by John McCormick and Rick Pearson
President-elect Barack Obama said today he will step down from his Senate seat effective this Sunday.
The decision adds to the pressure on Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a fellow Democrat, who under state law has the sole responsibility for naming a successor to Obama, the only African-American in the Senate.
"It has been one of the highest honors and privileges of my life to have served the people of Illinois in the United States Senate," Obama said in a statement today.
"In a state that represents the crossroads of a nation, I have met so many men and women who've taken different journeys, but hold common hopes for their children's future," Obama said. "It is these Illinois families and their stories that will stay with me as I leave the United States Senate and begin the hard task of fulfilling the simple hopes and common dreams of all Americans as our nation's next President."
Aides to Obama already had said he would not be returning to Washington to vote on Senate matters this fall, in advance of his being sworn in as the nation's 44th president Jan. 20. Obama was in Chicago today working on transition matters from the Kluczynski Federal Building in the Loop.
Blagojevich has said he expects to make a decision by the end of the year and is "not interested" in naming himself to the post....
(For the rest read the Clout Street blog.)
Comments
[["It has been one of the highest honors and privileges of my life to have served the people of Illinois in the United States Senate," Obama said in a statement today.''
Rephrase to: "it has been my good fortune to be able to use this job to step into a more important gig. I'm getting good at that, as I've done it my whole career. So long, suckers. I won't be back. From here on in, I'm cashing in, as I've also done my whole life."
Posted by: Lizzie | November 13, 2008 8:47 PM
At least Illinois gets to spread its misery out to the rest of the country
Posted by: Terry | November 13, 2008 9:38 PM
Wrong.
Bush won't be back--to Crawford that is. According to the New Yorker, the locals won't be too unhappy to see him go.
He's moving to Dallas. (Moving to town, as we used to say in central Illinois.)
Clintons didn't give a rat's ----- for Arkansas after using it as a stepping stone either.
You're wrong about Obama however.
The only real money he has made was from books he wrote himself.
And it looks like the Western White House will be in Hyde Park.
And the Presidential Library--perhaps on the site of the 2016 Olympics, which will also be in Hyde Park.
Posted by: ornery | November 14, 2008 12:03 AM
Leaving the senate after 46 months--21 months of which were spent campaigning for another office.
At that, 46 months is about the longest period Obama has held a full-time job.
Posted by: Regime Change | November 14, 2008 4:01 PM