One must wonder if the Democrats have given any thought to the implications of the position they are taking regarding the Burris appointment to the Senate. At this point, they are clinging to the claim that a gubernatorial appointment isn’t legal until it is certified by the Secretary of State of Illinois. The Illinois Supreme Court has already ruled that this claim is bogus, and that pesky little document, the Constitution, doesn’t lend the argument much support. The Seventeenth Amendment seems clear:
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of each State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
For better or worse, and we can all agree it’s for the worse, Blagojevich is the executive of Illinois. The constitution didn’t give a veto to the Secretary of State, and the Senate can’t impose additional requirements. It’s not within their powers.
But let’s think a little bit about this. Let’s accept the Reid/Durbin argument for a moment. That means that the Illinois Secretary of State does have a veto over the governor’s selection. It also means every other Secretary of State in any other state has a veto over his or her governor’s selection. The Secretary of State is not always a member of the same party as the sitting governor. Consider Colorado’s situation. It happens that the former Republican Secretary of State won election to the Congress, and the Democratic governor has the right to name a replacement. But, what if the Republican had lost his election? Do the Democrats contend that he could have vetoed the Salazar replacement by refusing to certify the selection? After all, they are relying on a Senate rule that appears to require such a certification, not on any peculiar quirk of Illinois law. Do they really think it’s a good idea to let a partisan Republican Secretary of State frustrate a Democratic governor? As things stand now, Obama can’t appoint any Senator from a state with a Republican governor (sorry, Chris). If the Democrats get their way, any Senator from a state with a Democratic governor and a Republican Secretary of State will be scratched from the list of potential appointees.
This is one of the reasons we are supposed to follow the law. It may be convenient to bend it in our favor in a given situation, but refraining from doing so lessens the chance that it will be bent against us in the future.
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