Gov. Rod Blagjevich (D-IL) Arrested for on Corruption Charges

Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested by the FBI this morning on charges of trying to barter his appointment of Barack Obama's replacement in the Senate for personal gain. According to federal prosecutors, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as Blagojevich has been trying to shake down organizations receiving state contracts for years. What with the conviction of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) on corruption charges in October, it appears that criminal behavior of top elected officials is definitely a bipartisan affair. The only problem here is that until Blagojevich resigns--which is unlikely until he is actually convicted--he has the sole power to name Obama's replacement. No matter who he chooses, that person will be tainted. Probably the only thing he could do now to make sure the new senator gets a clean start is to ask Obama himself to make a suggestion and then follow it, but that is unlikely, especially since Blagojevich has not admitted to any wrongdoing.

Chris Cillizza suggests that Blagojevich's best choice now is to appoint a placeholder who won't run in 2010, but it remains to be seen if Blagojevich does this.

Ted Kennedy Lobbying for his Niece, Caroline Kennedy

The NY Times reports that Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) is lobbying Gov. David Paterson (D-NY) to appoint his niece, Caroline Kennedy, to Hillary Clinton's soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat. However, the late President's daughter has always avoided the limelight and it is far from clear that she would do well in the rough-and-tumble world of national politics. Women's groups are supporting Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) for the job. Furthermore, Paterson is no doubt aware that state attorney general Andrew Cuomo wants his job and appointing Cuomo to the Senate would not be controversial and would get Cuomo out of the way. Furthermore, Cuomo has already been elected to statewide office and could probably hold the seat in 2010. Whether Kennedy could actually win a statewide election is far less certain.

The third open senate seat is Joe Biden's seat in Delaware. Gov. Ruth Minner (D-DE) has already appointed Biden's long-time aide, Ted Kaufman, to the seat. It is widely expected that Kaufman will not run in 2010, allowing Biden's son, Beau Biden, to compete for the open seat,

Minnesota Gives Up on the 133 Lost Ballots

The fourth Senate seat in play is the close race in Minnesota. In one Minneapolis precinct, 133 votes have vanished, that is, the total number of votes in the recount is 133 less than in the original count. The precinct went heavily for Democrat Al Franken and he is complaining loudly about the missing votes. The state has looked high and low for the missing envelope and can't find it anywhere. It will be up to the canvassing board to determine what to do. One option is to forget the recount for this precinct and use the original count. Franken would like that but his opponent, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), will surely complain. The Minneapolis Star Tribune currently puts Coleman's' lead at 192 votes, but there are thousands of challenged ballots and absentee ballots yet to be dealt with.

Craig's Appeal Is Rejected by the Court of Appeals

Sen. Larry Craig, who was arrested in a Minneapolis mens room in a sex sting, has lost his appeal that playing footsie in a public mens room is constitutionally protected speech. The court didn't buy this, so Craig's guilty plea cannot be withdrawn. However, Craig is retiring so his loss in court is not directly significant for the new Senate. However, the Republicans are planning to attack Democrats as corrupt on the basis of Blagojevich's arrest, so putting Craig back in the news will tend to neutralize their case. People will think: "Both parties are immoral" even though the two cases are not comparable.

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