Why is Blagojevich so unpopular? I like him.
A good question, so I asked an informed, generally independent Illinoisan why she didn't like him. Two things stood out.
First, he was shirking an important duty of his office. He won't live in the Governor's mansion downstate. Initially this was about staying with his family, but if you commit to a job, you commit to the resposibilities that go with the job. By not spending time in Springfield he's not available for meetings with legislators and other policy makers as the laws and state budget are crafted. This was an interesting view from an NE IL resident, since it is usually associated with downstaters.
Second, he has been alll too willing to make promises that seem to be worth no more than the ink to print them. In a recent lawsuit, the Gov's defense team argued that certain actions were not his responsibility, because his words were "political puffery". Note that's a quote from Blago's own attorneys.
There's a reason that he sits near the bottom of the SUSA polls, stuck in the upper 30's to low 40's in approval. The public doesn't trust him. Neither does the legislature who resorted to unprecedented written memoranda of understanding last year to hold him to his pledges.
