Leaving aside inappropriate words like bigot, corrupt and interference, a question about Reid

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

There is nothing wrong with Reid calling Blago, but the moment the Blago story broke Harry Reid must have realized that his conversations advising Blago who were acceptable replacements for Obama were probably taped and might end up as public records in a trial.

Did knowing that his name would be connected (however innocently) to the overall story of the Blago pick process play any role in Reid's immediate over-reaching public renunciation of all things Blago, including any future pick?

I would guess yes. It would be pretty conventional prophylactic politics and helps explain why he would have leaped before looking, running so far out in front of the thing.

(Since he was allowing the possibility of seating Burris on MEET THE PRESS this morning it's safe to say that even he is starting to recognize that his out-of-the-box position may be untenable.)

This is a political image question, not an allegation of any Reid impropriety.

[Gman]

1. Whatever.... and

there's nothing improper about not seating any Blago pick. Nothing at all. In fact it is the completely right thing to do. There is no valid argument that can be made to seat anyone Blago picks.

[dansolo]

5. No valid argument?

How about-he is still governor, and has the (IL) Constitutional duty to pick a replacement Senator. There is no valid argument that can be made to NOT seat anyone Blagojevich picks, unless you can prove that some sort of deal was made in that particular case.

[Gman]

6. What don't you understand about "no valid argument"

So it's ok to have Blago sell the postion? That's OK. No one can get that position without the appearance that they paid big bucks for the job. That is all the reason in the world needed for the Senate to not seat anyone Blago nominates.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. It could be

It seems to me that denying Burris the seat is a tad overreacting. Blago may be guilty as sin, but he hasn't been convicted of anything yet, so he was just doing his job in making the appointment. Burris appears to be squeaky clean as far as the bribery scandal goes, and he has pledged to be a care-taker, giving anyone who wants the job long term two years to gear up for the election without being in the spotlight and having to explain votes, etc, which to me is a plus.

We have so many more important things to worry about right now, this Senate fascinating with seating or not seating Senators seems to me to be a waste of time.

[babylonsister]

3. Damned if he does...

not 3 weeks earlier, 50 congresscritters voted for Blago to resign. Had Reid accepted Blago's pick, he'd be excoriated for that, too.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

4. I've excoriated Reid, but not in this thread.

I have been genuinely puzzled by why he made a political mis-step but if he was seeking to be seen as Blago's number one enemy long before any conversations of his were leaked it makes more sense.

There's nothing wrong with having a conversation, but in the media environment any contact is being presented as fishy, like Rahm's perfectly normal conversations.

[Occam Bandage]

7. I think that he probably went through a similar thought process, though I think

his comprehensive rejection of Blagojevich would have been done regardless of his personal discussions regarding Obama's replacement. Blago's party affiliation and the need to preserve a "turning the page" aura around the incoming Democratic government were, I think, enough to warrant such a response more than Reid's personal concerns.