As he walked onto the stage, former governor Rod Blagojevich got off to a bit of a shaky start. He seemed at first confused, or perhaps star struck, and David Letterman had to motion for him to sit down.
You'd think after so many television appearances in recent days, our former governor would have the whole thing down pat by now.
The governor's next error: the whole comparison between the impeachment trial and an unfair attack on Letterman's Top 10 list.
Huh?
Next, Letterman sums up why the former governor couldn't call certain witnesses at his impeachment trial and clears up Blagojevich's usual muddled and misleading explanation of it. Actually, Letterman does a better job here and later on in the interview than most so-called news professionals.
Before putting Blagojevich on the spot to explain one of his conversations that the feds secretly recorded, Letterman offers a classic line, "Go ahead and set up the clip."
It sure is political theater.
After the recorded conversation is played, Letterman follows up and asks the obvious question of why Blagojevich needed the money before the end of the year as Blagojevich stresses on the tape.
The former governor responds with a nonsensical answer about financial reporting periods.
"The way the fundraising works is there's two reporting periods: you report at the end of June, you report at the end of December. And then you ask people who are helping you to meet deadlines. And there was a commitment that had been made actually long before December of this year. And it was just to be able to get it in for the filing reports so you can disclose the contributions that you receive, everything that every politician does," the former governor says.
Just for a bit of context, the explanation that Blagojevich gave to Letterman was more detailed than the one he gave to state lawmakers during his impeachment trial.
Also, expect his answer to come back and bite him at his criminal trial.
The feds make a pretty compelling case that the reason Blagojevich was working to get the contribution before the end of the year was to sneak under the deadline of a state ethics rule that was going into effect Jan. 1.
A little later on in the Letterman interview, Blagojevich appears to suggest he thinks he might still have a political future: "I look forward to continue to be a voice for average, ordinary working people, the people that I fought for as governor. And I will say I never lost an election in Illinois, and so the irony is, I've been thrown out of office by lawmakers who didn't give me a chance to prove my innocence, and I'm not writing myself off as a voice for those same people I fought for."
That statement is stunning.
The former governor again blames his impeachment on politics -- that he wanted to stop an income tax increase his foes were planning.
Letterman teases out some of the weakness in that assertion by asking the governor if he's suggesting those political foes conspired to have him wiretapped, and Blagojevich has to retreat from his suggestion.
All in all, an excellent interview by Letterman -- one of the best anyone has done so far. By being funny and being prepared, Letterman managed to knock the former governor off his stock messages and get into more substantive issues.
As for Blagojevich, he scores points for being a good sport, telling a few decent jokes and getting across his message that he's an innocent man defending himself.
But in the end, the former governor hurt himself with some of his long explanations of his motivations -- explanations that will haunt him at trial.
And he also, pretty clearly, didn't win over Letterman.
At the end of the interview, Letterman said, "the more you hear a guy say, 'I've done nothing wrong,' and the more you hear a guy say, 'I didn't have a chance to defend myself,' the more you begin to think, 'Eh...something wrong here.'"
No politician wants a thumbs down from Dave.
Just ask John McCain.
Interview grades:
Letterman: A
Blagojevich: C-
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I agree with the critique of Letterman, I felt Letterman could have gone deeper, like why the former Governor didn't partake in the hearings to defend himself. Also, all the interviewer's seam to let Blago ramble on with the same message and not cut him off.
Exactly.
When Dave opened with, just why are you here, again?--
that pretty much set the tone.
We might have seen the first nail in Blogo's incarcerational coffin.
Letterman eviscerated him without even trying hard.
Blogo sounded like a man tap dancing in quicksand.
The question that constantly runs through my mind is,
just who does Blogo think he's fooling?
Even Charles Manson got a trial, folks. And, after the "patriot act" licensed government spying---people apparently now assume that their conversations can be taped. And portions excerpted as suits someone's case. Doesn't this smell to high heaven? Particularly after watching Dave be mean to Joaquin Phoenix last night?
I have lost a lot of respect for Letterman as his meanness has become more and more obvious and he has become more political. But he was very well prepared for this interview and challenged Blago more than most "professional" journalists. Letterman was well prepared and went after him. I have to give him an "A" on this one.
As for Blago, he wanted the money in by the end of the year so he could report it on yearend reports? Yeah, right!
You know when you go on Letterman you are going to be fair game. Don't appear if you are not prepared. I am afraid Joaquin Phoenix did not help his cause at all. Are you going to be interviewed on national television and say little or nothing? What's the point of being there and Dave was right about him not being there. I still don't know if it was a deliberate comedy act but, if so, it was hilarious.