Obama Officially Resigns From Senate

I never thought I would be this happy to see a Democrat quitting the United States Senate.

President-elect Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he is making his resignation from the Senate official and that his resignation will be effective on Sunday.

"It has been one of the highest honors and privileges of my life to have served the people of Illinois in the United States Senate," said Obama, in a statement yesterday. "In a state that represents the crossroads of a nation, I have met so many men and women who've taken different journeys, but hold common hopes for their children's future."

"It is these Illinois families and their stories that will stay with me as I leave the United States Senate and begin the hard task of fulfilling the simple hopes and common dreams of all Americans as our nation's next President."

Now the task of appointing Obama's Senate replacement falls to Illinois' Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich and it is expected that he will make that choice in December to give the appointee time to assemble staff and other operations before the new Congress convenes in January.

Conventional D.C. wisdom has the short list for Obama's replacement as Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., Representative Jan Schakowsky, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Iraq war veteran (and former Congressional candidate) Tammy Duckworth, who is currently the head of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Obama's successor would serve until the next national election in 2010 and would run then for a full six-year term.