The ongoing saga of Illinois corruption just keeps on chugging, as Sen. Burris yesterday offered the fifth iteration of just what kind of relationship he had with Blago: turns out he tried to raise some of those funds after all. Now he’s facing a sit-down with the ethics committee and even more calls for his resignation. Despite growing opposition from within the party, numbers released yesterday showed Burris still hanging in for at least a re-election battle, but those are bound to change now. At least Gov. Pat Quinn is looking good.
Speaking of numbers, Congressional approval has jumped sharply in the wake of the stimulus battle, thanks to almost doubled approval from Dems. Independents are happier, too, though Republicans less so. Bobby Jindal, a potential opponent for Obama in the 2012 race, says he doesn’t want his money: “We’ll have to review each program, each new dollar to make sure that we understand what are the conditions, what are the strings and see whether it’s beneficial for Louisiana to use those dollars,” he said, as the GOP continues to bank on a failed stimulus as a selling point for upcoming campaigns. Jindal will also deliver a response for Obama’s “address to Congress” next week. In California, GOP senators boot their leader, further complicating an already precarious budget situation. The Eric-Cantor-samples-Aerosmith video I posted yesterday is up no longer, since Aerosmith is just not that into him. Something to consider when picking campaign songs. Newspapers continue to expand their Twitter beat: The Washington Times uses the stats to show the GOP are leading in the tweet race. The Virginian ugliness continues, as Democratic gubernatorial condidate Terry McAulliffe is miffed that primary opponent Brian Moran may have assigned a tracker to his wife. Bloomberg has hired a former McCain spokesperson for his re-election campaign. And, finally, the stars are coming out in New York—mostly for Tedisco. Early numbers in the state look like Cuomo in as governor and Gillibrand out of the Senate.