Danny Davis was my congressman when i leaved in chicago and he is a good man who would make a very fine senator.  He has a rep as a very thoughtful congressman in the state.

He is a liberal centrist who is well liked in the south side AA community and also does well in terms of support from the western wealthy chicago burbs.  He would be a shoe in for re-election.

Maybe someone can check but doesnt Danny Davis represent BO's home congressional district?

david

He is a highly respected figure here in Chicago, an eloquent speaker and a true progressive. BUT he's 67 years old, and not a particularly young 67, unfortunately (he walks with a cane). I would much rather see the seat go to a young African-American progressive like Jesse Jackson Jr.

"Jr." (as it says on his campaign buttons) would be the most appropriate replacement for Barack Obama -- a young South Side progressive who could keep the seat for a few terms.

because of this:

http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_col umnists_ezorn/2008/11/can-danny-davis-st ar-rise-with-a-moon-in-the-way.html

(don't forget to click on the photo in the attached)

I'm glad people are finally bringing up the Korean Messiah as a drawback.

The progressive movement must say NO to this choice. Sun Myung Moon is INSANE: corrupt, far-right-wing, totalitarian, homophobic and anti-semitic. And Danny Davis CROWNED this man!

For background purposes--Danny Davis was elected Alderman (City Councilmember) from the 29th Ward on Chicago's West Side in 1979, as an independent (anti-machine) Democrat.  He was a loyal ally of Mayor Harold Washington, and ran for Congress twice while Washington was Mayor (against incumbent Cardiss Collins).  

In 1984, he lost to Collins 48-39, and in 1986, he lost 60-40.  

After Harold died, Davis ran for Cook County Treasurer in the Democratic primary in 1990 (lost), the Cook County Board in 1990 general (won) and for Mayor in 1991 (lost).  He finally won the Congressional seat after Collins retired.  

His district was gerrymandered in 2001 to remove what was then Obama's residence from the district of Bobby Rush, to whom Obama had lost in 2000.  However, once Obama moved to his present address, he moved back into Rush's district.  

Davis is an eloquent speaker but not a very good campaigner, I'm afraid.  (I've always thought the 1990 Treasurer's race was doable for him).  I haven't seen him in a while, so I didn't know about the cane, but it may be that Blago does what Minner did--appoints a caretaker and lets the candidates battle it out in 2010.

The Republican Party of Illinois will pee their pants with glee in anticipation for this.

Danny Davis will get very few votes south of the I-80 expressway (the line of demarcation from the urban to the rural part of the State going south) and north of the Evanston/Skokie liberal enclaves before heading up into conservative Lake County and exurbia.

This could be bad for the Democratic party in as much as the election will be in 2010 and this will be at the top of the State ticket. A large turnout for current Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan for Governor is not going to help Danny - they will split their votes (with a wink from her father, Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan).

Since this will be the mid-term election nationally, the state democratic congressional delegation should also worry about having Danny on the ticket.

Furthermore, Danny is just too old. He is confused about what he wants to do. Alderman, Cook County Commissioner, Cook County Treasurer, Mayor of Chicago, Congressman, now Senator. How can he look his constituents in the face for votes when he is not committed to serving out any term ?

This sounds like a caretaker, seatwarmer move, because Danny should know he cannot win statewide - heck, he could not even win Citywide or Countywide when he ran and if appointed would probably not even win the Democratic primary unless the powerbrokers, Mayor Daley, Speaker Madigan, etc. put the word out that no white candidate can challenge Danny in the Dem primary.

He will face the same thing President elect Barack Obama faced here in Illinois - token support from white Dems (remember party Chairman Berrios left Barack off literature in the primary ?). And Barack, endorsed by Daley, lost many white wards in the City to Hillary in the primary, and in the general election only won with margins in the 70% range.

The only bright side to this would be that it would keep the seat from Jesse Jackson Jr. - whose grandstanding and self promoting for the position has been disgusting.