As to the argument of Bobby Rush and others and Obama must be replaced

by another African American, since there are no other A.A's. currently in the Senate.

When you look at the combined Senate and House seats, women are far more underrepresented than black people.

With 91 women in the House and Senate out of 535, women hold 17% of the seats, despite representing 52% of the population.

With 47 African Americans in the House and Senate (all currently in the House), African Americans hold 9% of the seats, compared to 12% in the general population.

And African Americans are about to have their first President, while women still have never had one.

I think the argument that an African American-- simply by virtue of race -- is somehow entitled to take Obama's seat -- over that of any Asian American, or any Hispanic, or any non A.A. woman, or, in the case of Duckworth, an Asian-American severely disabled female war veteran -- is pretty weak.

Other than that, there's nothing to say about her. The war didn't even turn her into a peace activist.

She obviously has no interest in social justice issues, in labor, or in speaking truth to power.

Illinois doesn't need a Senator that will never say anything controversial and will simply obey Harry Reid.

African American over any other possible choice?

Christine Cegelis would be acceptable.

It certainly can't be a good thing to have it go to somebody Rahm wants.

is no big deal.

It can't be right to put her in a Senate seat that by rights should go to someone at least as progressive as Obama. And I'd say that no matter what the race.

as soon as they can clean up the mess i think she`ll have a job in the VA. our loss will be the countries gain

n/t.

she`s done a very good job as attorney general and is (at least at this time) scandal free. she`s popular with both the dems and repubs in the state.

i doubt she wants the governorship when there`s a senate seat in 2010

My impression is that she's just an establishment type.

http://www.ag.state.il.us/about/bio.html

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Under Madigan’s stewardship, the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s office has established a national reputation for aggressively safeguarding consumers from fraud and unsafe products. Madigan is a leader in the public’s fight for open and accessible government, and she also has been credited with restoring integrity to Illinois’ gambling industry. Additionally, Madigan has been widely praised for implementing a series of proactive law enforcement strategies to combat the spread of methamphetamine throughout the state.

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Safeguarding Our Environment: Attorney General Madigan has taken the lead in protecting Illinois’ air, water, and land from pollution. Through numerous legal challenges, Madigan has pushed to overturn federal government efforts to weaken clean air standards that require older plants to upgrade pollution control equipment when modernizing. She has advocated on the federal level to allow states to strengthen car emission standards. Because of the number of nuclear power plants in Illinois, Madigan also is playing a lead role in the national effort to strengthen nuclear plant safety standards.

At the state level, Madigan continues to fight for a cleaner environment and to hold polluters responsible for their actions. Under her leadership, the Attorney General’s office successfully litigated the largest Clean Air Act enforcement case in state history, requiring the defendant to spend more than $88 million on pollution reduction projects at its Illinois facilities. Madigan also joined forces with Chicago-area government officials and environmental activists in legal efforts to block increased water pollution into Lake Michigan from BP North American’s Whiting Refinery in northwest Indiana. She is currently working with environmental organizations and the City of Chicago to protect our water and air from other proposed pollution increases.

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