Burris rejection a matter of politics

WASHINGTON — Every vote counts equally in the Senate, but first you have to get in.

Normal people might consider winning an election a valid ticket for entry. Or getting an appointment by a sitting governor.

But the Senate is a parallel universe, its gatekeepers precise calculators of power and influence. A family name — such as Kennedy or Biden — helps. A tainted patron? Not so much.

Roland Burris' appointment by a sitting governor was rejected Monday on grounds that his certificate hadn't been signed by Illinois' secretary of state. In reality, he was rejected because Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed him in defiance of Senate Democrats. Anyone Blagojevich appoints, they argue, is tainted by charges that the governor tried to sell President-elect Obama's former Senate seat.

Al Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and author, won't be seated until Senate Republicans are convinced that he prevailed over incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman.

A Minnesota board Monday declared Franken the winner by 225 votes, reversing Election Day results. But Coleman's lawyer promised a legal challenge that likely will keep the race in limbo for months.

The Senate is not an institution hidebound by rules. It's a club that uses its rules when they come in handy.

Despite all the talk of rules and the Constitution, what governs acceptance to the chamber has more to do with a senatorial law of gravity called consent. Any one of 100 senators can block action — until and unless 60 vote to move forward.

Not all newly appointed members are viewed as unsuitable.

This club is very much about money. Before federal prosecutors made charges against Blagojevich public, Majority Leader Harry Reid urged the governor to appoint a candidate who could win re-election — read: raise enough campaign cash — in 2010. Burris was not among those, according to the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.

How about Caroline Kennedy, daughter of a president, to take Hillary Rodham Clinton's seat if she's confirmed as secretary of state? Kennedy's uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., made the suggestion.

"Perfect," Reid declared.

What of Vice President-elect Joseph Biden's Delaware seat? It'll be held by Edward "Ted" Kaufman, a former Biden aide — but only until Biden's current term ends in 2010. By then, Biden's son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, will have returned from duty in Iraq.

Raising money is not everything. Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet, who has little political experience, has provoked no particular outrage since Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter named him Saturday to the seat vacated by Interior secretary-designate Ken Salazar.

But Ritter, unlike Blagojevich, is not facing indictment on corruption charges.

The Senate rarely invokes rules, procedure or tradition except to win power struggles. In Burris' case, Senate Democrats pulled out the rule book.

The Senate Democratic caucus cited a requirement that an appointee must have a certificate signed by the governor of his state and its secretary of state.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has refused to sign Burris' certificate, giving Senate officials ammunition to deny him access to the floor for his swearing-in.

"I'm a United States senator," a defiant Burris said Monday, while signaling to reporters that there were limits to his rebelliousness. "I'm not going to make a scene. I don't want to give you all a circus."

No matter. The Illinois Legislature is likely to impeach Blagojevich before the Burris issue can be resolved, Democrats reasoned. Pat Quinn, now lieutenant governor, likely would be the one to make the appointment — of someone widely expected to be black.