The second thing is that Harry Reid made it a point to oppose any of them being picked to replace Obama in the Senate:

Reid pressured Blagojevich not to appoint Jackson Jr. to Obama’s U.S. Senate seat

SENATE PICK | Reid reportedly made it clear he didn’t want Jackson, Davis or Jones to be appointed, fearing they’d lose to a GOP opponent in a future election

Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones.

[snip]

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero confirmed that Reid (D-Nev.) and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) — the new chief of the Senate Democratic political operation — each called Blagojevich’s campaign office separately Dec. 3. Sources believe that at least portions of the phone conversations are on tape.

Before their contacts, Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel called Blagojevich to tell him to expect to hear from Senate leadership because they were pushing against Jackson and others, according to statements the governor made to others.

Harry Reid instead urged Blagojevich to go with either Tammy Duckworth or Lisa Madigan, supposedly on electability grounds. Madigan I could maybe buy, then (the fact that she’s currently up to her eyeballs in conflict-of-interest in this wonderful mess probably means that her chances are fading); Duckworth I can’t, mostly because the fact that she couldn’t beat a Republican in 2006 is kind of diagnostic. Also note that all of this took place about a week before Blagojevich got indicted, which tells you quite a good deal about Reid’s willingness to tolerate corruption in his party when nobody’s keeping track. Or else it tells you that Reid is simply too stupid to be let out in public without a keeper, given that everybody else in the sidereal universe was already aware that Blagojevich was a notoriously corrupt suckweasel. Amazing what getting arrested will do to your circle of friends, isn’t it?

And I think that we can now dispense with the polite falsehood that the Democratic Party leadership’s major problem with Rod Blagojevich is anything else besides the fact that he got caught.

Moe Lane

PS: So, what’s the third thing that Jackson, Jones, and Davis have in common – at least, the third thing that Reid might be interested in, particularly given the Roland Burris affair?

Why, I couldn’t possibly begin to tell you, I’m sure.