Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Bring On Schakowsky, And Other Blagojeblogging

With Blagojevich refusing to resign, my hopes are that the state legislature boots him out of office, and that Pat Quinn appoints a replacement. That's basically the hope of the national party, for good reason:
Other Democrats in Washington edged away from calls for a special election to fill Obama’s place in the Senate, hoping that Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn would soon become governor and fill the vacancy on his own. That would assure the party of holding the seat, and on a far faster timetable than any balloting would allow.
Harry Reid is telling Blagojevich to resign and not try to appoint anybody. He and other Democrats are threatening not to seat anybody who gets appointed by the corrupt governor. However, he doesn't say anything about choking the person, which, as Ezra mentions, differs from how he did it in his younger days.

As I've mentioned before, I'm hoping that Quinn ally Jan Schakowsky ends up in the Senate. Really, the possibility of this is my big reason for wanting Quinn to do the appointing. No guarantee that he'll pick her, but I have to imagine that the chances aren't bad. Says wikipedia:
Schakowsky is one of the most (by some accounts, the most) liberal members of the current US Congress. She is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She frequently gains ratings of between 90 and 100 from liberal and progressive interest groups and lower ratings from conservative groups.

Schakowsky has been known for her support of women's issues while in Congress, and is a close friend of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D, CA). She reportedly phoned every female partner of a law firm in Chicago during her first run for office in 1998, and has gained national acclaim for her fundraising prowess.

The Nation endorsed her for vice president in the United States presidential election, 2004, stating that she is 'the truest heir to Paul Wellstone in the current Congress.' She was, however, not selected as John Kerry's running mate.

Schakowsky has been outspoken in her opposition to the Iraq War.
So: Solid liberal, good fundraiser, Pelosi ally, feminist, Iraq War opponent, and 'truest heir to Paul Wellstone'. And as far as we can tell, she's untainted by the current scandal. Gimme some o' that.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It also appears Jesse Jackson jr. won't be getting the seat which works in Shankowsky's favor!

corvus said...

Hi Neil,

I'm not sure I agree about the appointment route. At this point, I think the whole executive branch of Illinois is too tainted by recent events for any appointment to avoid seeming illegitimate, to avoid having some shadow hanging over it. It's sounds like Quinn is clean, and he reportedly hates Blago, but since we don't know for sure, and yeah that sucks and is unfair to Quinn, but I don't really think one wants to take chances that, even due to caution, might limit the next senator's respectability. So, I think a special election might just be the way to go, since the will of voter's is will remove any taint. It's dangerous sure, since it might give it to a republican, but I don't think the people of Illinois will go republican. In Illinois, Obama is practically a god. Everyone loves him. The candidate he ultimately supports will win. So all in all, while it's a process that might result in a senator with views more divergent from my own than Schakowsky, I still think, in the interest of restoring public trust, it's necessary to make this a public decision.

Anonymous said...

She's my pick. But she is no stranger to scandal; if I'm not mistaken, her husband is in jail for something or other. A

corvus said...

According to wikipedia, her husband did jail time after pleading guilty and did time, but is out now. Uh, hypothetically, might be best not to appoint someone whose husband did time for politically related issues after the previous governor resigned for politically related issues. One more reason I think a special election is the way to go.