There were plenty of stories today about how Illinois Democrats were scrambling to dump cash donated to their campaigns by Tony Rezko.

Blagojevich, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Secretary of State Jesse White, Comptroller Dan Hynes and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama were among those announcing Thursday they’d make donations to charities equal to what their campaigns had received from Rezko and his affiliated businesses in recent years. […]

Blagojevich’s campaign said more than $65,000 in past contributions directly tied to Rezko would be split between charities benefiting juvenile diabetes research and breast cancer research. Madigan’s campaign planned to make donations totaling $48,000. Obama’s donations would total $11,500. White planned to donate $6,500. Quinn was traveling Thursday and had not tallied his Rezko donations, but state campaign finance reports show he’d collected more than $17,000 from Rezko or his affiliates since 1998. […]

Senate President Emil Jones Jr., a Chicago Democrat, has no plans to make similar donations, a spokeswoman said Thursday. As recently as April, Jones accepted a $2,000 contribution from a business enterprise co-owned by Rezko.

It was uncertain what House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat and head of the state party, planned to do with past donations. Steve Brown, Madigan’s spokesman, said he’d not spoken to Madigan, who’s also co-chairing Blagojevich’s re-election bid.

What about the rest of the money? Rezko raised lots of cash for many of those people and committees.

Question: Should all of the candidates and committees shed themselves of all Rezko-tainted contributions, including money he helped them raise? Why or why not?

Bonus question: Suggest a charity where the money should go.