In what has to be one of the worst-kept secrets on the Senate, it looks like the state of Illnois will be not have an incumbent senator come the 2010 election cycle.  The senator in question?  If you don’t know by now, then you’ve been a cave or something; but to be fair, this gentleman has been under the political radar for awhile.  The senator is one Roland Burris.

To recap, Burris got his current senatorial seat courtesy of an appointment by disgraced former governor of Illnois Rod Blagojevich.  The Senate, after some arguing and much legal wrangling, welcomed Burris to its hallowed halls. 

But Burris’ association with Blagojevich and some other shady characters along with his ever-changing story about doing fundraising for Blagojevich would prove to be his undoing as he, for all intents and purposes, was ostracized by members of his own party (go figure!!).

Nonetheless, Burris, according to him anyways, says that he will not return to run for a full term as senator because of the lack of fundraising.  His total as of this posting?  The princely sum of $20,000.  Not only will he be without a seat to call his own come 2010, he will leave the Senate without a pension.

While Burris is at what can be considered retirement age, he will not get a congressional pension simply because he did not serve long enough to get that entitlement.  Typically, lawmakers are eligible for a pension at the age of 62 if they have served at least five years in the House and Senate combined.

The only way Burris would get that pension is if he ran for the Senate seat in 2010 and won that full term.  But that isn’t happening, so Burris will leave Washington D.C. after his term expires empty-handed.  And I am not going to speculate what his political future – if any – holds for him.

Just when we thought Illinois senator Roland Burris vanished, he reappears.  And yes, it has everything to do with his role with disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.  What Burris trying to do is get permission from the Senate Ethic Committee to establish a legal expenses fund in connection with his appointment to his seat by Blagojevich.

Apparently, the fund is designed to be used to pay legal expenses incurred  in connection with Burris’ appointment and the still ongoing investigation into statements that Burris made about it.  The Illinois state attorney in charge of the case, one John Schmidt, is reviewing Burris’ testimony before the Illinois state panel that impeached Blagojevich.  To recap a bit, Burris made conflicting statements about contacts that he made with associates of the former governor.  And all of this stemming from Blagojevich attempting to sell President Obama’s former Senate seat before appointing Burris to it.

Folks, I thought this went away to die a quiet death, yet I have a feeling that this sordid mess has sprung a second life.  When mroe details become available, I’ll have them here for you, so stay tuned.

The senior senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, and the junior senator from Illinois, Roland Burris, met today to discuss Burris’ situation. What happened, you ask? I’m not the spoiler here; take a listen.

Most folks – Democrats especially – would assume that it is premature to talk about prospects for elected office on the GOP side.  I, for one, do not share that belief.  After all, it takes almost flawless planning, lots of fundraising and a candidate who best represents the GOP and its set of values and beliefs.  Being a decent public speaker is always a plus, as well.  Another thing to consider in all of this is the political mess involving Senator Roland Burris and you have a chance for the GOP to make hay while the sun’s still out.  Having said that, there are some candidates out there worth considering. 

As I know it thus far, Burris is a tossup, although I am hearing rumblings that Burris is only in his seat until 2010 then he’s gone.  Colorado senator Michael Bennet is “leaning” towards a run; however, there are some certainties in the senatorial races.  I do know that Republican senators Christopher Bond (MO), George V. Voinovich (OH), Mel Martinez (FL) and Sam Brownback (KS) will not be running in 2010.  Republican Senator Judd Gregg (NH) said last week that he’s probably not going to tun in ‘10, so count him out; also factor in Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (TX) as she probably will not run in order to run for the Texas governorship.

On the flip side, no Democratic incumbents are expected to retire in 2010.  But you have to consider the Democrats who are up for reelection in ‘10 and things are a bit brighter for the GOP.  Back to Burris for a minute; because of Burris’ current situation, a GOP candidate Now has a fighting chance to grab Burris’ seat.  Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) could face a steep challenge for her seat on the Democratic side and she’s currently trailing Carolyn Murphy in the recent polls.

Meanwhile in Colorado, Bennet – an unproven commodity despite being picked by Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. – may also have a uphill battle to contend with.  And even more good news for the GOP.  Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, a Democrat, has announced that she would not run in 2010 which could very well mean that current governor Charlie Crist could be the favorite to win that seat.  The state of Ohio has an interesting scenario brewing as both Lt. Governor Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner plan to run for Voinovich’s seat as is Rob Portman, President Bush’s budget chief and former Congressman. 

And there’s more.  Missouri’s Roy Blunt has already stated that he will run for Bond’s soon-to-be-vacated seat; he would be the strongest challenger to the expected Democratic nominee, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.  Christopher Dodd of Connecticut isn’t exactly out of the woods himself; polls conducted earlier this month indicate that 51% of the people involved in the poll indicated that they “probably or definitely will not vote for Dodd in 2010. 

Lastly, but certainly as important is how the economy will turn out between now and the 2010 primaries as the worse the economy gets, the worse it is likely to be for Democratic candidates as the number of vulnerable candidates would increase in that scenario.  So really, at the end of the day, things are not as bad on the election front for the GOP as it seems.

I know I have mentioned it here at The Temple on more than one occasion, but after all the things that have gone down involving U.S. Senator Roland Burris, I said back then as I do right now: Burris needs to resign. This panel who you are about to hear have their take on what Burris should do. Take a listen then you decide.

U.S. senator Roland Burris just cannot catch a break these days; between the allegations of fundraising for the Blagojeviches, the omitted information on the sworn affidavits and the calls from both Republicans, Democrats and newspapers for him to resign, he apparently has few friends to back him up.  Add one more person to the list as Illinois governor Pat Quinn called for Burris to give up his seat on Friday.

Quinn said that it was a mistake for Burris to accept the Senate appointment from former Illnois governor Rod Blagojevich; the announcement comes at a time when Burris is undergoing heavy criticism for amending his account of how he was appointed to the Senate. 

For those of you who haven’t had a chance to get up to speed on the burris saga, what happened is this.  Burris initially stated that there was no discussion of him doing any favors in exchange for the Senate seat; but he would admit later that he did discuss the vacancy with Blagojevich’s cronies.  Burris further said that he was asked to raise money for Blagojevich but could not find anyone to contribute. 

Since all of this has transpired, Burris has quit speaking publicly and answering questions about the timeline of his Senate appointment.  This looks like trouble for Burris, folks.  When more devlopments on the Burris situation become available, The Republican Temple will have them for you.

Let’s face it. U.S. Senator Roland Burris is fighting for his political life. Between the inconsistencies in his statements about alleged fundraising dealings with former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and the changes in Burris’ stories, he seems to be digging a hole for himself as people are calling for his resignations – both Democrats and Republicans. Let’s see what Burris has to say about all of this.