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Whether Rod Blagojevich’s crude attempts at dealmaking crossed the line into an impeachable offense or wire fraud will presumably be determined in the coming months, but available evidence suggests that he put a lot of thought, if you will, into who would take Barack Obama’s place in the Senate. It’s no coincidence that, once the feds helped him narrow his choices, he offered the gig to Danny Davis and then Roland Burris—two veteran black politicians who, despite the occasional expression of self-regard or deference to leaders of religious cults, have stayed clear of political sleaze.
I think he’s mostly by himself at this point—but that doesn’t mean some black politicians, ministers, and community activists won’t play along with him for a little while to get something they want. With the whole nation watching, including the white Democratic leadership in the Senate, they just don’t want to come out and say so.
And of course Walls stressed that it has nothing to do with Burris’s race either. Plenty of people alienated by Blagojevich’s shallowness might agree that black representation in the Senate is an important issue. Not Walls. “This should not be viewed as a racial issue,” he insisted. “Roland Burris’s resume is excellent, and he should be seated on his merits. If he is not seated, no one can argue that this is a fair or judicious process.”
