After glad-handing citizens and hustling on the campaign trail, Rod Blagojevich, the man with the trademark Beatles-style do, convinced 1.7 million Illinois voters to re-elect him governor in 2006.
Nearly four years later, the now-impeached governor hopes to win over just 12 very important votes: the jurors who will decide his fate in his highly publicized public corruption trial that begins Thursday in Chicago. This time, however, he won’t be able to chat them up or shake their hands — as badly as he may want to.
“I’m sure he’ll find it very frustrating,” Kent Redfield, professor emeritus of political studies and public affairs at the University of Illinois-Springfield, told AOL News on the eve of the trial.
What Blagojevich is expected to do is take the stand on his own behalf. How that plays out is anyone’s guess.
“He has the supreme confidence in his ability to win people over and be persuasive,” said Redfield, adding, “It’s often not very well placed.”
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