Tough Calculus for Blagojevich on Senate Seat

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Tough Calculus for Blagojevich on Senate Seat

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/us/01illinois.html?ref=us

By MONICA DAVEY and RACHEL L. SWARNS
Published: December 31, 2008

CHICAGO — Since his arrest on corruption charges on Dec. 9, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois wavered several times on whether to appoint a new senator to fill the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, people with knowledge of his thinking said Wednesday.
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Morry Gash/Associated Press

The Caucus: Fitzgerald Asks for More Time on Blagojevich Indictment (December 31, 2008)
Defiant Governor Picks Obama Successor (December 31, 2008)
Man in the News: Roland W. Burris, a Low-Key Pioneer (December 31, 2008)
Motion for Extension Filed by the U.S. Attorney (pdf)

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Back Story With The Times's Monica Davey
Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune, via Associated Press

Roland W. Burris, who has been chosen to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s former Senate seat, greeted passers-by Wednesday after a television interview in downtown Chicago.

But once it became clear that state lawmakers would not call a special election, Mr. Blagojevich had an emissary make a call on Dec. 24 to Danny K. Davis, a Democratic representative and longtime African-American leader.

Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat who had already been accused of trying to sell the seat, had a difficult calculus to meet: someone who would accept his offer under the circumstances and someone, political experts say, whose standing might somehow help spare his own future, political or otherwise.