair, some of the main people spinning the racial portion of this controversy are people from the camp of former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, who Blagojevich did appoint as Senator last week, and who Senate Democrats are threatening not to seat. Prince Davis, a senior consultant to Burris suggested to Washington watchdog website Politico that Reid favored anybody but black men for the Senate seat.

That has to be taken with a grain of salt, considering the source of the complaint. However, Reid is best left dealing with the Senate appointment when it gets to Capitol Hill, and not in Illinois. That is a matter for the state's legislature, it's current Attorney General and the Governor's office.

Categories

Contributors

Other BV Blogs