Blagojevich scandal: Appoint Manny Pacquiao to Obama's senate seat

December 12, 8:06 PMPolitical Issues ExaminerJudah Freed

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Philippines' boxing great Manny Pacquiao,
center, arrives at Quiapo Church in Manila,
for a Thanksgiving Mass on Dec. 10, 2008. 
Pacquiao defeated boxing great Oscar Dela
Hoya on Dec.6 to give countrymen an early
Christmas gift at a time many are struggling
to make ends meet amid financial worries.
(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
 

In the wake of his arrest on corruption charges for trying to sell the vacant U.S. Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich stubbornly refuses to resign as rumors runs rampant about who will replace Obama in the Senate.

Accepting the premise that most Illinois Democrats hope another person of color from Chicago's south side will replace Obama, eyes naturally have turned to Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Unfortunately, the son of the great civil rights leader was tainted by the criminal complaint against Blagojevich, in which "candidate #5" allegedly expressed willingness to raise money for the governor in trade for the Senate appointment.

Congressman Jackson (D-Ill) this week admitted to reporters that he was candidate #5, but he denied ever agreeing to such a deal

The Chicago Tribune, however, reported that an unnamed emissary of Jackson promised on October 31 to raise at least $1 million for the governor.

Allegations against Jackson remains unproven, but we do know that his close allies have held several fundraisers for Blagojevich, including one last December 6, two days before both men met for 90 minutes on December 8.  Blagojevich was arrested the next morning.

So, given the smell of corruption now surrounding Rep. Jackson, if he's out of the running, who's left? Who can name a Democrat and person of color who could fill Obama's open Senate seat? 

Sure, all sorts of potential Illinois candidates come to mind, male female, yet I doubt if any of these potential candidates are free from the taint of corruption in Chicago politics.

Therefore, I believe we need to think outside of the box, way outside of the box, and I'd like to fantasize that we need to look no further than the boxing ring.

One of the popular figures in the world today is Filipino boxing champion and would-be politician Manny Pacquiao.

Last Saturday Pacquiao defeated Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada in the so-called 12-round Dream Match. De la Hoya threw in the towel before the start of the 9th round, giving Pacquiao the victory by a technical knockout and a payoff valued at $15 to 30 million from huge pay-per-view revenues.  Total ticket sales at the gate reached  an estimated $17 million, the second largest gate revenue in boxing history.

Pacquiao clearly has crowd appeal. which helps any political career, but that's not all. Pacquiao also has a keen personal interest in politics. In fact, he's announced that following a few more scheduled fights, he's going to devote himself to government service.

In early 2007 Pacquiao was floated as a possible candidate for the mayor of General Santos City as well as the vice mayor of Manilla, then he ran unsuccessfully in May 2007 for a congressional seat to represent the 1st district of South Cotabato in Mindanao. The 29 year-old Pacquiao has since declared that after retiring from the ring August 2009, he'll again run for Congress in the Philippine's 2010 general election as a member of the Liberal Party, the equivalent of the the U.S. Democratic Party. 

So, if you're willing to indulge a playful fantasy with me here, if you're willing to ignore the inconvenient truth that to become a U.S. Senator a person needs to be at least 35 years old and a U.S. resident for at least nine years, plus if you'll ignore the silly little requirement he'd need to be a resident of Illinois, then I say Manny Pacquiao is the perfect man to fill Obama's open senate seat.

Imagine what a wonderful contribution Pacquiao could make in the Senate. He'd be a genuine breath of fresh air.

Picture Senator Manny Pacquiao as the new national political celebrity, giving interviews over stations like WBZ in Boston or serving as master of ceremonies for a parade honoring Our lady of Guadalupe in New Mexico. Picture his impact in Washington, DC.

For starters, visualize Sen. Pacquiao's possible committee assignments.

I'd like to see him on the Foreign Relations Committee, where Sen. Pacquiao could seek redress for the Philippines' grievances against the United States.

Historically, the Philippines Revolution earned the Filipinos independence from Spain during the Spanish-American War of 1898, but the cost was American occupation of the islands, a shipping center in the Pacific. A desire for freedom led to the Philippine-American War of 1899 to 1902, followed by an open insurgency until 1913 that opposed U.S. annexation of the Islands.

The Philippines remained a U.S. territory until the commonwealth government took power in 1935, which allowed self-governance until the Japanese conquest before WWII, after which the Philippines became truly independent again for the first time in four centuries.

The U.S. Government has never really accepted moral or financial responsibility for the alleged 1899-1913 war atrocities nor the suffering of Filipinos in American prison camps during occupation. Sen. Pacquiao is pugnacious enough to raise the restitution issue and tenacious enough to win the Senate floor fight.

He'd also del well on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.

Pacquiao rose to become a multimillionaire through his courage in the ring and his savvy as a businessman. Despite an alleged penchant for gambling, he likely has a thing or three to teach us about the role of entrepreneurs in society, and the struggle of small business owners to support their families. Sen. Pacquiao himself is married with three children, and his wife is pregnant with a baby girl.

I'd also like to see Sen. Pacquiao assigned to the prestigious Judiciary Committee. Perhaps he could knock some sense into the heads of all those senators approving the appointments of federal judges who place ideology ahead of the rule of law under the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Apart from all these political considerations, my sense of balance enjoys the idea that one of the tallest men in the senate could be replace by one of the shortest. Obama is 6'1", not as tall as legendary former Senator and NBA sports star Bill Bradley. in contrast, Pacquiao is 5"6" (and a half), putting him at a par with the feisty late Senator Paul Wellstone.

And since we're indulging in fantasy here, anyway, imagine Democratic Senator Pacquiao encountering late some night the ghost of Republican Senator Hiram Bingham of Connecticut, the "lanky and thin-shouldered" one-time Yale professor whom Time in 1930 described as "the tallest man in the Senate" (6'4").

Bingham was elected as governor but served only one day in that office before resigning to accept an appointment to the Senate after the death of his predecessor. Already unpopular because of such antics, said Time, Bingham once visited the Philippines and returned to lecture his fellow Senators about the islands "as if they had never heard of them."

Yes, I imagine Sen. Pacquiao could give Sen. Bingham a real earful of wisdom.

RELATED COLUMNS BY EXAMINERS:

• Pacquiao, Klitschko brothers deserve greater admiration from Americans
• Manny Pacquiao for Illinois Governor
• Meet Manny Pacquiao - champion fighter and dad
• Blagojevich vs Obama vs Pacquiao vs De La Hoya
• Note to NBC: Move over Jay Leno and make room for Manny Pacquiao
• Pugilist as sex symbol: Why women love Manny Pacquiao (and what other men can learn from him)
• All the Examiner columns on the Blagojevich Arrest

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