Obama calls for Illinois governor to resign
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president-elect agrees with other prominent politicians in Illinois and elsewhere that “under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois.”
Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday, accused of scheming to enrich himself by selling Obama’s open seat for cash or a lucrative job for himself. The governor has authority to appoint the replacement.
In response to questions from The Associated Press, Gibbs said Obama believes the Illinois legislature should consider a special election to fill the seat.
Blagojevich is out on bond and has denied any wrongdoing. The governor left his home on Chicago’s North Side early yesterday and waved to the media before quickly getting into a dark SUV without talking to reporters. A short time later, Blagojevich’s SUV arrived at his office.
“He is still the sitting governor of Illinois today, now, and that is not something we have any say in or control of,” US Attorney Patrick J Fitzgerald said in unveiling corruption charges on Tuesday against the 52-year-old governor.
The governor’s attorney, Sheldon Sorosky, said Tuesday he didn’t know of any immediate plans for the governor to resign. Blagojevich believes he didn’t do anything wrong and asks Illinois residents to have faith in him, Sorosky said.
“I suppose we will have to go to trial,” he said.
Blagojevich could still appoint someone to fill Obama’s seat despite the charges he tried to barter it away for cash or a plum job in what Fitzgerald called “a political corruption crime spree.”
But it would take a lot of nerve and Blagojevich would have to hurry because state lawmakers are racing to snatch away his power to appoint a new senator and put it in the hands of voters.
“No appointment by this governor, under these circumstances, could produce a credible replacement,” Senator Dick Durbin said Tuesday after the governor, a second-term Democrat, was arrested on charges of conspiring to commit fraud and soliciting bribery.
“For sale: One Senate seat. Goes to the highest BLEEP-ing bidder. Seller’s positive feedback rating: since Tuesday, just about zero.”
Outraged by the arrest of Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, more than a dozen people have put the state’s vacant Senate seat up for bid on eBay.
The offers popped up on the Internet auction site after Blagojevich was accused Tuesday of trying to benefit financially from his power to appoint a Senate replacement for President-elect Barack Obama.
Daniel Finnegan, a student at the University of Georgia, said he started an auction because he’s “extremely upset about what happened” and wants to voice his opinion. Finnegan says he’s glad others posted similar auctions so the accusations against Blagojevich don’t go unnoticed.
University of Illinois student Matt Platino says he posted his entry to be funny, but also because he’s upset with Blagojevich.
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