Deal to Seat Roland Burris?

The Politico reports:

Democratic leaders have backed down in the Roland Burris showdown, saying his seating hinges on action in the courts, the Illinois legislature and a final vote of United States senators.

There’s an increasingly strong chance that Burris will prevail on all these fronts and he’ll become a U.S. senator, ending an embarrassing chapter in Democratic politics.

After a 45 minute meeting with Burris Wednesday morning, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Majority Whip Dick Durbin emerged without an immediate deal to seat Burris, yet seem perilously close to saying Burris will prevail.

"This was a positive meeting and it moves us forward," Durbin said.

The entire Senate Democratic caucus and President-elect Barack Obama have urged disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign and prefer Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn to fill the vacancy created by Obama’s White House victory. This week three Democratic senators—Russ Feingold (WI), Patrick Leahy (VT) and Senate Rules Committe Chair Dianne Feinstein (CA)—have walked back that position and indicated support for Burris.

UPDATE: AP reports Burris says he should be able to join the Senate "very shortly."

Comments

[Nathan James]

Politics...the art of the possible. I'm glad the drama is over, and the Senate can get down to handling the business of the people.

[Diva1961]

Unless Burris has done something wrong, I don't understand all the fuss about him moving forward. I know that the legislature doesn't want the govenor to have the last say over this seat, because of all the implications and such, but Burris didn't sdo anything wrong. Hopefully this will move forward and the Senate can move forward.

[TotallyUnrelated]

Good. I've heard he's pretty gay friendly too.

---------------
Unrelated: Jasmyne Cannick's site just went down 6:25 PM Eastern time.

[TotallyUnrelated]

Oh scratch that last part. Her site's back up. I thought she got caught by the recent hackers of gay blogs.

[Bill]

Just seat Mr. Burris already. Gov Blagovich has the legal authority to do it and Burris is amply qualified to do the job. This is just another example of how underserved the Senate Democrats are with Harry Reid as their Majority Leader. Our Nation has bigger problems than picking fights within his own party.

[kevjack]

I think this situation shows how these guys flip-flop on these issues. The real problem isn't the senate, its Illinois' Sec. of State and whether they will certify the appointment. I think that this wouldn't be so crazy if the Sentate Dems hadn't said the exact opposite of what they are saying now.

[Luther]

This is now ridiculous, and, the way Reid and the other guy were squirming with the "race" issue at that press conference was just pitiful. Good grief, give the man the seat, he did nothing wrong, and, no matter what is going on with the Governor, he is still the Governor and can make the appointment. For crying out loud, Bill Clinton was in impeachment hearings and still was able to do his job.

And, I loved Burris when he told them he had "no money" to pay for the seat, great sense of humor, and, a cute little old guy as well without a single wrinkle.

[the Gay Numbers]

Unless Blago is black too this was not about Burris, but Blago. I agree with their approach on this. The compromise seems to be that they are moving toward requiring other IL officials to sign off on this. That's the smart and right thing to do as I don't trust Blago. Burris, himself, seems great. But I don't want Blago's taint anywhere around him.

[charles mcgee]

Senator Roland W. Burris may not be the greatest candidate for sainthood, but he gifted enough to provide some much needed leadership in the clueless U S Senate.