Thin gruel, as of this moment:

WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Democrats plan to accept Roland Burris for President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant seat.

…but quite possible. (You can catch up on this here, by the way. Sort of.)[UPDATE: And more from our own Dan Spencer.)

After all, we already knew that Senator Dianne Feinstein has repudiated the letter she signed that opposed any Blagojevich pick – thanks for showing fear, Senator; we’ll be sure to keep it in mind the next time we need something from you – and (via the Note) George Stephanopoulos reported this morning that a deal was being contemplated where Burris might be seated, if he promised not to run in 2010. I suppose that would make him, what, about 3/5th* of a real Senator?

So it’s a good possibility that Reid’s managed to do this; after all, it’s managed to combine the negative consequences of all three scenarios mentioned here. By seating Burris, Reid demonstrates that he and the rest of the caucus won’t keep his word; by seating Burris after turning him away, Reid got to play Wallace at the Schoolhouse Door; and by seating Burris with restrictions, Reid begs the question of whether Burris’ skin melanin content was a factor in what is increasingly a tangled skein of identity politics.

And none of this has anything to do with the GOP. None of this. We – like the rest of the country, actually – wanted a special election. If only Reid and his party didn’t find democracy so infernally messy…

Moe Lane

*Alas, I can’t remember where I saw this one first.