CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
July 10, 2009 – 3:41 p.m.
Burris Just Temping After All
By Greg Giroux, CQ Staff
Illinois Democrat Roland W. Burris , the beleaguered appointee filling the Senate seat that Barack Obama left vacant, announced Friday that he will not try to win a term in his own right.
Burris, the Senate’s only African-American member, said in a speech in Chicago that “political races have become far too expensive in this country” and he didn’t want to spend significant time soliciting donations.
“In making this decision, I was called to choose between raising funds or spending my time raising issues for my state,” Burris said. “I believe that the business of the people of Illinois should always come first.”
Burris’ decision to forego a 2010 campaign was widely expected because of the fallout from the way he got to the Senate — picked by Rod R. Blagojevich before that governor’s impeachment. Wiretap transcripts showed that before being selected, Burris discussed the Senate seat with Blagojevich’s brother.
Burris raised just $845 for his campaign in the first three months of this year — an absurdly tiny sum for a serious candidate.
“I think he understood ultimately that he couldn’t raise the money,” said Michael L. Mezey, a political scientist at DePaul University in Chicago.
Burris had poor approval ratings ever since he accepted the Senate appointment from Blagojevich, who was removed from office in January on corruption charges that include an allegation that he tried to trade the Senate seat for personal and political enrichment.
Burris denied any quid-pro-quo arrangement with the governor but was widely criticized for not revealing conversations he had with the governor’s political advisers.
An Illinois prosecutor last month declined to bring perjury charges against Burris, but that wasn’t enough to repair his standing with voters.
Democrats in Illinois have proceeded as though their party would have no incumbent on the ballot.
Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is waging a well-funded campaign for the seat, and Merchandise Mart president Chris Kennedy, a son of the late New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Jackson may also run in the Democratic primary in February.
The likely Republican nominee is Rep. Mark Steven Kirk , who told supporters Wednesday that he will run for the Senate.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for a reformer like Mark Kirk to come in and represent a clean break from the past,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn , the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“I think it’s a ripe opportunity for us in Illinois because of the corruption, and I don’t know how any Democrat separates himself from that,” Cornyn said. “So I’m pretty fired up.”
But Kirk’s backing by GOP establishment figures is no guarantee that he’ll win the party nomination, which a conservative Republican might also seek.
Conservative activists are especially displeased with Kirk’s vote last month for a climate change bill that most Republicans opposed.
In 1996 and 1998, a moderate Republican candidate for the Senate was backed by party officials but lost to a more conservative challenger.
“Republicans tend to nominate fairly conservative folks in their statewide primaries,” Mezey said. “And so the question is whether Cornyn and the other national Republicans can discourage a conservative challenge to Kirk in the primary. If Kirk survives the primary, he could do well and he might win that seat.”
Kirk is also taking heat from opponents on the political left who say that he’s not really a moderate, pointing to his vote against the economic stimulus law and other Obama administration priorities.
“Republicans are asking Illinois voters to replace the president with the anti-president,” said Eric Schultz, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is circulating a Web video that says Kirk’s claims of political moderation are belied by his record.
CQ Politics rates the race a tossup.
Kathleen Hunter contributed to this story.
Comments
Let us hope that Burris does not QUIT, or even DECLARES that he will quit - say, in 3 weeks!
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