Politico does a detailed analysis of the possible sorts of risk that the ongoing Blagojevich trial poses to the White House and to Illinois Democrats more generally:
The federal corruption saga of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been rattling along during the sweltering Chicago summer, offering a daily dose of low-grade theatrics, low-impact bombshells and low-brow humor.
The top White House officials — President Barack Obama, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett — haven’t been too badly bruised so far, by Chicago standards at least, even as federal prosecutors air wiretaps of Blagojevich’s ugliest private conversations about them.
But despite the trial’s Jerry Springer start, the threat of political damage remains serious for all of them — and another Democrat as well, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.). On Wednesday, prosecutors attached Jackson’s name to allegations of a $1 million pay-to-play scheme for Obama’s Senate seat — though Jackson has categorically denied any wrongdoing since Blagojevich’s December 2008 arrest, and he has not been accused of any illegal activity.
One thing that the writers don’t mention to any great degree is timing. If this trial continues into the fall as it well may do, it could be reaching its climax to coincide with the hottest part of the mid-term election campaigns. No good can come to that for Illinois Democrats.
