Rod Blagojevich: The Gift that Keeps on Giving for Republicans

It's now been a week since the revelations came out that Governor Rod Blagojevich was involved in so much corruption that it would be too long to list here. A week in this story is not only not going away, but it is taking on a life of its own. From a strictly partisan angle, this is the story that keeps on giving for Republicans locally in the Chicagoland area, statewide and nationally.

First, it's clear that Rod Blagojevich will take care of himself at the expense of the people he serves and the party he represents. For the good of the state, the nation, and certainly the Democratic Party, the right thing for Rod Blagojevich to do is resign. Of course, if Blagojevich was into doing the right thing, he wouldn't be in this mess to begin with. Instead, in order to attempt to save his own hide, he will put the state, the country, and most of all his party, through the spectacle of the likely impeachment hearings that are forthcoming. Of course, there is no telling what a desperate Blagojevich might say in said hearings.

in the last week, we have seen most of the state's Democratic political apparatus attempt to run as far away from Blagojevich as though he wasn't elected on their ticket just two years ago with the full support of the party. During the fall campaign, I had a chance to speak to Dr. Steve Rauschenberg, then the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate against Dick Durbin. Dr. Rauchenberg told me that the center piece of his strategy was tying Durbin to Blagojevich. At time, Blagojevich was merely an unpopular Governor. The strategy didn't work of course, however everyone can bet that in Illinois, in every race, every Republican will attempt to tie their Democratic opponent to Blagojevich. Before the Democrats can get on offense, they will first have to create as much distance as possible from Blagojevich. That's starting out with a serious disadvantage.

On top of this, the Democrats aren't helping themselves by fumbling Blagojevich's departure. All last week the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan attempted to rid the state of Blagojevich using some hokey and obscure law meant to remove Governors that were physically or mentally ill. (as I said before sociopathy is likely not the mental disorder the law was supposed to apply to) Now, the Democratic lead legislature is acting like Keystone cops in implementing the impeachment hearings.

An inquiry here into the impeachment of Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich met resistance on Tuesday, with federal prosecutors indicating that it might interfere with the criminal case against him and a lawyer for Mr. Blagojevich requesting that the proceedings not move forward without the lawyer in attendance.

Members of the newly appointed House impeachment committee met for less than two hours before adjourning until Wednesday so the lawyer, Ed Genson, could arrive from Chicago and an agreement with prosecutors could be considered about how to proceed.

“We’re prepared, we’re here,” said Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat who is the chairwoman of the committee. “We’ll be ready to have at it all the way through, but whether as a matter of practical logistics — whether we can — depends very much on when we hear from the United States attorney.”

All of this will not only keep the Blagojevich scandal on the front pages but it also makes the Democrats look incompetent. The Republicans are in the minority and their message is simple, Blagojevich needs to go. The Democrats, on the other hand, have the difficulty of governance on this issue and that is proving much more dicey than the Republican's position.

Nationally, this scandal has caught the attention of the nation. Blagojevich is NOT the only one involved. Since the state of Illinois' political apparatus is overwhelmingly Democrat, it will be overwhelmingly Democrats that will get caught up in its net. For the next two years, it will be overwhelmingly Democrats on the defensive about corruption. It's already caught up Jesse Jackson Jr. It's already put a Senate seat that should have gone Dem into play. As badly as the Abramoff scandal hit the Republicans, it will be much worse with this scandal. Chicago politics is a sewer for corruption. It will now be splashed all over the MSM for the next several years. The scandal is NOT going away anytime soon. It may catch Obama himself in its net, and almost certainly, it will catch his administration in its net.

The damage from this scandal will be severe. It will be overwhelmingly Democrat, and the only question now is, how bad and for how long. The Blagojevich is the scandal that keeps on giving for Republicans.