Blagojevich pick: Not seating me could appear racist

If Senate Democrats refuse to seat Roland Burris as President-elect Barack Obama’s replacement in the U.S. Senate, some people could view it as racism, Burris said Wednesday.

“It could give the appearance to a lot of individuals — not only African-Americans,” Burris told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Wednesday in an exclusive interview. “Is it racism that’s taking place? That’s the question that someone else could raise.”

Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich defied both Obama and Senate Democrats by naming Burris, 71, the state’s former attorney general, to replace the president-elect in Congress. Burris is black, and would be the only African-American in the U.S. Senate.

Tainted choice?
When Blagojevich announced his choice on Tuesday, Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush, who is also black, defended Burris’ appointment. Then he suggested that to deny Burris the seat would be seen as a racist act. He told Senate Democrats not to “hang and lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointor.”

Blagojevich by law appoints replacements in his state for vacated seats in Congress. He has been accused of trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat and is expected to be indicted by federal prosecutors next week. When the allegations were first made public, both Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that any replacement named by Blagojevich would be tainted by the accusations against the governor and would not be seated.

In what is seen by analysts as an effort to get back at his accusers, Blagojevich went ahead and named Burris, who served four terms as the state’s comptroller and ran against Blagojevich for governor in 2002, to Obama’s seat.

“I have absolutely nothing to do with his problems. Nothing,” Burris said of the governor. “I am not tainted, because the governor is following the constitution. I am qualified to sit in the seat.”

Empty seat?
No one has challenged Burris’ qualifications or character, but party leaders insist that he isn’t the issue; Blagojevich is. If the governor and party leaders remain firm, the issue is likely to be decided by the courts. While the case is being argued, the seat would remain vacant.

Video   Can Dems block Blagojevich? Dec. 31: Senate Democrats vow to block Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s move to fill Barack Obama’s vacant seat. Today show

“I am confident when all is said and done, I will be the U.S. senator from the great state of Illinois,” Burris told Vieira. “We need not go into this 111th Congress shorthanded as the fifth-largest state in this nation.”

Burris said he has reached out to Obama, whom he knows as a fellow Democratic politician from Illinois, as well as to the state’s other senator, Dick Durbin. Burris said he had spoken to an Obama staffer but not to the president-elect, who is vacationing in Hawaii.

“They’re my friends. I know them all,” Burris said of Obama and Durbin.

Burris said that in his many campaigns for state office, he never felt race was a factor.

Democrats in turmoil
On Tuesday, Reid and Durbin issued a joint statement reiterating their opposition to seating any senator named by Blagojevich. “This is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat,” they said. “Anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic caucus,” they said.

Long before Burris' selection became public, the 50-member Democratic caucus in the Senate called on Blagojevich to leave the appointment to others, saying that the charges against him would strip credibility from anyone he appointed.

Video   Todd on Burris appointment Dec. 31: NBC’s chief White House correspondent, Chuck Todd, analyzes Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s appointment of Barack Obama’s Senate replacement. Today show

Rush's stark denouncement of the plan to deny Burris his seat stunned Senate staffers and their bosses and ignited a major internal fight among Democrats just as the party was preparing to celebrate Obama's election as the nation's first black commander in chief.

“There are no African-Americans in the Senate,” Rush said. “And I don't think that anyone — any U.S. senator who's sitting in the Senate right now — wants to go on record to deny one African-American being seated in the U.S. Senate.”

Rush said he would appeal to the Congressional Black Caucus to support Burris' appointment, and he singled out Durbin as someone he expected could be “reasoned with.” Durbin had no further comment, a spokesman said.

The last time the Senate refused to seat a member was in 1947, when Mississippi Democrat Theodore Bilbo was accused of corruption and bribery, according to Don Ritchie, associate Senate historian.

The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.

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