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I think there should be a special election, you can not have a special election unless the incumbent resigns, the incumbent has said he will not resign...My fight is for the people of Illinois, to help their economy, to help their schools, to help their health care. I think the other matters of politics, if I have no control over it, then we have to focus on the real things for people who live from paycheck to paycheck all over this state.
Quinn's back-pedaling came after a meeting this afternoon with several black elected officials such as U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Illinois State Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago), Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), Ald. Ed Smith (28th), though Quinn said the meeting had nothing to do with his change of heart. Still, the timing seems curious, given that Quinn has been harping on it for the last week now and just made his declaration to run for office in 2010.
Said Ald. Burnett, "Burris' Senate seat is really bigger than Burris as far as race goes, because he's the only African-American Senator in the United States of America. So this is a big deal to the African-American community." Ald. Smith added, "Our position is that he should stay in office, and we don't feel that the governor, or Senator Dick Durbin, has the wherewithal to throw him out of office. He represents this community."
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While I'm not crazy about Sen. Burris, being that I am not sure he holds the interests of the people of Illinois as he is on holding high public offices, I'm not less interested in wasting taxpayer dollars for a special election for the 2 remaining years in office. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that we can coast to a better candidate in the 2010 election. If he does make some great changes for this state, well it's an unexpected benefit, but I'm not holding my breath.
As far as the quote from Ald. Burnett, "Burris' Senate seat is really bigger than Burris as far as race goes, because he's the only African-American Senator in the United States of America. So this is a big deal to the African-American community." I think anybody who reads past political headlines knows he's the only black senator out there right now, but that quote really, NO I MEAN REALLY, seems like affirmative action puts Sen. Burris in the office. I know that's not what you mean, but please don't defend his right to be there by saying - despite all the questionable ethics of his appointment, that he deserves to be there simply because of race, and not merit.
There was the same issue when Rep. Rush called for a black replacement before Burris was appointed. How do you weigh the need for diversity against merit?
Well being that there's only 2 senator positions for the state, (with one senator election at a time) you HAVE to base merit over diversity. You try and do the opposite, and you're going to piss off other minorities.
The House of Representatives is more able to reflect diversity, being that they represent (19) different districts.
IMHO, the race card has trumped Quinn's reformer label. If Quinn converts to just another Illinois politician, he'll be a weak candidate the next election. I'm disappointed in Quinn for this backflip.