Day 27
Feb. 15, 2009
"I've always conducted myself with honor and integrity. At no time did I ever make any inconsistent statement."
—Roland Burris, Democratic Senator from Illinois, responding to reports that former governor Rod Blagojevich's brother solicited up to $10,000 in campaign cash from him before he was named to fill President Obama's vacant Senate seat
About a month after Burris entered the Senate despite being appointed by the scandal-plagued Illinois governor, he already seems to have lost most of his once unimpeachable reputation. News breaks of yet another apparent discrepancy in his testimony before the Illinois House impeachment panel, this time suggesting he may have been less than truthful in denying that he had ever had any contacts or discussions about fundraising with Blagojevich or his associates. Burris will prove to be as stubborn as the man who gave him the Senate seat — the same seat he stands accused of trying to sell — and rejects numerous calls to step down.
Obama comes under fire on Day 27 as well, with his former Republican rival Senator John McCain and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham using the Sunday talk-show circuit to rail against the President's efforts to reach across the aisle, pointing particularly to the stimulus plan. McCain says on CNN's State of the Union that Obama has backtracked on his promises of bipartisanship, while Graham puts it a little more bluntly on ABC's This Week: "If this is going to be bipartisanship, the country's screwed."
The criticism seems to roll off Obama, who spends his Sunday casually in the Windy City. In the morning he heads to the University of Chicago campus to shoot some hoops with a group of friends, and later he steps out in jeans and sneakers to travel a few blocks to his friend Marty Nesbitt's to watch the NBA All-Star game.