Rod Blagojevich Names Roland Burris As Replacement for Barack Obama in Illinois Senate Seat

Democratic anger and embarrassment in the debacle over Barack Obama's vacant US Senate seat deepened tonight as the disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich named Roland Burris, a 71-year-old former Illinois attorney-general, to replace Obama.

The extraordinary move at a press conference tonight will amount to the biggest demonstration of contempt so far by Blagojevich for his own party and public opinion.

Democratic leaders in the US Senate said they will not allow anyone appointed by Blagojevich to take the vacant seat.

Blagojevich, as governor, is legally entitled to make the appointment. But anyone appointed by him will be automatically tainted.

At the press conference, he said he was "required" to make the appointment, otherwise Illinois would be deprived of a voice in the US Senate.

He described Burris as having unquestioned integrity and extensive experience. He pleaded for Burris's appointment to be treated separately from the scandal.

"Do not allow the allegations against me to taint this good and honest man," Blagojevich said.

Burris tried to distance himself from the scandal: "I have no relationship with the situation."

But the press conference was undercut when it emerged that Burris and the legal company he works for had donated $14,000 (?9,700) to Blagojevich's election campaign.

Burris said he had not realised it was that much: "I will have to check the records."

Blagojevich was arrested earlier this month after federal investigators, in a wiretap, was allegedly heard trying to trade Obama's seat for a political favour such as a post in his cabinet or an ambassadorship.

Although Blagojevich is to fight the charges, Democratic and Republican legislators in Illinois have already begun impeachment proceedings to force him out of office.

A recent opinion poll showed 84% of the Illinois public wanted him to resign.

The row is casting a shadow over Obama's inauguration on January 20. The electorate, tired of the Republicans after almost eight years of President Bush, voted not only for Obama as president but for Democrats in the House and Senate. But the publicity about the murky world of Chicago politics from which Obama emerged is damaging both him and the party, and there is no end in sight.

An aide to Obama said he was surprised by Blagojevich's move.

After Blagojevich was charged, the Democratic party discussed whether the appointment should be made by someone other than Blagojevich or whether a special election should be held.

Burris was the first African-American to win a state-wide election in Illinois and to become the first African-American attorney-general in the state. But he lost a series of Democratic primary contests, though he stresses he has not lost to a Republican. He failed in bids for the governor's post in 1994, 1998 and 2002.

Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the US Senate, and all the other Democrats signed a letter after Blagojevich's arrest saying they would not allow anyone appointed by the governor to take up the seat.

A spokesman for Reid tonight said such an appointment would be "unacceptable".

Blagojevich may be trying to show he is still in charge or be intent on making a nuisance of himself to force the party into make a deal with him.

The move is a surprise because his lawyer, Edward Genson, said a fortnight ago he would not attempt to make an appointment given that the Democratic leaders in the Senate had said they would not accept such an appointment.

Obama's team was in contact with Blagojevich about who would fill the seat, in particular whether the post should go to his friend, Val Jarrett, who dropped out of contention after being named as a senior White House adviser. An internal report by Obama's team published last week found there had been no offer of a quid pro quo between his team and Blagojevich.

Several other Senate seats are up for grabs following Obama's appointment of senators to his cabinet.

The battle for Hillary Clinton's vacant US Senate seat has also created embarrassment for the Democrats after a series of lackluster interviews with one of the favorites, Caroline Kennedy.

Kennedy's stumbling performance has been widely viewed on YouTube while a transcript of a weekend interview with the New York Times revealed she used the phrase 'you know' 144 times.