Gov's pick may not be black

Sun-Times:

Gov. Blagojevich, in the most detailed interview to date on how he will fill the Senate seat formerly held by President-elect Barack Obama, told me Tuesday his replacement does not have to be an African American and he is open to selecting someone who would serve only the two years left in the term.

Blagojevich is aiming to replace Obama -- who was the only African American in the Senate -- before the new Senate is sworn in next month to give the new senator a leg up on seniority.

In a phone interview, I asked Blagojevich if he considered the vacancy an African-American seat. "I think it is a factor of a great deal of weight in my mind but it is not the only factor or the only consideration, and somebody could be the next Barack Obama who happens not to be the African American, and that person would be hard not to make a U.S. senator."

Because this is election has just one voter, contenders are working quietly to sell themselves to Blagojevich.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) is waging an overt drive. I asked Blagojevich what he thought of Jackson's public campaign.

Blagojevich offered a response I took as lukewarm, but I may be reading too much into his measured comments.

"He's got a right to do it," Blagojevich said, "and he obviously believes in himself as a candidate for the United States Senate and his public campaign is, you know, something he obviously believes appropriate and helpful, and all power to him."

Should Obama's replacement in the US Senate be Black?