is that they are realizing that Burris has every legal right to the seat and there's nothing they can do to block it.  Blagojevich 1, Reid/Obama 0.

They did what they were supposed to do...  Fight the appointment as much as they can... then lose...  Everyone saves face... except Blago... his little race war to somehow stave off impeachment... is over.

I agree that it became clear that any further challenge severely impacts the rights of governors to appoint senate replacements. Don't ban Burris -- change the law!

I also agree that by holding out for as long as they can, they make Blago look like the bad guy. I think they timed this just right.

That said, I agree with the diary, in that any lack of communication between Obama and Congress needs to be resolved now, not that I feel our congressional leaders deserve anything, but to have the most efficient presidency.

So yeah, communicate better Obama team.

Blagojevich lost this one even if Burris is seated.  The guy is toasted politically, and he knows it.  Burris was an extended middle finger to the people that caught him, a move that guaranteed him a footnote in the history books.

Obama said in the first place that he supported the Senate with their rights that they have, which is essentially what he had to say if he ever wants to get anything done in government.  If they don't have the right to do it, then Obama shouldn't suffer for it.

As usual, we're expecting a bit too much from a government-in-waiting.

I don't think Obama was ever driving the bus on this issue.  I think the Senate took the lead and he was simply doing his best to help present a unified front.

The Senate has too great a sense of its self-importance, and too much concern for its own prerogatives, to ever call up the President and say "hey, we have this controversial Senate appointment here, what would you like us to do about it?"

Obama is making it clear that it's okay to seat Burris.

It really isn't that big of a deal.

Again it is REALLY a Senate matter.  

Now is the time for Obama to totally stay out of it.  

We have too many problems facing our country than to worry about the Burris seat.

"But my gut instinct says that this is the second time since Monday that Obama's people didn't communicate their decisions to Congressional allies quite as well as they could have."

would be awesome.  

Our Democratic congress, although not entirely their fault, has been incredibly inept over the last two years.  Hopefully they're getting the message loud and clear: We've got 59 votes, shape up and get shit done.

As I listened to Reid argue on weekend chat that Blago must resign, and his appointment ignored, because a prosecutor arrested him (BEFORE obtaining an indictment or filing an information) (and you all understand that Blago has not yet been charged with any crime, but was arrested to stop him from committing a crime), I thought:  Is this the precedent you want to set?  That ANY elected D must resign upon arrest, innocence / guilt / pending charges / due process be damned?  Dumb, dumb, dumb move!  It's too early  to set standards to be applied universally the next time a D is arrested.

The senators need to get over themselves. They seem to be more concerned about their own feelings than something important.

Barack had poor initial advice. There is an argument to be made for denying him the seat and forcing the supremes to make the call, but there is a bigger case to be made for seating him.  It's legal, and this guy did not purchase the seat, and he's a smart and deserving guy. Blago made a smart move, he's a player for sure, be won't go passively, he may not go at all.  He hasn't been indicted, and as far as I can see he's no worse than many, he's just either cruder, or he's one of the few with a tapped telephone and many more would turn out to be crude if we could all listen in.  

Hopefully a sign the Obama team wants a competent, smart, tough leader at the top of the Senate.

created problem. He should face the music.

Burris should e seated, I mean.

Sigh.  Well, I guess its ok for us in Illinois to only have one real, effective Senator for the next two years.  

I can't wait for Obama to be inaugurated just so that the federal layer of government here in Chicago has at least the possibility of competence.  Right now, the many layers of Daley's new machine/Cook County Board/Illinois state govt/Bush led federal govt are all failing miserably at just about everything.  It's embarrassing.

Reid needs to shut his mouths before making threats he cannot enforce. He made himself look like a wimp with Lieberman where he wagged his finger and said that "lieberman said some very bad things and there is no one ..NO ONE I TELL YOU.. who is madder than I am" and what does Reid do after sending word through his surrogates that Lieberman's chairmanship is in jeopardy? He gives a speech in FAVOR of Lieberman in closed quarters. Do you think Lieberman really got a scare from him? Lieberman probably can't wait to test this wimp again in the future.

Now Reid looks like a major dumbass again with the Burris case. He should have done his homework, and if he wasn't confident that he could prevent Burris from sitting, he should have done a behind the scenes PR strategy session with other Democratic leaders and made statements distancing themselves from Blago using the pick, but not making idiotic threats of not seating whoever was picked.

PLEASE DO NOT DONATE A SINGLE DOLLAR TO REID'S CAMPAIGN. Save it for a Democrat who is up and coming and needs it. If Reid is in that much trouble, his senate buddies will come through for him. No need to waste your hard earned money.

The law is the law.

Someone finally realized it and decided to stop the bleeding and follow the law after 8 long years.

Hoping it's just a sign of the transition still being under way; HQ moving from Chicago to DC; etc.

Who is their congressional liaison anyway?