WASHINGTON — A Democratic official says Sen. Roland Burris will not run for a full Senate term in 2010. The source says Burris has begun informing party officials about his decision. The official spoke anonymously because Burris had yet to announce his decision publicly.   U.S. Sen. Roland Burris reportedly will announce Friday that he does not plan to run for a full Senate term in 2010.   Burris was appointed by disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill the Senate seat vacated by President Obama. His appointment was criticized from the moment it was announced and prompted calls for Burris to resign.

Hmm...chalk this up as another unexpected development in the 2010 Election cycle: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) will run for re-election to her current post in 2010, according to a Democratic source aware of the decision, ending months of speculation about whether she might make the leap to a Senate or gubernatorial bid. Madigan is expected to make her decision public later today.

As we've been reporting , Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid is demanding an end to efforts to woo fence-sitting Republicans in to supporting a watered-down health care reform legislation. But that will likely alienate just about the entire GOP, and require Democrats to stand united against a filibuster if a bill is to pass through regular order.

Half a dozen members of the Senate Democratic Conference pose the biggest threat to President Obama’s agenda, giving Senate Republicans a fighting chance to block the administration’s major expansions of government.

As one of the eight Republicans who helped a controversial energy and climate-change bill narrowly clear the U.S. House last week, Mark Kirk continues to take heat from members of his own party for the vote. Much of the backlash has been anonymous, coming from critics who habituate dailyherald.com, local political message boards and other Web sites. Using screen names like "Right," "Fedup57" and "Reaganlives," they've called the Highland Park lawmaker a traitor to the GOP and the nation.