Obama’s Senate seat for sale
Obama himself is in no way involved, but he will be furious and embarrassed that the Democratic Governor of Illinois was arrested yesterday for trying to sell Obama’s old seat to the highest bidder.
The Governor gets to appoint a replacement, when there is a vacancy, until the next Senate elections in November 2010. And the power of incumbency is huge, so Governor Rod Blagojevich was probably looking to make some very dirty money. Associated Press have some details:
A 76-page FBI affidavit said the 51-year-old Democratic governor was intercepted on court-authorised wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife, Patti.
Otherwise, Blagojevich considered appointing himself. The affidavit said that as late as Nov. 3, he told his deputy governor that if “they’re not going to offer me anything of value I might as well take it.”
“I’m going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain,” Blagojevich allegedly said later that day, according to the affidavit, which also quoted him as saying in a remark punctuated by profanity that the seat was “a valuable thing – you just don’t give it away for nothing.”
The affidavit said Blagojevich also discussed getting a substantial salary for himself at a non-profit foundation or an organisation affiliated with labour unions.
And how would this union part work:
The FBI affidavit outlined a Nov. 10 call between Blagojevich, his wife, his chief of staff – John Harris, who also was arrested Tuesday – and a group of advisers in which Harris allegedly suggested working out an agreement with the Service Employees International Union.
Under the plan, Blagojevich would appoint a new senator who would be helpful to the president-elect and in turn get a job as head of Change to Win, a group formed by the union. The union would get an unspecified favour from Obama later.
Nothing in the court papers suggested Obama had any part in the discussion.
Illinois politics is widely known as one of the most corrupt states.