Race Played Factor in Seating Burris
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on March 2nd, 2009 5:35 am by HL
Race Played Factor in Seating Burris
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), “who advised Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) last week to step down from the Senate, acknowledged today that racial considerations were at play in the decision by majority Democrats to seat Burris,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
“Durbin, a fellow Democrat and Illinois’ senior senator, noted that Rep. Bobby Rush, a Chicago Democrat, appeared at Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s announcement of his appointment of Burris and used racially charged language to defend the appointment.”
Gates Says Obama More Analytical
According to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, President Obama “is more analytical than his predecessor,” CNN reports.
“Gates, the only Cabinet holdover from the Bush administration, initially paused when asked what the difference is between working with President Obama and President Bush.”
Said Gates: “President Obama is somewhat more analytical, and he makes sure he hears from everybody in the room on an issue. And if they don’t speak up, he calls on them. President Bush was interested in hearing different points of view but didn’t go out of his way to make sure everybody spoke if they hadn’t spoken up before.”
Read the complete transcript.
Vitter Regains Footing After Scandal
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) “survived a potentially career-wrecking scandal midway through his freshman term, since establishing himself as one of the most outspoken conservative voices in the Senate’s diminished Republican ranks,” CQ Politics reports.
“In an interview, Vitter made clear that he is running for re-election and said he intends to spend the next two years focusing on energy policy, a key economic issue in his oil- and gas-producing state.”
