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Despite what you may have read in some newspaper
editorials or Statehouse news coverage lately, Gov. Rod Blagojevich is not
insane. I can’t believe I had to actually write that
sentence, but I’ve noted an increasing number of claims that the
governor is losing his marbles. The Peoria
Journal Star editorialized last week that
Blagojevich was “going bonkers” and more than just implied that
he is insane. A House Democrat went one step further and told reporters
that Blagojevich was a “madman” and “insane.” House
Speaker Michael Madigan’s spokesman cracked wise last week that the
governor has attention-deficit disorder. Yes, Blagojevich is a bit “different,”
but we’ve all known that for a long time, haven’t we? He is who
he is — a somewhat goofy enigmatic who tries so hard to see the
bright side of whatever situation he finds himself in, some believe that he
may be slightly pathological. But that dogged optimism has helped him
weather more storms than anyone can count, and he’s obviously relying
on it to get him through the supreme mess that the legislative overtime
situation has become.
The truth is that although the governor does love a
fight, his recent over-the-top remarks about state Democratic Party
chairman and House Speaker Michael Madigan (“right-wing George W.
Bush Republican”); his taunting, confrontational style with
legislators (calling them in seven days a week for special sessions and
then not showing up for all of them himself); and his refusal to offer up
real compromises yet are all just part of his usual shtick. He’s been
doing this for years. Remember his 2003 attack on legislators for spending
money like “drunken sailors” after they voted to override
several of his vetoes? Remember the 2004 overtime session, when he claimed
that Madigan wasn’t a “real Democrat” because he had
allied himself with the Republicans? Remember the 2006 campaign, when he
managed to turn a previously well-liked Judy Baar Topinka into a corrupt
wingnut in voters’ minds? I’ve known Blagojevich since he was a member of
the Illinois House. He hasn’t changed much. The outward impression
you sometimes get is a shallow, hyperactive man-child. He can be that and
more. Sometimes the guy just can’t stop himself from taking a verbal
swing at anyone who happens to be near. He certainly doesn’t listen
well. But he does take the time to think at least some things through.
I spent a couple of hours with the governor last week
to get a read on him. I discovered that he seems to have a fairly
reasonable end result in mind for the current overtime legislative session:
a potential compromise on revenue-generating ideas that could fund many of
the big-ticket ideas on the table and even satisfy the Republicans
somewhat. However, I’m not at all convinced that he knows
yet how to get there from here. The overtime session got stuck because he
vastly overestimated both the ability and the willingness of the Senate
Democrats to move his agenda forward and put House Speaker Michael Madigan
on the spot. By now, that gigantic universal-health-insurance bill
of his was supposed to have cleared the Senate, with its veto-proof
Democratic majority, and be sitting in the House. Instead, as of this
writing, the measure is completely stalled. Speaker Madigan, who wants a
much smaller budget increase than the governor does, won’t even
consider the multibillion-dollar insurance plan as long as it can’t
pass the Senate. But rounding up Democratic votes in the Senate for a
bill that Madigan opposes (and which also raises taxes on business) is not
exactly an easy task.
Why vote for a bill if Madigan will just kill it,
senators ask themselves. Also, the Senate Democratic caucus is in a state
of disarray right now, partly because of continuing revelations about
Senate President Emil Jones’ alleged cronyism and nepotism. The
governor’s ever-growing unpopularity under the Statehouse dome
because of his confrontational style of leadership isn’t helping,
either.
What I’m trying to say here is that I think
it’s perfectly acceptable to question the governor’s competence
to lead the General Assembly to a reasonable compromise — but the
hyperbole about his sanity, or lack thereof, is a bit much.
Rich Miller publishes Capitol
Fax, a daily political newsletter. He can be
reached at capitolfax.blogspot.com.
This article appears in Jul 12-18, 2007.
