Breaking: Senate Democrats Will Seat Roland Burris

Politico is reporting that Senate Democrats have decided to accept the credentials of Senator-designate Roland Burris (D) and seat him as the replacement for President-elect Barack Obama. Senate Democrats have been twisting and turning for weeks in their attempts to find a way to deny Burris his seat, and live up to their commitment to refuse any appointee from scandal-plagued Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D).

As recently as this weekend, Sen. Dick Durbin hinted that Burris might not ultimately be seated due to the controversy surrounding his appointment and his credentials, which the Illinois Secretary of State refused to sign alongside the governor.

But Democrats' hopes for an easy way out of the quandary were dashed last week, when the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Burris' credentials were valid without Secretary of State Jesse White's signature. The ruling placed the matter squarely back in Senate Democrats' hands, and they have quickly caved in to the pressure. Refusing to seat a qualified African-American would have run Democrats afoul of one of their biggest constituency groups, which voted for President-elect Obama in record numbers in November. Democrats decided that if they were going to have egg on their face either way, it would be better to sacrifice their principles rather than potentially alienating voters.

Left out of the negotiations and machinations over the Illinois Senate vacancy are the people of Illinois, who will be denied a chance to vote on a successor to Barack Obama in the Senate. Senate and Illinois Democrats decided that the risk of losing the seat to a Republican was too great to allow the voters to have their say. Democrats often claim to represent the average voter against powerful entrenched interests. After this sordid affair, no Democrat, up to and including President-elect Barack Obama – who remained silent on the Burris controversy and refused to call for a special election – should ever claim to have the people's interest first at heart.