Burris Likely To Be Seated

As the Roland Burris fiasco continues to spiral into a huge embarrassment for Democrats, it appears opposition is crumbling and he'll be accepted.

Former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris is closer to taking President-elect Barack Obama's seat in the Senate, say knowledgeable officials in both parties, despite Democratic leaders' vows to reject any appointee of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

After being rejected Tuesday when he tried to join the class of incoming freshmen senators, Burris is finding new support on Capitol Hill as Democratic leaders scramble for a way to defuse the standoff with growing racial, political and legal complications.

The likelihood that Burris, a Democrat, will eventually prevail and become the Senate's only black member after Obama's resignation from the seat, increased Tuesday evening when a key chairwoman got behind him, cracking what had been united public front by Senate Democrats against a Blagojevich appointee.

Burris was scheduled to meet with the Senate's top two Democrats — Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and assistant leader Dick Durbin of Illinois — on Wednesday, a day after his paperwork was rejected at the opening of the 111th Congress.

For all the bluster, bravado and photo ops shown blocking Burris, this demonstrate conclusively the buffoonish ineptitude of Senate Democrats and Dingy Harry Reid in particular.