A friend of mine hit the nail on the head after watching the prosecution flame out at the federal building Tuesday. The political class, he wrote in an e-mail last night, has very mixed feelings.
On the one hand, they wanted Blagojevich to be convicted and to just go away. They got their first wish -- the lone felony count of lying to the FBI -- but not the second, because we'll be hearing from him all the way up to the crucial midterm elections.
Meanwhile, that political class has always wanted to see U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald embarrassed and for him to just go away. They've gotten their first wish with this verdict -- what with Lincoln refusing to roll over in his grave -- but not the second. Fitzgerald will live to fight another day.
When I speak of the political class, by the way, I'm not just talking about Democrats, although they are the ones moaning in pain at the moment at the prospect of having the airwaves filled with GOP election ads attacking them over Blagojevich the same way they, just four years ago, bludgeoned Republicans with George Ryan.
But let's start with the Democrats, since today, ominously, is the Governor's Day rally at the state fairgrounds in Springfield. Let's just say that Pat Quinn, Alexi Giannoulias, Mike Madigan and all the other Dems won't need a corn dog to get indigestion.
They'll get that from reporters asking their thoughts on the fiscal wisdom of retrying an already impeached, broke, convicted former governor when the state and federal governments are bleeding red ink and there aren't enough cops to protect kids from being gunned down in our streets.
Citizens are fed up with a government that many believe has done little for them in the way of jobs and public safety.
And so, suddenly, neither Rod Blagojevich nor Patrick Fitzgerald is getting a lot of love.
Blagojevich, who became the first Democratic governor in a quarter century to head a state in which his party controlled everything -- the House, the Senate and virtually every executive office -- used his awesome power to peddle a populism that he couldn't translate into accountable, transparent, effective government.
Fitzgerald, who is anything but a politician, used his own awesome power in this case with too heavy a hand. And so Blagojevich wasn't hit with a federal indictment but a veritable Mack truck of complicated and redundant charges.
The feds are accustomed to winning. They wear it, too often, as a righteous entitlement. There is value in this loss.
But Blagojevich, who now faces five years in prison, thought he could play his populist game while turning government into his own pay-to-play profit center. The feds were investigating him almost from the beginning of his first term -- and for good reason. What part of that did he not get?
And so the political class is stuck with Blagojevich on radio, TV and, heaven help us, more reality TV for a lot longer. That won't help the Democrats.
And they're stuck with Fitzgerald, who will not only retry Blago but will very soon go after Bill Cellini, one of the most powerful, least-known Republicans in this state. It was some of Cellini's political pals, in concert with Blagojevich's inner circle, who in 2004 tried to persuade the Bush White House to dump Fitzgerald. It was outrageous and didn't work.
Cellini's trial won't help the Republicans.
Citizens, meanwhile, are left in the lurch. Not feeling good about much of anything at the moment.
Comment at suntimes.com.
Special Edition - The Blagojevich Verdict
Color Photo: Scott Stewart, Sun-Times / Rod Blagojevich gives his wife, Patti, a smooch before entering the Dirksen Federal Building to hear the verdict. He'll be retried on 23 counts, which means he'll still be in the news during the midterm elections.
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