No Rubber Stamp

White says growing up in an integrated neighborhood, and later forming alliances with progressive whites, left him with little appetite for angry, race-based politics. While he has polled strongly among African-Americans in his three successful elections to Illinois Secretary of State, White is scarcely the sort of figure who could raise the roof at a black political rally. The Rev. Marshall Hatch, a member of Concerned Clergy of Illinois, a group of African-American church leaders who have campaigned for the seating of Burris, says White "has never been seen as a black-rights leader," but rather as a steadfast loyalist to the Democratic Party. "Do African-Americans get real excited when they hear the name Jesse White?" Hatch asks. "Probably not. He's a guy who doesn't make waves."

Hatch says White's stand on the Burris situation means he "will take some lumps" among black voters. "But he'll enjoy support among blacks if he runs against a white candidate." The preacher says White also knows he can count on support of most white Democrats throughout the state. "He's a nice guy," Hatch says of White. "So that helps."

A star athlete in his high-school days in Chicago, White played college basketball and football at the University of Alabama in Montgomery. He later founded ++a championship tumbling group++, drawn mostly from impoverished housing projects. The group will perform at Obama's inauguration later this month.

White is the secretary of state who succeeded George Ryan, the former Governor who was ultimately sent to prison for corruption during his stint as secretary of state. White, who says he barred Ryan's practice of requiring employees to raise campaign contributions, has mostly won plaudits for running a clean office, and for expanding a popular organ donation program.

Long before Blagojevich's recent legal troubles, White publicly criticized his fellow Democrat as a man who could not be trusted. Don Rose, a Chicago political consultant who has worked for Democratic and Republican candidates, says White was "the first one to publicly condemn Blagojevich." Rose says he believes Burris will ultimately be seated in the Senate, but doubts White will pay any real price for trying to block the appointment. "I'm not sure much of the black community views this as a slap at Burris," says Rose, "as much as a slap at Blagojevich."

© 2009