John Kass offers a different perspective today on Blagojevich’s rise to power in 2002:

[Paul] Vallas lost the 2002 primary to Blagojevich by about 25,000 votes out of 1.3 million votes cast. He lost in a squeeze play featuring Blagojevich and his loyal wingman, longtime political hack and current U.S. Sen. Roland “Tombstone” Burris.
Burris had no hope of winning, but he did an excellent job blocking for Blagojevich. Burris played the race card, saying he was more qualified than those “white boy” opponents of his, ham-handedly reminding constituents that he was indeed black…There are no coincidences in politics. Burris came in third and later began receiving state contracts from Gov. Blagojevich, who, in a last desperate act before being forced out of office, appointed Burris to the U.S. Senate. See how Chicago politics works?