Cornyn criticizes Reid contact with Blagovich

Politico:

A top Senate Republican is criticizing Harry Reid's involvement in the Illinois Senate seat scandal, accusing him of meddling in the state's affairs by pushing certain candidates in phone calls to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Reid "has led the charge to deny the people of Illinois a voice" in the process. To be sure, Republicans like Cornyn would rather see a special election in Illinois because it would give the GOP a shot at capturing the seat.

According to a Chicago Sun-Times report Saturday, Reid called Blagojevich on Dec. 3 and urged him to tap either state Veteran Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth or state Attorney General Lisa Madigan, both Democrats, to fill the seat. Blagojevich was arrested less than a week later on corruption charges that included allegations he was trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder.

The paper also reported that Reid advised the Illinois governor against selecting state Senate President Emil Jones, a mentor of President-elect Barack Obama, or Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Danny Davis —all of whom, Reid reportedly said, would face difficulty holding on to the seat when it is up for election in 2010.

"For the last several weeks, Senator Reid has led the charge to deny the people of Illinois a voice in choosing their next U.S. senator in a special election," Cornyn said in a Saturday afternoon statement. "Now we learn that Senator Reid also took the extraordinary step to lobby against two sitting U.S. congressmen and the state senate Majority Leader in Illinois, and instead told Governor Blagojevich that he supported an appointment for an individual [Duckworth] who recently lost a U.S. House election.

"The people of Illinois deserve a simple explanation from Senator Reid: Why does he believe these three Illinois officeholders are 'unelectable' to the U.S. Senate?" Cornyn added.

...
I love Sen. John Cornyn. He is taking to his new job with the Republican Senate leadership and is asking questions that many Democrats do not want to answer. He is living up to my expectations when I supported his reelection this year and is putting Democrats on defense where they belong.

If the Democrats wanted to put some integrity behind the selection of a new senator from Illinois they would support a special election.

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