Temperament

I'm sure this has been discussed a lot somewhere since Blagojevich was re-elected back in November 2006. I have been pondering this issue since Blagojevich was arrested last month.

Let's consider the parallels between ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich and ex-Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York. You know the guy who led the charge against prostitution, but his downfall was caused by him getting it on with prostitutes.

Both seemed to have been very temperamental. Blago and Spitzer held grudges and it carried on when it came to budgets and legislation. Let's not forget this whole "f*cking steamroller" comment by Spitzer to a Republican leader in NY's state legislature. The funny part was Republicans only held a majority in one house of their legislature.

In the case of Blagojevich, Democrats controlled both house of the legislature. As time when on Blagojevich couldn't even get along with his own party. It should have told you something when he kicked his own father-in-law to the curb, the man who helped him get to the dance in the first place. Also note that Blago almost fell into fisticuffs with a member of the Democratic caucus over a budget proposal back in 2007.

Spitzer as noted didn't get along well with his legislature, but one has to remember that he was only Governor for shortly over a whole year. He didn't have time to develop a relationship with the legislature although what he did have was horrible. On the other hand Blago had six years to develop a better relationship with the General Assembly and it doesn't look like he'll get one.

This week I've seen articles where Blagojevich's mental state was questioned. In fact one could accuse him of having narcissistic personality disorder. I wonder if they have anything on Spitzer's state of mind.

You know at least Blagojevich had an ally in the State Senate. And they warred with the State House, all members of the same party and it was almost as if they had something to prove. Emil Jones wanted to prove he was a big shot with Blagojevich, unfortunately it was all to the detriment of the state.

Still the important issue here is temperament. One can't run around sanctimonious and unwilling to compromise on key issues especially if you're not the only one who can make decisions on issues of policy. One can't be upset that people won't get on board on issues of policy.

Of course I can say one thing about Spitzer. Mr. Spitzer was quickly able to give it up when he was caught. There was really no such luck with Rod Blagojevich.