Roland on Down the Road

The short unhappy career of Sen. Burris

By ROBERT A. GEORGE

Updated 11:55 PM EST, Thu, Jul 9, 2009

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Say it ain't so, Roland!!!

But, alas, it appears to be all-too-true: Sen. Roland Burris, heir-apparent to the former U.S. Senate seat of now-President Barack Obama has let word out that he will not be a candidate for for a full term in 2010!

Terrible, sad news. But considering that he had only raised, ahem, $845 for the election cycle, not exactly unexpected. $845? Most children of Chicago politicians raise more money than that from the Tooth Fairy's first visit!!

What will be the legacy of the final appointment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich?

Well, on the plus side, no country fell to Communists while Roland Burris was the junior senator from Illinois (yes, there was a military coup, uh, relatively peaceful exchange of power from one president who didn't want to leave when he was supposed to -- but that could hardly be blamed on Ramblin' Roland).

Well, one thing did occur: Even though a no-fun judge prevented the indicted/impeached governor from running off to Costa Rica to appear in "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!" reality show, Burris provided a sort of reality show of his own.

He was subject to a several-week "will-the-Senate-seat-him-or-not?" drama as Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to figure out a way not to let the disgraced Blagojevich "win" by naming Burris to the seat. Alas, the image of the all-white U.S. Senate trying keep out what would be its sole (soul?) black member didn't exactly look good in 2009. Reid eventually acquiesced.

Within days, Reid's decision backfired: It became clear that Burris hadn't been completely, ahem, "forthcoming" in terms of what he did and did not discuss with Blagojevich before the appointment (who would believe that Illinois politicians might be not completely truthful)? The neo-senator swore unequivocally -- to Illinois legislators during Blagojevich's impeachment hearings -- that he had made no deals with the governor or his allies in exchange for getting the Senate appointment.

The question was a somewhat important one given that Raunchy-mouthed Rod had been caught on tape only discussing what sort of gratuities he might get out the eventual appointee. This, after all, is what led to Blago's eventual impeachment, removal from office and multiple indictment.

Alas, tape recordings surfaced (don't they always?) that gave at least an impression that Burris wanted (planned?) to host a fundraiser or two for Blagojevich. This seeming inconsistency led to some legislators declaring that Burris had perjured himself. Last month, he learned that he had escaped perjury charges. The U.S. Senate's own ethics probe is still ongoing (these internal investigations have a tendency to go on forever).

In any event, Burris' tenure will not go on forever. He will be a two-year and done senator. There are already quite a handful of candidates on both sides of the aisle angling for the seat. The lingering stench from Blagojevich and Company (his former chief of staff plead guilty this week) is strong enough that Republicans have a good shot at taking back the seat.

Sen. Burris heads off into the sunset.

He was good for a few laughs, some embarrassments of the U.S. Senate Democratic leadership and quite a number of beleaguered-looking press events with a hungry media. In between working on his defense strategy with his lawyer, Ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich must still be quite amused with the final prank that he pulled on Illinois and national politics before he got kicked out of office.

New York writer Robert A. George blogs at Ragged Thots. Follow him on Twitter.