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. 

Larry Craig's tap shoes.

In June 2007, Senator Larry Craig was arrested for suggesting to an under cover police officer for disorderly conduct. The officer stated that Craig had peeked through the bathroom stall and tapped his foot to suggest that he wanted to engage in “lewd conduct.” When he was charged he signed a guilty plea and later attempt to reverse it.

From a public relations standpoint, it was too late. The damage had been done. Once he pled guilty it changed the way that the public—and the senate—perceived the situation. I would explain that removing the guilty plea would solely be for legal purposes, and that if he did remove the plea he would be going back on his word. He would seem wishy-washy and the public would assume that he was a liar. You can’t plead guilty and then take it back without the public assuming that you were guilty in the first place. 

I do understand that there are reasons why someone might plead guilty even if they weren’t, but a Senator should know better.

I believe that Craig should have considered the repercussions far before pleading guilty. But after he had pled guilty I would have advised that he move onto the case and get it over with as quickly as possible, to minimize the time that his name spent in the headlines.

If I was Craig’s lawyer however, I would have advised a completely different plan. If Craig was solely considering this from a legal standpoint, it would be better to go ahead and plead not guilty and give the jury and judge the ability to decide.

I believe than the mistake that was made here was the guilty plea. If he could have avoided this then the sex sting might not have been so harsh and the appeal wouldn’t have made Craig look as indecisive. All around, I think the best decision for him would have been to go the way that he had been going in the beginning. When he announced plans to resign in September and not finish his third term.  Regardless of sexual orientation, the unsolicited conduct that occurred in an airport bathroom was not the sort for any senator. And the right thing to do, to earn the most respect, would be to have backed down and admitted wrong doing.