Obama Calls For Blagojevich Resignation

Posted on December 10, 2008

Barack Obama has called for the resignation of Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich. The governor was arrested for multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy. The FBI has him on tape trying to sell Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder.

A day after the governor, Rod R. Blagojevich, was arrested and accused of putting Mr. Obama's vacant United States Senate seat up for bid, politicians from Washington to Chicago to the plains of Illinois made it clear that they wanted Mr. Blagojevich gone as soon as possible. Robert Gibbs, a spokesman for Mr. Obama, said that "it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois."
The Illinois legislature, which is currently adjourned, was making plans to reconvene on Monday to try to neutralize Mr. Blagojevich's authority by stripping him of his appointment authority, or even impeaching him.
The state House is expected to draft a bill that would call for a special election to fill Mr. Obama's Senate seat, which he resigned last month; state law authorizes the governor to appoint the President-elect's successor. More than 50 lawmakers have already signed a draft resolution to create a committee to investigate whether Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat, should be impeached. And the state�s attorney general is weighing whether to file a legal action on behalf of the people of Illinois seeking to declare the governor unfit to serve.
Cindy Davidsmeyer, a spokeswoman for Emil Jones Jr., the president of the state Senate, said lawmakers could pass a bill on the special election as soon as next Tuesday. It is unclear whether Mr. Blagojevich would sign such legislation; he could veto it or delay it by returning it to the legislature with requests for changes or by taking no action at all for as long as 60 days.

Meanwhile everyone's wondering who is going to get caught in the dragnet around the corrupt governor. One senate hopeful -- Senate Candidate 5 as he's referred to in the transcripts of the governor's phone calls -- has been identified as Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. Jackson denies any wrongdoing, but it's early days yet in this new scandal.