I suppose the easy thing to do would be to follow
everyone else's lead and write a column about the governor's potty mouth.
So much has been written about Governor Blagojevich's
self-proclaimed "testicular virility" that you've probably gotten the
point, however.
Instead, I think I'll tell you a story.
Two years ago, I was at a party at the governor's
mansion. The governor's first spring session was winding down to a successful
close and his top advisors were jubilant.
One of those advisors, Deputy Governor Bradley Tusk, took
me aside for a little chat. Tusk was a 29-year-old New Yorker when he was made
the Illinois governor's right-hand man. The press didn't care for him much, and
I had taken a few potshots myself.
Tusk wanted me to admit that I had been wrong about
Governor Blagojevich. I criticized the governor so much during that first year
that my own mother had asked me to lay off. He's such a nice young man, she
said. He's fresh, he's different. Cut him a little slack.
Tusk, like my mom, thought I had been too harsh.
I was pretty harsh. I repeatedly slammed the governor for
his brash, campaign-style approach to governance. I was down on his constant
press conferences and his perpetual need to spar with an enemy that he more
often than not created himself. I didn't care for his blatant disrespect for
other elected officials and the cavalier way he railed against institutions
just because they were there. I thought he didn't apply himself enough to
details of government and too often seemed immensely ignorant of basic things,
like what was in the state Constitution.
But the governor had just wrapped up one of the most
progressive sessions in Illinois history. A raft of new labor-friendly laws
were enacted, new social programs were created, new protections for women were
assured, and much more seemed on the horizon. Agree with him or not, it was a
pretty impressive session, Tusk pointed out.
Still, I wasn't convinced. Most of those new laws had
been blocked for years by Republican governors or Republican legislative
leaders. The steam valve was released in 2003, and all Blagojevich had to do
was sign everything that had arrived on his desk.
And then I tried to warn Tusk that even though his boss
was currently riding high in the polls and people like my mom thought he was
doing a good job, there was big trouble ahead.
"You can't sustain this," I said.
Eventually, voters would tire of his overly
confrontational mannerisms and the often juvenile behavior emanating from the
governor's office. The governor had set expectations of political and
government reform so high that even a little old-style patronage would be big
news. At the time, he was still new, and, most importantly, he wasn't George
Ryan. Eventually, he'd have to grow into the office and start acting like a
responsible adult.
And so I waited. And waited. Nothing changed. Rod
Blagojevich is the same man today that he was two years ago. He uses the same
old schtick, the same lines, the same enemies. He even plays the same songs at
his campaign-style swings through the state.
I pulled this from a column I wrote about the governor
during his 2002 campaign:
"Rod Blagojevich is a poll-driven, over-handled
goofball who can't seem to think on his feet and whose political connections
are a bit on the shady side."
Sound familiar?
The creators of the TV sitcom Seinfeld kept a sign above
their desks that read, in part, "NO LESSONS LEARNED." The idea was
that the characters were not supposed to "grow" the way they do on
most other TV shows - and in real life, for that matter.
Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld might want to make a
pilgrimage to Illinois soon because their brilliant idea has been playing out
here for more than two years now.
The governor never learns. He never grows. And, just as I
predicted, he's become vastly unpopular. The latest Chicago Tribune poll showed
that just 34 percent of voters approve of his job performance. He's embroiled
in so many scandals and corruption investigations that even I have lost count -
and I do this for a living.
I don't care how many millions he has in his campaign
account. If he doesn't grow into this job, he's in for a big surprise next
November. Mom, it turns out, now agrees with me.
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Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political
newsletter. He can be reached at capitolfax.blogspot.com.