Blinders not a good look for Burris
Again, ambition keeps him from seeing the big picture
Roland Burris, the man who would be the second senator from Illinois, is practically giddy.
I watched his exchange with reporters as he prepared to head to Washington, D.C., and it reminded me of the last time I saw Burris.
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)
It was 1995. He was giddy then, too.
That was because everybody but Burris knew he didn't stand a chance against Mayor Daley.
After a career of being a cross-appeal candidate, Burris suddenly took on the persona of a black activist.
A day before he was crushed by Daley, Burris had stood on a flatbed truck and compared the city's mayoral election to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and elections in South Africa.
He even accused the mayor of a sort of pay-to-stay-away scheme.
During the campaign, Burris told reporters someone in the "mayor's operation" called him and offered him two jobs that he could hold simultaneously in Washington and Chicago, if only he did not run.
Daley ignored the accusation and went on to trounce Burris.
On Monday, the 71-year-old Burris displayed the same self-grandeur as he headed to Washington for a possible showdown in the U.S. Senate.
When reporters needled Burris about the legality of Gov. Blagojevich's appointment of him to the Senate, Burris pushed back:
"He signed some bills. Are those bills illegal?" he snapped.
"I feel I am a solution to the problem of the people of Illinois. I have served them for 16 years in elected office, and I have an opportunity to serve them again," said Burris who is already calling himself "Senator."
"I feel good."
Burris has every reason to feel good.
Despite the harsh rhetoric, Democratic leaders will be hard-pressed to bar him outright from taking the Senate seat.
An ugly fight, and one with racial undertones no less, would put a real damper on the historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.
Burris' willingness to profit from the Blagojevich scandal also affirms negative perceptions about politicians.
Now, why couldn't Blagojevich have been more like New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson?
Richardson set a very different tone when he was forced to withdraw from the process that would have made him the U.S. commerce secretary.
A federal grand jury is looking into how CDR Financial Products of California, a major contributor to Richardson's political war chests, snagged more than $1.5million in business from the state of New Mexico.
Richardson has denied any wrongdoing.
Even so, on Sunday he abruptly took his name out of consideration.
"I think it was the right thing to do. I had hoped the CDR investigation would have concluded in December with a clean bill of health," Richardson said during a televised press conference Monday.
"I have faith in the criminal justice process, and we must allow it to run its course," he said. "I don't want to jeopardize the process."
Richardson was poised to become the highest-ranking Latino in Obama's administration. Obviously, having to drop out was a blow.
"Yesterday, I was hurting over this decision. I lost a Cabinet appointment," he said. "But I think we have to focus on what people are losing in this country. The American people are losing jobs . . . losing their homes. That is the real tragedy. Mine is minor."
Burris should have shown the citizens in Illinois the same consideration.
As the state's longtime former comptroller and also former state attorney general, Burris made a name for himself in Illinois.
But on the national stage, Burris is a nobody who will arrive in Washington looking like an opportunist rather than a statesman.
As a result of the controversy, it will be difficult for Burris to be an effective voice for Illinois.
But that's not why I find this whole episode so distasteful.
The man who once claimed to be outraged by the rank pay-to-play politics isn't the man who is going to Washington.
The man who is going to Washington is the ultimate political insider who is acting in his self-interest.
I believe Burris genuinely doesn't get why anyone would think he is doing anything wrong.
The fact that he doesn't shows how badly Illinois needs change.