SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — In the end, Rod Blagojevich did not bring doom for his party or the national political figures whose names got dragged into his scandal. But long after he is behind bars, Illinois will still be cleaning up the mess created by the state’s cartoonish former governor.
In the state that he led for six years, the Blagojevich legacy also includes a dysfunctional administration. He contributed to a massive budget deficit, nearly paralyzed the government with his stubborn inaction and damaged the reputations of fellow Democrats in President Barack Obama’s home state.
A jury convicted Blagojevich of wide-ranging corruption charges Monday.
Chris Mooney is a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield. He says Blagojevich was one of the worst governors in modern times.
