Burris Is Sworn In; 4th Black Senator Since Reconstruction

The improbable journey of Roland Burris to the United States Senate is complete. A former Illinois attorney general and the pick of disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill the seat left vacant following the resignation of Barack Obama, Burris was sworn in today at 2 p.m., the fourth African-American senator since Reconstruction.

BIDEN. Joseph Biden, the vice president-elect, gave his farewell speech in the Senate today. The Delaware Democrat was first elected in 1972 and was re-elected six times, the last time in November. He is the 14th-most-senior member in the history of the Senate. His appointed successor, longtime aide Ted Kaufman, will be sworn in tomorrow at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

CLINTON. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) also gave her Senate swan song speech today. The Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-1 to confirm her as secretary of state; only David Vitter (R-LA) voted no. NPR's Robert Smith is hearing that New York Gov. David Paterson (D) may be closer to naming a Senate successor to Clinton than had previously been thought. And it may indeed be Caroline Kennedy:

The end is nigh for New York's favorite political guessing game. Paterson indicated yesterday that he was ready to end the months of speculation and finally pick a Senate replacement for Clinton. He's been waiting for Clinton to actually resign the seat, but he now he's ready to get the whole thing over with. He told reporters that she is "floating right through" her confirmation hearings, and now he "feels the duty to act."

Thank God. The speculation over Clinton's successor has been a huge distraction to the state. Poor David Paterson has been trying to rally the state to drastically cut its budget and increase revenues. But all the reporters want to ask him about is Caroline Kennedy.

The moment the Kennedy name got uttered as a possibility for the seat, the whole process turned into a referendum on Caroline. Is she too aloof? Too private? Does she have too little experience? Kennedy didn't help matters by bumbling through her quasi-campaign for the seat. Running from reporters, then refusing interview requests. Then when she did sit down, peppering her answers with "um"s and "you know"s.

Her approval ratings with the public dropped. If it were an election, polls show she'd be losing to Cuomo. But the smart money is that Paterson will appoint Kennedy anyway, "you know"s and all. The governor has been backed into a corner. Caroline may not have much experience, but she has a lot of sympathy. Does Paterson want to be the man who keeps Kennedy from following in her father's and uncle's footsteps to the Senate? Picking someone else at this point would seem like a personal rejection of Caroline.

Women's groups have already made it clear to Paterson that they would not appreciate a man being named to take over from Clinton. Upstate communities are already steaming over the prospect of another New York City senator. Unless Paterson can pull a very attractive long-shot candidate out of a hat at the last minute, it's hard to imagine that he can say no to Kennedy.

A Marist College Poll out today pretty much mirrors the one released yesterday by Qunnipiac University. It has New Yorkers giving Cuomo 40 percent, to 25 percent for Kennedy. (Others: Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi 6 percent, Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Steve Israel 5 percent each, and Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand 3 percent.)

Note: Twice have New York governors appointed senators, and twice the senators have been defeated at the polls at the next election. In 1949, Gov. Thomas Dewey appointed John Foster Dulles (R) to fill the seat of Robert F. Wagner Sr. (D), who resigned because of illness; and in 1968, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller (R) appointed Rep. Charles Goodell (R) to fill the seat of Robert Kennedy (D), who was assassinated in his pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination. Dulles lost a special election in 1949 to ex-Gov. Herbert Lehman (D), and Goodell lost a three-way race in 1970 to Conservative Party candidate Jim Buckley.