The Impeachment Preference
Illinois lawmakers seemed content late last week to call for a special election to determine who will fill Pres.-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat -- an effort, of course, to circumvent Gov. Rod Blagojevich's constitutional right to appoint a replacement. But news comes today that the emergency General Assembly session held in Springfield to outline the terms of that special election ended in stalemate, with a new push instead by some Democratic leaders for the governor to be impeached, a move that would clear the way for Democratic Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn to pick a new senator.
Why the shift?
I first reported last week that a special election would carry a hefty pricetag, between $31 million and $50 million, according to a source with the Illinois Board of Elections. In the time since, officials for IL's counties, which would bear the brunt of the cost, have said they don't have cash at the ready to foot the bill.
So money is one hurdle to a special election. But there's another still. With the Blagojevich storyline reminding of the machine tradition of state Democratic politics, perhaps even IL's blue state voters would opt for a change of leadership. A special election could open the door to a GOP candidate -- and might allow the state Republican Party to use the Blagojevich pay-for-play scandal to their organizational advantage. The IL GOP is hardly a powerhouse. State Democrats dominate at every level of government in the Land of Lincoln. But Blagojevich's apparent abuse of power -- selling a U.S. Senate seat, among other bold attempts -- could prove distasteful enough to change some minds. Likely not enough to flip the seat, but anything's possible.
With both matters taking proposals for a special election, a 21-member impeachment panel composed of a dozen Democrats and nine Republicans began meeting today to determine if the tarnished governor should be ousted.
Stay tuned.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
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