Three seats in the U.S. Senate

After the euphoria comes generally a reality check. And that is what the democrats in the US are going through after the scandals, maneuvering and corruption that is going on in three states which are trying to replace the three senators ‘lost’ to the new administration of president-elect Barack Obama. Starting with him, his post as an Illinois senator is up for grabs, and never better said. The country, woke up at the beginning of the week to the news of the arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on charges that he conspired to sell Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, among other misdeeds. For a lot of people aware of the corruption of Chicago politics for many years (the last Illinois governor is in prison) this was not too much of a surprise but happening just on the wake of Obama’s election and just a few weeks prior to his inauguration, tongues started talking, and articles and blogs appearing. How much did if at all Obama know? What were the political implications of the news? At first , last Tuesday, the president-elect tried to distance himself saying: “It is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to comment.” But it quickly became clear that Mr. Obama would have to say more, (it seemed just like a replay of the Rev. Wright situation during the campaign) and Wednesday he called for the governor to resign and for a special election to fill the vacant Senate seat. Finally, Thursday, at a news conference he reiterated that he had not spoken to the governor about successors and said he was certain no one in his office had had improper dealing with Blagojevich. Let us see how it all develops but is is not going to be pretty. Apparently, already the Obama team has censored any questions about Mr. Blagojevich in the transition site.
As an aside, in the strange ways and connections of Chicago political life, Mr Rezco, another of the ‘players’ involved in the latest Chicago’s corruptions, bought the lot next door to the Obamas on the same day that they closed on their house and later sold a piece of it to the them. The realtor the Obamas dealt with appears to have been Mr Blagojevich’s wife…
But Illinois is not the only state going through an empty Senate seat. In New York, the departure of Hillary Clinton when she is confirmed as Secretary of State in the Obama administration has set off manipulations and schemes among politicians bringing forward their favorite candidates. Among the best known and most unexpected and in my opinion strange candidate is Caroline Kennedy. It seems her uncle Ted Kennedy is working hard to get her the title of senator. I have nothing against Caroline as a person but I also think that being the daughter of a former president does not qualify one for that post. And continuing with dynasties, we reach the third state with a vacant senator-seat, Delaware, where the replacement for Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is also attracting notice. The governor of the state, has announced that she intends to name a Biden aide to the seat. The rumor among many is that it is just an effort to keep the seat until Mr. Biden’s son, Beau, who is serving in Iraq, can run in two years.