Nov 29, 2007 1:20 am US/Central
Exposing Blagojevich: Governor's Style An Obstacle
Critics Say Governor's Approach Has Made Progress In Springfield Next To Impossible
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) ―
Mass transit is just one crisis currently facing Illinois. There's school funding and the public pension debt. And the state has just come off of a summer of stalemate over the budget.
A recent poll found more than half of those questioned disapprove of the job Gov. Rod Blagojevich is doing as governor. An editorial in the Chicago Tribune called him "the governor who cannot govern." Critics say his inaccessibility, his poor skills at building relationships and his lack of interest in details have made him an ineffective leader.
As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, he won re-election barely one year ago. During the campaign, Blagojevich never mentioned that, right after Election Day, he would propose the largest tax increase ever and the largest expansion of government in state history.
That political surprise made it easy last spring for the Illinois House to reject his tax proposal unanimously.
Blagojevich blames many of his problems on the wily and stubborn House Speaker, Mike Madigan. His staff says he has a good relationship with Senate President Emil Jones and has worked closely with the two top Republican leaders.
According to his own records, in the last four months Blagojevich made an average of one public appearance every five days, only taking questions from reporters two or three times a month.
The governor does make unannounced appearances, but his office would not reveal how many.
By comparison, Mayor Daley typically faces reporters three or four times a week; Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin almost every day.
The governor's staff told CBS 2 he's often in the State Capitol, but others we spoke to call that laughable. Those sources say the governor is rarely seen in Springfield or at his Thompson Center office.
So, when he's not there, where is he working? Mostly at his home on the Northwest Side of Chicago. Insiders report that the governor is often up before dawn, making conference calls from a small office there, and sometimes from a political campaign office a few blocks away.
With the knowledge of his large State Police bodyguard detail, CBS 2 watched for several days over three weeks, repeatedly finding the governor at home during normal business hours but with no one other than family coming and going.
At 11 a.m. on a sunny Wednesday, with a mass transit "doomsday" just four days away, Blagojevich, dressed casually, appeared to be working from home as the crisis was building. Being at home, he gets to see his daughters.
His staff says he works wherever he is, at all hours of the day. But key political players, from Sen. Barack Obama to his own lieutenant governor, say they rarely see or hear from Blagojevich.
When asked when the last time he spoke to the governor was, Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn said, "I don't know, couple of months, probably."
He added, however, that he tries to talk to Blagojevich more often than that.
The governor did not hold even one full cabinet meeting during his first term in office. Insiders tell CBS 2 that Blagojevich prefers to focus on the "Big Picture," leaving details to his deputies. Among them: Chief of Staff John Harris, Deputy Gov. Sheila Nix and political strategist Doug Scofield. Other confidants include lobbyists John Wyma and Alonzo Monk, a sometime jogging companion he first met in college, who formerly served as chief of staff.
Critics claim that not being hands-on has sometimes tripped up the governor, poisoning relations with key lawmakers.
"I had an understanding," said State Sen. Larry Bomke (R-Springfield). "The governor would spend money in my district, only to have him change his mind and spend it some place else."
In 2003, Bomke got a promise in writing from the governor's chief of staff and crossed party lines to vote for a bill backed by Blagojevich. Bomke says the governor failed to deliver and then refused to talk to him. Many legislators now demand that any promises be put on paper, a development one eminent historian of Illinois governors finds shocking.
"It's unprecedented when a governor has to put in writing that he would keep his word," Taylor Pensoneau said.
Bernard Schoenburg, a veteran columnist for Springfield's State Journal-Register, said the governor's lack of credibility is one reason negotiations now move so slowly in the Capitol, if at all.
"His word is not trusted," Schoenburg said. "That's one thing that holds up the legislative process, frustrates everyone."
In such a toxic environment, little things can suddenly blow up. When Blagojevich promised to stay in Springfield during the seemingly endless special sessions he called last summer, lawmakers on the floor were infuriated to hear from eyewitnesses that the governor at that very moment was jogging near his home.
"Sooner or later that type of thing catches up to you," Pensoneau. "And it has caught up with Gov. Blagojevich this year, when we've had gridlock. And he has been stonewalled in his major legislative requests."
Despite his problems with the legislature and his current low approval ratings in public opinion surveys, sources say he wants to run again in 2010. They say he could win a third term by raising even more than the $27 million he spent last time, and by campaigning on his taxpayer-subsidized health care. He's sidestepping the general assembly to expand the program on his own to 147,000 more people, and will worry about how to pay for it later.
"I'm gonna continue to do what I think is right, that's one of the good things about being governor," Blagojevich said.
The governor declined Wednesday to do an interview about this story, but a staff member sent this statement: "No amount of sleazy journalism can distort the fact that Gov. Blagojevich works hard for the people of Illinois. Whether he is at the governor's mansion in Springfield or Hayes House in DuQuoin, in meetings at the Thompson Center or the statehouse, working from his home office, or juggling his responsibilities as governor with those of being a father -- the governor is in contact with his staff and other leaders around the clock, dealing with the issues that impact people all over Illinois. He can, and does, conduct business from wherever he is."
This story was produced by Ed Marshallcbs2chicago.com's Most Popular Pages 
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