Yesterday, Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill) finally announced that he will not be seeking to be elected in his own right to the seat Barack Obama vacated when he was elected president. But his announcement was as humiliating as it was anticlimactic.
No doubt you recall the venal ambition Burris displayed in soliciting the then disgraced and indicted governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, to appoint him to serve out the remainder of Obama’s term. In fact, such was his shameless pursuit in this respect that I felt compelled to make this observation:
Given Burris’ solicitous embrace of the media spotlight, I do not think Blagojevich could have chosen a crazier political fox – so much in his own image – even if his choice were ordained by God.
[Mr. Burris comes to Washington, TIJ, January 6, 2009]
But when members of the Congressional Black Caucus began exhorting him to run in his own right, I felt compelled to make this observation:
Burris has become so reviled in Illinois that he would be lucky to win the Democratic primary (especially against the black congressmen who rejected Blagojevich’s offer on principle), let alone win a statewide race.
[Burris to be sworn in as senator, finally, TIJ, January 15, 2009]
In fact, anyone in his right mind could have foreseen that Democratic leaders, including then President-elect Obama, would be hell-bent on exacting cold revenge against Burris for defying them by accepting Blagojevich’s tainted appointment. And with such forces arrayed against him, there simply was no way Burris could raise enough cash to run an election campaign.
This is why I defied his virtually all-black enablers by offering the following advice:
I urge Burris to bask in all of the glory he can grasp over the next two years. And his glory would be greatly enhanced if he were to announce within six months that, at 71, he thinks it would be best to pass the torch to a younger politician in 2010 to represent Illinois with all of the vigor it deserves. He could then retire gracefully….
Instead of heeding my advice, however, he reportedly began campaigning for the 2010 election within days after being sworn in. Sadly, it’s only now, after raising just a fraction of the millions he hoped to have in his campaigner coffers, that he has been forced to make this ignominious announcement.
Frankly, that Burris ran so head strong into this political pillory is more pathetic than sad.
Accordingly, I bid him not good bye, but good riddance.
Related commentary:
Mr. Burris comes to Washington
Burris to be sworn in as senator, finally
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.