EMBURRISED - AT 6:12 P.M. ET:  From AP, via Fox News: 

Embattled Illinois Sen. Roland Burris said Friday he won't run for a full term in 2010, making official the end of a short Senate career clouded by questions about his appointment by disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Burris, the only black U.S. senator, said he was bowing out of the 2010 race because of the burden of raising money to pay for a campaign.

"I was called to choose between spending my time raising funds, or spending my time raising issues for my state. I believe that the business of the people of the state of Illinois should always come first," Burris said.

COMMENT:  His Senate appointment was a public embarrassment, and he never recovered.

Republicans have a great chance in Illinois, which trends Democratic, but which periodically elects Republicans to statewide office.  Will they seize the chance?  Outstanding Congressman Mark Kirk is ready to run, but an apparently egotistical state chairman, Andy McKenna, says he may want to make the race, effectively forcing Kirk into a primary, which Kirk may not want to endure.  Again, self-destruction.  We'll know this weekend if the state chairman wants to be the architect of victory, or the designer of the Titanic.

July 10, 2009