High drama in Illinois over Obama Senate seat

By Andrew Stern and Karen Pierog

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Criticism rained down on embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday for his defiance in appointing the state's new U.S. senator but doubts persisted that anyone could block the move.

"It's off the rails. What else could be crazier?" said Richard Epstein, a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago.

Blagojevich, who was arrested on December 9, ignored warnings from within his own party on Tuesday by appointing a successor to fill President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat -- the seat the governor has been charged by federal prosecutors with trying to sell to the highest bidder.

"State of Disbelief" read the headline in the Chicago Sun-Times over a full-page photograph of the governor with his choice for the Senate, Roland Burris, 71, the former Illinois attorney general, fellow Democrat and frequent candidate.

"Blagojevich has demonstrated he's totally unpredictable," said Mike Lawrence, who recently retired from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University.

Obama has called for Blagojevich to resign and backed U.S. Senate leaders who vowed to block Burris from assuming office. The governor sent a formal proclamation on the appointment to the U.S. Senate on Wednesday. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White refused to sign the document, which analysts said might stall the move.

Late on Wednesday Burris filed a request with the Illinois Supreme Court asking it to compel White to sign and affix the state seal to the proclamation, the court said in a statement without indicating when it might respond to the filing.

Blagojevich, who has denied the corruption charges, is facing impeachment in the Illinois legislature in the state capital of Springfield where hearings resume next week.