It is very interesting to note that an important and integral part of President-elect Barrack Obama's political career in his hey day as a junior senator in the state senate, is in the offing as a possible replacement in the vacant senate seat,in the name of Emil Jones Jr,the Illinois Senate President.Emil reminds me of John the Baptist who did to Jesus what Emil did to Obama and that is provide him the stepping stone to greatness and for that,I wish him all the best in his political aspirations,a good man in his own right indeed and one of the many unsung heroes in America for playing a major role in rewriting America's great history.

Hopefully, whoever gets picked, actually wants to sever Illinois from the senate seat and not just use it as a stepping stone. In the 46 months our previous junior senator from Illinois held the post, he only bothered to serve Illinois for about 18 months – the rest of the time he was drawing his senator salary, while gallivanting around the country on a job interview.

Hey Rod guess what, most of the sate is south of I-80. Try finding somebody beyond the boundries of CrOOk county.

Did you know that in Illinois, the day after the election, the lottery numbers were 666 for the pick 3 drawing?

I guess pay-back list names will have to wait for titles such as Interior Secretary of Airforce One Health Services (housekeeper for presidential airplane, perfect job for Rev Wright)

Obama has change his list of potential cabinet members. New list are mostly Clintonites because he got scared after the economic and foreign policy briefings.

What a pathetic selection…can Illinois order off this menu?

My guess it will be another manfactured thug.

Some good names on the list, but I say Jan Schakowsky all the way. She would be great.

My write-in would be John Daly, Stephen Colbert or Katie Couric.

@Obama Show:
You're an idiot. Get a life, and an IQ test.

Ha! Ha! Funny. What's next, Obama? Oprah? What position do you have in mind for her?

You have to laugh at idiots like this 'WELCOME TO THE OBAMA SHOW' praying that the Country goes into the sewer just so he can be right.

Why don't you just move to Mexico or some other country that accepts idiots.

OOPS! Before any of you crazy people out there spew your hate, I'm sorry. I THOUGHT [there I go thinking again!] the referred to was the elder Jackson. MY bad! The Jr would be great.

I blame the downfall of America on materialistic, self-focused, self-indulgent, gutless Americans who have lost the will and desire to fight for the principles that made this country great. The cowards want microwave fast wars or no wars at all. Visit longwarjournal.com to get an idea of what is going on out there and how long the war on terror should really take because of dangers lurking in our backyards. Self indulgent shallow Americans turned against their President in time of war while he courageously faced enemies of the free world in order to keep us safe and free to drag his name through the mud. "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself"
John Stuart Mill
English economist & philosopher (1806 – 1873)

Tammy is the one to get.WELCOME ,your funny,you remind me of some little ankle biting dog thats afraid of his own shadow,but always looking to get his Derryair kicked.

Blagojevich is an idiot. He is running our state government into the ground. He is a democrat, and the house/senate is democrat, but they still can't get anything done. One thing is for sure: He will chose someone from Chicago because he's not interested in downstate Illinois. I'm sad he's to be entrusted with this decision!!

Tammy is the best.

in all fairness they should nomenate someone then let the people of ill. vote on it or give them 2 democrats to vote of. a gov. that is the sole person to fill the position doesn`t seem fair to the people of ill. ….AND UM PAY OBAMA SHOW NO NEVERMIND HE`S ON HIS OWN PLANET AT THIS POINT. HE DOESNT SUPPORT REPUGS OR DEMOCRATS. who knows we might be reading about him in the papers as a disgruntle voter soon hahahahhahahahahahahaa

I heard Sarah Palin is interested.

Of course, she thinks Illinois is part of southeast Alaska instead of separate state and wonders who this "Governor Rod" Blagojevich is anyway? A "governor rod" is a part of a snow machine, right?

Annjell November 18th, 2008 5:22 pm ET .

I would say leave the people in Alabama, Kentucky, states like these where they stand. Catch my drift?
_______________________________________________________
I'm with you. So ditto,ditto,ditto!!!!!!!!!!
I think anyone that was mentioned in the article would be a great choice.
If I had to choice I would pick, Illinois Dept. of Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth.

LUIS GUITIERREZ!

Stop all the bs and give the position to Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.!

Stop acting like it doesn't matter that the Senate is all white, now that President Obama is no longer there. If not Jackson, then another black.

It is shameful that there is such a discrepancy in the racial balance. The Senate represents all people, blacks, latinos, native americans, are a part of all people. Come on people, let's get real – it's time!

now why would this set "off a mad scramble to fill the two remaining years of his six-year term representing Illinois."? Umm didn't they realize that he would NOT be returning to the Senate after being elected President? More likely i suspect that CNN is trying to make this seem like something desparrate and radical when in fact it is not. My guess is also that there is someone already lined up to take his place but that they did not expect to until January and now they are trying to make it happen a bit early (notice on current job, cost of setting up a residence, etc).

How about digging up Al Capone's bones to fill the slot? He has about as much integrity as any of the Chicago criminals on the short list to replace the junior senator.

Illinois Dept. of Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth would be an excellent choice. If you don't know her history just do a web search and read up on this couragous woman.

if CNN can only wait with us?

This seat should go to Jackson Junior.

I still don't see all the well qualified blacks moving up. I want Barack to make history by nominating a lot of blacks.

I am not going to wash my hands for months because I used it to pick the first Black President.

PUT THEM ALL ……….

Wow! That's a lot of good choices to pick from… looks like the governor will have to pick a lottery drawing out of it.

Oh, I'm sure he's reward Oprah. Good grief, it appears as long as the suspects are African American, Obama thinks they are qualified.

Ms. Schakowsky is my Rep. now and she has done great things for the North Side. If Blago picks her, I hope we'll have an equally dedicated and capable Rep. to succeed her.

Why has Joe Biden resigned yet from the US senate?

It's a simple question, right? Yet no pressure in being put on his replacement.

Fat chance Lisa Madigan gets the spot. Blago has a long standing fued with the Madigans.

If Emil Jones gets the seat, Illinoisans should try to vote him out. He is an incompetent, no-nothing, boob.

Tammy has a great story, but in my opinion lacks the competency for the position.

I think the seat should go to either Danny Davis, a long standing Congressman with great respect in his district, or Jesse Jackson Jr., another Congressman with great respect in the district.

What about Delaware?

Haven't seen one mention of Joe Biden's replacement on CNN.com yet.

Personally think there's some nepotism happening with Joe Biden trying to save his seat for his son, but there must be someone else in Delaware who be willing and able to do it?

oh,pleas's's'e'e', The brother (Obama) will annoint the brother, Jesse the "Reverend) Jr., to his lifetime position as senator of Illinois,until he(Jackson Jr.) decides to run for president, sometime in 2016? Sign,Sealed,and Delivered!

Just to let you know I am a 17 year old still in high school. I actively campaigned for President-elect Obama. I believe whoever replaces Obama in his senate seat, I believe will be a wise and great choice for the state of which he lived in. Obama is even considering some Republicans for his seat and also for his administration. This is a truly Bi-partition guy who will choose only the best of the best for his seat and his administration.
PS: I agree with the "um" person up there. WELCOME TO THE OBAMA SHOW, please if you have nothing to say that is constructive, DO NOT comment at all. I am sure you heard that before.

ANYONE but the "Rev" JJ! He's fought good fights but, after the statement "Somebody oughta cut his n^ts off" he's not appealing to me. Just because he thought his micro. was off does not give ANYONE the right to state something like that…

Jessie Jackson jr … nuff said

Re; Wolf Blitzers comment on whether it is a good thing for Obama to follow Lincoln's example.

To follow any wise and prudent man's Ideals even 150 years after his death is not a bad thing. Times may change but wisdom is always a good thing to Lead with or to Follow.

WELCOME TO THE OBAMA SHOW November 18th, 2008 5:19 pm ET

THIS IS GETTING GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PUPPETS ON A STRING!!!!!!!!!!!

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What does this mean? Some of you people want to rattle things up so badly that you don't even make any sense? I live in Chicago and I'm aware of what these people on this list have actually done and there are some great candidates listed here. These are good people who do good work. I'm sick of people saying Chicago politics are corrupt. It's no worse than anywhere else, and in fact, most people rave at how GOOD the people of Chicago are. Let's get these good people in office and get rid of the bad eggs who have been there for the past 8 or more years. It's time for the people!

Tammy Duckworth would be a great pick to put Veteran Affairs on the forefront of the Senate like it should have been from the get go of this horrible war in Iraq.

All are good choices; however, my personal preferences are Tammy Duckworth or Jesse Jackson Jr.

Annjell doesn't get it. Obama doesn't pick his replacement in the Senate and this article has nothing to do with his cabinet.

I think Jesse Jackson Jr. would be wonderful to fill your shoes.

Hard to replace "GOD "masquerading as a community organizer !!

Anyone, but Jesse.. that guy needs to go to school to learn some discipline and manners

Thanks for your uplifting neo-con perspective "Welcome to the Obama Show." Slight problem though–Obama has nothing to do with the state of Illinois choosing his sucessor. Is there anything neo-cons won't belittle him for? Meanwhile, your siting moron in chief is the most despised elected official in US history. Not my words–he has a record disapproval rating. People liked Nixon more than G dubya, yet you still feel your constant second-guessing of all-things-Obama, even though he's done nothing wrong, carries merit? That's clinical dillusion.

BTW–I hope Illinois goes with Tammy Duckworth. She's an Iraq war hero, an outspoken critic of the war, and knows first hand what its like to be an injured vet.

TAMMY DUCKWORTH PLEASE!!!!

You are an idiot "Welcome to the Obama Show". Seriously get some help.

If Rezko wasn't going to prison I bet Rod would appoint him. Pay-to-Play, its the Illinois way!

Knowing how crooked Rod is, I bet he appoints one of his best lapdogs, Jones or Madigan.

I think Obama is doing an excellent job. The change he speaks of is "something better than the last 8 years", and everybody need to understand that. So what if he get some of the Clinton's staff in there. He is trying to put together a team that can work.

Anyone but Jesse Jackson……….. Please!

Well , lets see, This may be a hard choice for Obama , none of them have worked for or with the Clintons. Sure we couldn't get one of Hillarys brothers to move to Illinois real quick.

Any one of those are good.

I would like to see Paul Reickof for votevets.org with a cabinet post, Julie Banderas from Fox News, and Arriana Huffington would also make a good candidate for a position. Julie Banderas is very smart, so is Arriana Huffington. I was hoping Jim Webb – Sen. fro VA would have a position, but I guess he's happy with being newly elected sen.

I would say leave the people in Alabama, Kentucky, states like these where they stand. Catch my drift?

President -Elect Obama's replacement in the Senate should be African American. We still need to have representation in the chamber. The question is who would be able to campaign and successfully win that seat in a Statewide election? I can't see that clown from Michigan (Keyes) slithering back in here to try and run again . and we don't want the seat lost to the fascists.

THIS IS GETTING GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PUPPETS ON A STRING!!!!!!!!!!!

"A mad scramble"???!!! The Gov. must have seen this coming for a couple months, or at least thought about the possibility for the past year or so. If not, I think you'd have to question his intelligence.

I mean Obama obviously wasn't planning on being Pres. and Senator at the same time!!

Tammy Duckworth should get it. If any one on that list has earn the right, it is her.

Is there such a thing as "The Office of the President Elect"?

STILL unknown, oh my god, it's been three whole days!!! The scandal!!!

The sad thing is, they may all have better experience than Obama but they are all Chicago politicians.

on nov. 4 2008, over 55 million people were worried about the crisis in the u.s.

over 65 million people thought nobama was the better choice(just another clinton redux), the rest of the people just wanted to see history

which side is starting to look better?

Tammy Duckworth seems capable to me, and I would like to see her given a shot at it. Whoever it is, I hope they still have to go through a primary process when the term is up, so folks can judge what they think of the senators performance.

Boy, comments closed so quick on the Holder announcement.

For those who are commenting on it being bad that Obama is relying on former Clinton admin people. It's simple, have we forgotten how well gov't was run in that decade? There were a lot of good people in gov't back then and we should be happy he is selecting people with the experience needed to hit the ground running.

Did you want him to nominate a bunch of rookies into his cabinet? There will be plenty of positions for the new folks to learn under the more experienced ones. One day they will get their chance. RELAX!

i think that it should be at least another demorcrat beause that is what they picked in the first place and voted for

Change, change, here change, there change – so just where is the change???? Clinton person???? What gives. Taken in hook line an sinker and not even in office yet. Look out folks – here comes the baloney. Clinton as secretary of state??? Good grief, just why did't the media get behind her instead of making sure Obama got in.

Hillary was the ONLY viable choice and as usual the wrong person got in. I do not care if Obama succeeds but I do care about my Country, so for our sake I hope the people surrounding Obama can help us out of this mess. And oh yes, Obama will try and take credit, but we know better folks.

Check out the above list – no Washington insiders there, ha ha

HOW ABOUT BILL AYERS??? HE FITS RIGHT IN!!!!

If there's one thing we Illinoisans can count on, it's that Blago will do something to screw us over. There's a good chance he'll pick the wrong person. The biggest factor he is going to weigh is whose appointment will benefit him the most.

Tammy Duckworth would be a good choice. I would vote for her any time.

Jesse Jackson Jr. He's competent and will be a good replacement

I've always liked Tammy Duckworth. Someone who bravely served her country and has the scars to prove it.
This way if Chambliss wins again, she can kick his butt all over the Senate floor.

Tammy Duckworth no question

Being from Illinois – God help us! Rod is the worst and a first grader makes better decisions.

CNN hungry with news. How about waiting?