Last week, when it appeared that the Obama presidential transition would proceed as smoothly as possible in the midst of economic turmoil, two foreign wars, and a crisis of relations between India and Pakistan, the entire U.S. political climate was shaken to its core by the arrest of acting Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The controversy has been a distraction for the incoming Obama administration and his transition team has been beating a quiet message for the media, while circling the wagons to prevent any negative political fallout. The incident has also put into question Obama’s economic plan, worth up to $1 trillion, and has the implication of eventually altering the makeup of the U.S. Senate, at a time when Democrats assumed that Obama’s successor would be a Democratic candidate.
While controversy surrounding Blagojevich is not new, his accused actions of trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat for future campaign cash or for personal gain as well as trying to eliminate editorial members of the Chicago Tribune who disagreed with him are some of the most brazen acts of political corruption the U.S. political system has ever seen and will most likely be talked about by extempers for years to come.
This brief will give some brief background on the scandal, actions being taken against the governor, and the political fallout of the scandal for the Obama administration and Illinois politics.
Background of a Scandal
Blagojevich has been a two-term governor of Illinois, winning re-election in 2006 by a landslide margin over his Republican challenger Judy Barr Topinka. During his governorship, Blagojevich has been criticized for not living in the governor’s mansion at Springfield and working instead from Chicago, which has irritated the people of southern Illinois. On issues, Blagojevich has been instrumental in continuing the moratorium of past governor George Ryan (who currently sits in a federal prison on corruption charges) on the death penalty, increasing funding for the state’s education programs in spite of budget cuts, and created the All Kids plan, which provided universal health care to all of Illinois children starting in 2005.
According to Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Blagojevich tried to use the power of his governor’s office after Obama’s presidential election victory to fill his Senate seat through less honest means. After the election, Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder, with the money going to fund either the governor’s political war chest or the governor’s back pocket (details of that are still sketchy). Blagojevich also dangled the seat to see if he could get a cabinet position in a future Obama administration, such as becoming Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Health and Human Services, or an ambassador post, if he appointed someone to Obama’s Senate seat that Obama approved of. Also, Blagojevich tried to get his wife a corporate board seat with a salary of $150,000 per year. According to recorded phone calls, transcripts of which were given to the media, Blagojevich treated the Senate seat as a personal gold mine that he was determined to extract some value for instead of giving it away for free. If all the options failed, Blagojevich thought of appointing himself so that he could use the Senate for a future presidential run in 2016.
In the criminal complaint against Blagojevich, the governor is also accused to trying to use his political muscle to force the Chicago Tribune to fire editorial writers who have been critical of Blagojevich’s governing of the state. Blagojevich would get this leverage because the Tribune Company is trying to sell Wrigley Field and needs state funds to pull off the sale.
Despite the wiretaps placed on the governor’s phones by the FBI, and mounting calls by all the current Democratic members of the U.S. Senate as well as president-elect Obama, Blagojevich has refused to step down.
Actions Against the Governor
Aside from actions on a national stage against Blagojevich, the most interesting scenarios are unfolding in the state of Illinois. Led by Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, the Illinois House of Representatives has started to look into impeachment proceedings against the governor. Political observers in the state point out that the governor has ten days to resign or face legislative action against his leadership. However, based on Blagojevich’s current comments, there is little to indicate that he plans to step down, despite having a 0% excellent rating for his leadership in state polls. In fact, based on what Blagojevich has said, he has little to no remorse for his actions and believes that he did nothing improper.
Furthermore, the state attorney general, Lisa Madigan, Michael Madison’s daughter, has appealed to the state Supreme Court to declare that the governor is incapable of filling out his duties and position. If the state Supreme Court decides in favor of the attorney general’s request, the governor’s powers would pass to his Lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn. However, it is interesting to see how this coup would go down with the people of Illinois, considering that a political action of this nature is unprecedented since the governor is still alive and is not physically incapacitated.
What makes the impeachment topic interesting is that it is one of the few occasions where you will see Republicans and Democrats unified in their opposition to a political leader. Often times, recall and impeachment battles center on partisan battles, with the side that is in power unwilling to admit that it’s leadership is inept and needs replacing. It seems that it takes a brazen abuse of power of the office to unify parties, see Richard Nixon with Watergate for an example.
Political Impacts
The biggest impact this could have is on any shakeups that happen in Barack Obama’s inner circle. Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is a veteran of Chicago politics and is said to have been in contact with Blagojevich over the Senate seat, but there is no evidence thus far to suggest that he offered any money to Blagojevich to make the choice that Obama preferred for the seat. Also, an internal Obama review has found that none of his advisors were knowledgeable of the governor’s actions, although they are willing to delay releasing the results of that investigation until federal authorities filter through their own findings.
However, there are two major reasons this issue affects Obama. First, when it comes to his transition into the presidency he does not need a big distraction to start the administration. At a time of economic and international turmoil, Obama needs to be ready to assume the office with force on day one and not have a distraction happening in his home state. This distraction could cost Obama time when he has to make appointments to different parts of the government and could rob him of needed political momentum. It also has the danger of reinvigorating the Republican Party and for them to try to dig deeper to see if Obama is as clean in his dealings with Blagojevich as he says he is. The second reason this issue affects Obama is that his economic stimulus plan of pouring the better part of $1 trillion into the economy is tied into infrastructure projects controlled by governors. The corruption on the part of Blagojevich may throw a wrench into those plans as conservatives may object in saying that governors cannot be trusted with infrastructure funding. Therefore, Obama’s entire economic recovery plan may be watered down because of Blagojevich’s bad behavior.
Finally, there is the interesting question extempers must consider about Obama’s Senate seat. Blagojevich still has the power to make an appointment, although if he did so the U.S. Senate could use its authority to refuse to sit whoever he appoints. There is a debate being carried out in Illinois about if a new governor should appoint the next senator, if the state legislature should make the appointment, or if there should be a special election for the seat. Democrats prefer options one and two because they would have more control over the selection, but Republicans are demanding that a special election be held and are taking ads out on television to tie the entire Democratic Party of Illinois into Blagojevich’s web of corruption. While no serious test polls have been conducted concerning the results of a general election, there is the chance that with the recent corruption Republicans could possibly steal the seat which would reduce the Senate equation to 57-42, giving the GOP a valuable seat.