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Roland Burris will arrive on Tuesday at the door of the U.S. Senate for a showdown that a growing number of Democratic members would prefer not to have.
Senate Democratic leaders want to avoid a spectacle that would attract a media frenzy should Burris attempt to gain access to the Senate floor to be sworn in as Barack Obama’s replacement.
Burris flew into Washington late Monday afternoon, after telling reporters in Chicago he is “hoping and praying” he will be sworn in and announcing that he plans to show up at the Senate at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
In a phone interview with The Hill, Burris said, “We're going to go up to the [Senate] door, and if we're turned away, then we'll document all of that and consult our lawyers.”
But Burris added a bit of diplomacy, toning down the racial rhetoric he and his aides have employed recently.
“Never in my whole political career have I brought up race,” Burris told The Hill. “It is certainly not a factor here.”
Two senior Democratic aides say efforts are ongoing to resolve the delicate situation created by Burris’s appointment by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D). A Wednesday meeting is still planned between Burris, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), but that will be a day after freshman senators are sworn in as the 111th Congress.
Aides say rank-and-file Democratic senators have in recent days begun expressing concern that the situation has become too distracting and that both sides should temper their stances.
“There is some bristling at the member level that both sides are digging in too much and need to cool down,” one senior aide said. “Members are basically saying, ‘We owe it to ourselves to give us some leeway — we may not have the option to deny him a seat forever.’ ”
Another aide said distraction was more of a factor than any concern about the strength of Democratic leaders’ case against seating Burris. The party needs to focus on the economic stimulus plan, confirmation hearings, new committee and leadership assignments and a host of other concerns in the dwindling days before President-elect Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
“We need this to go away, and the way to do that in the Senate is to make a deal,” the aide said. “That’s what Wednesday is all about.”
The staffers said the tenor of the Burris-Reid meeting on Wednesday will depend on Burris’s actions on Tuesday. Some Democrats have become exasperated by Burris’s aggressive approach and repeated references to race.
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