The Daily Background
| So, who is Roland Burris anyway?
by Arlen Parsa
Says Blagojevich at his press conference formally announcing his intention to appoint the former Illinois Attorney General and state Comptroller, “Please don’t let the allegations against me taint this good and honest man.” Obama supported Burris when he ran against Blagojevich and others in the Democratic primary for the gubernatorial race in 2002, though it’s not clear to me if there were any reasons for this support other than race.
Some Lexis-Nexis-ing back to the 1980s finds nothing of interest about Burris, other than the fact that he once as AG got in a fight with car dealerships who wanted to offer coupons he claimed were illegal and that he referred to primary opponents as “nonqualified white boys.” I was able to find very little in the way of candidate surveys from special interest groups which were very popular in the 1990s when he ran several races, though I learned that he’s pro-choice.
A look at Burris’ FEC contribution records, which only detail contributions over $200 in federal races show that he has donated exclusively to Democrats, most of whom were running in Illinois.
The Sun-Times has some dirt on Burris, who has lost a combined 5 races for the Governor’s office, Senate, and mayor of Chicago in recent decades:
In 2002, Burris became a lobbyist and has had a portfolio that has included Commonwealth Edison, Comcast and the state’s funeral home industry. His lobbying firm — Burris & Lebed Consulting, of Chicago — also has snared $294,545 in state contracts under Blagojevich since 2004, state records show.
He, his lobbying firm and his law firm — Burris Wright Slaughter & Tom — have contributed $20,296 in cash and services to Blagojevich’s campaign fund since 2002. The most-recent contribution, $1,000, came last June. It was already widely known at the time that Blagojevich was a target of federal investigators.
Burris didn’t appear to be among the candidates under consideration for the post before the governor’s Dec. 9 arrest.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who formally has to approve Blago’s pick has indicated that he might simply refuse to do so. Meanwhile, national Senate Dems are saying they’re going to refuse to seat him if he gets as far as the US Senate, although it’s a bit murky as to whether they can actually do this. Meanwhile, the IL state legislative assembly will meet next week to take up a bill which would take away Blago’s appointment powers and fill the seat through a special statewide election.
Update: Obama opposes Blago’s appointment.
Your report is more informative than the one produced by NPR and CBS news. Thanks for your post.