Blagojevich's mastery of the spoken word

In the winter of 2008, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was accused, through government wiretaps, of trying to peddle President-elect Barack Obama’s U. S. Senate seat to the highest bidder. He was warned by his own Democratic Party not to try to appoint a successor.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed that no person the defiant governor appointed would have a chance being seated as a U. S. senator. But the governor ignored their pleads and immediately held a news conference to announce that he had selected Illinois’ first African American Attorney General, Roland Burris, as his choice to fill out the Obama term.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/

“The people of Illinois are entitled to have two U. S. Senators represent them in Washington, D. C.,” Blagojevich began the news conference. “As governor, I am required to make this appointment. If I don’t make this appointment, then the people of Illinois will be deprived of their appropriate voice and voice in the U. S. Senate. Please don’t allow the allegations against me to taint a good and honest man.”

His choice, Roland Burris, was seated as the successor to President Barack Obama.

While Blagojevich’s charges were pending against him, I believe that any public relations practitioner would have encouraged him to try to minimize the press on him and the incident. The less said about the situation, the less the public would have been aware of his peddling.

However, this might not have been the best choice for Blagojevich, as it appears that he was still able to come out looking good. Surprising to many, including the senate, Blagojevich was still able to have a say in the appointment of the next senator. This made him appear to be committed to his position and it’s duties, even while being impeached by the Illinois legislature.

Upon the seating of Ronald Burris as senator, I would have encouraged Blagojevich to point towards his dedication to his job.

I think Blagojevich found a way to make the best out of his situation. I would like to think that I could have foreseen how the senator might of used his rhetoric and reasonability to make a public appointment of the next senator. But if the senator had not used the words he used the way that he did, any recommendation he made probably would have been ignored.

This example shows the ability of Blagojevich to persuade though his speech, even when everyone else doubted him. I hope to be able to share the same dexterous poise some day.