Progress Illinois

In a statement this afternoon, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias lambasted Gov. Blagojevich's selection of Roland Burris to succeed Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate:

The question here is not whether Roland Burris would make a good Senator. The question is whether Blagojevich should have the right to make the appointment. Regardless of whether he wanted to appoint Mother Theresa or Abraham Lincoln, I believe Blagojevich lost that right when he allegedly attempted to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder. He abused his power and should lose his appointment power. ... In the best interest of the people of Illinois, I encourage Secretary of State White to refuse to certify the appointment.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky had a similar response.  From WBEZ:

One senate hopeful from Illinois is condemning Governor Rod Blagojevich for naming his pick to the U.S. Senate today. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky ... says she's puzzled by the governor's logic in making the appointment.

SCHAKOWSKY: I think this is going to create, actually, more controversy around the governor and I don't think it's going to be widely accepted.

Meanwhile, Crain's Greg Hinz got in touch with Dick Durbin this morning and reported that the Illinois Senator seemed a bit taken aback by the news:

When I got Illinois' senior senator on the phone late Tuesday morning to ask him if that threat still stands, Dick Durbin declined all comment, saying he might have something to say later.

Frankly, he sounded like someone had hit him with a frying pan.

You can be sure we'll be hearing directly from Durbin in the coming days.