The Illinois State Supreme Court rebuffed the rather lame attempt of the Illinois Attorney General to oust Gov. Blagojevich by judicial fiat. This obvious “quick fix” was meant to avoid the need for a complete impeachment, hurry Blago out and make way for the Lt. Governor to name a Democratic senate replacement. Now the choice is: go through an impeachment proceeding (which, as I pointed out yesterday, may be delayed, as Patrick Fitzgerald insists that the criminal court case witnesses  not tell their story elsewhere) or give in and have a special election.

As for the latter, the state GOP party and the RNC have been banging the drum (that would be filling up reporters’ email in-boxes) with statements, polls and articles pushing for an election. Whether that is effective in moving the Illinois Democrats remains to be seen. Far more determinative, I think, is the speed with which the impeachment proceedings can be completed. If it is a matter of a couple of weeks I suspect the Democrats will endure the jibes and hold fast to the appointment option. If, however, this drags on into weeks and months it will be increasingly untenable to leave the Senate seat open. In the meantime, the New Politics looks worse than the old politics. More exciting and humorous perhaps, but not better.