Senate Speculation

In the run up to Obama's election, I took part in some discussions about who Rod Blagojevich might choose to fill what we hoped would be an empty senate seat. In my calculations, I always considered the politics of the potential pick rather than who could pay the highest fee. Silly me.

There are reportedly six candidates for the post who are referred to in the Blagojevich wiretaps, and there's been a fair amount of speculation about their identities. By now, Jesse Jackson, Jr., has been identified as Senate Candidate #5, who was allegedly represented by an "emissary" who offered to pay $1 million for the position. Not too surprisingly, Jackson denied the allegation. My Internet connection is causing me all kinds of problems tonight, so I haven't had an opportunity to find links for actual confirmation, but a local TV station reported that Senate Candidate # 1 had been positively identified as Valerie Jarrett, #2 as Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and #4 as Deputy Governor Bob Greenlee. If I find firm links, I may add them tomorrow.

In the meantime, Chris Cillizza runs down the presumed candidates for Blagojevich's appointment in those halcyon pre-arrest days that seem so far away now. He also handicaps those candidates and how they might be faring now that reality has changed entirely.