Nov 5, 2008 6:14 pm US/Central
Blagojevich Will Name Obama's Senate Successor
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Gov. Rod Blagojevich (File)
CBS
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is headed to the White House after a landslide victory over Sen. John McCain. Now the big question remains: Who will replace Obama in the Senate?
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports Gov. Rod Blagojevich alone has the power to pick Obama's replacement in the Senate. Blagojevich says members of his senior staff will help check out candidates who want to replace Obama.
His choice would then serve until the next election in 2010. The governor is mulling over his options. He has time, and wants to get it done next month.
Sources say his chief of staff, John Harris, and Deputy Governor Luanner Peters, have already talked to some of the politicos who have been maneuvering in public and in private to get Obama's soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat.
Blagojevich told reporters at a Wednesday news conference that he won't rush his decision to name Obama's successor. Relishing the power he holds over all the would-be U.S. Senators, the governor did advise them and their friends not to call at certain inconvenient moments, like when the Chicago Bears were playing.
Perhaps the most vigorous in their public lobbying have been South Side Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Evanston's Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Others include the West Side's Rep. Danny K. Davis; Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth; and State Senate President Emil Jones, the man who famously took Barack Obama under his wing in 1997 when the young man first arrived in State Capitol.
The governor says he'd like to be in a position to make an announcement before Christmas but he didn't want to over promise. The latest he says he could go is around the New Year.
Blagojevich said whatever thoughts Obama has on the subject would carry a lot of weight.
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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