Can Blagojevich Win Jurors' Votes in Corruption Case?

(June 3) -- After glad-handing citizens and hustling on the campaign trail, Rod Blagojevich, the man with the trademark Beatles-style do, persuaded 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 began today 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 Wednesday.

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."

Blagojevich arrived in court today for the start of a trial that is expected to be chock-full of intrigue and drama and guaranteed to garner streams of media attention both locally and nationally. The only thing likely to overshadow it in Chicago -- and only temporarily -- would be the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup finals. (The team is currently up two games to one in that contest.)

"I feel great," Blagojevich told The Associated Press before jury selection began today, at one point shaking hands with a supporter and commenting, "The truth shall set you free."

Blagojevich faces 24 public corruption-related charges, including one that he tried to sell the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama. He faces five to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.

In many ways, the trial will mark the end of what has become a relentless campaign by the chatty Blagojevich, 53, to win public vindication ever since U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald charged him in December 2008 and, standing before a throng of reporters, vilified him as purely evil.

That's when Blagojevich went to work.

He hired The Publicity Agency out of Tampa, Fla., to help him get the word out and to book interviews. He's easily given more than 100 interviews on TV and radio and in print publications. He went on "Late Night With David Letterman" and hit the talk show circuit, including "The View," "The Sean Hannity Show" and "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren."

"I haven't done anything wrong," he said on Van Susteren's show in January 2009, a mantra he would repeat endlessly during interviews.

Not everyone bought what he was peddling. He also became the butt of many talk show hosts' jokes, including Letterman's, though Blagojevich seemed to take it in stride. For instance, shortly after he was impeached in January 2009 by a state Senate vote of 59-0, he appeared on Letterman's show -- and the host got in some zingers.

"Why exactly are you here, honest to God?" Letterman asked.

"I've been wanting to be on your show in the worst way for the longest time," Blagojevich replied.

"Well, you're on in the worst way, believe me," Letterman said. "No getting around that."

Earlier this year, Blagojevich returned to Letterman's show to read "Top 10 Questions Rod Blagojevich Asked Himself Before Appearing on 'Celebrity Apprentice.' " (A sample question: "Can I Get Paid in Shampoo?")

And then he appeared on "The Celebrity Apprentice" with Donald Trump. And yes, Trump at some point blurted out those famous words to Blagojevich: "You're fired!"

Glenn Selig, founder of The Publicity Agency, who has helped book Blagojevich for interviews, told AOL News the relentless publicity campaign stemmed from the ex-governor's desire to "get the truth out. The prosecution accused him of doing things he did not do. It's his mission that people understand his point of view and what is happening to him and what the truth really is and he didn't let them down."

Opinions are mixed, though, as to whether any of Blagojevich's camera time will help in his trial.

Philip K. Anthony, CEO of DecisionQuest, a trial consulting agency, told the Chicago Sun-Times that it could be a plus with jurors.

"They will interpret that, I believe, as he's not afraid, he's not willing to back down, he's not hiding," Anthony told the paper. "I think jurors are more critical when they feel a public figure is running from the issue."

Professor Redfield isn't so sure.

"Whether it makes sense from a legal defense, you have a lot of people who question whether his is an effective way to be dealing with the charges," Redfield said. "Most people don't find him particularly effective in terms of rehabilitating his image. But that's one of the things you never know with jurors."

But Redfield said Blagojevich's need to appear in public may even go beyond just his desire to clear his name.

"It speaks to his need to be in the public eye, his need to have affirmation from the public, his personality," Redfield added. "He just can't get off stage."

One thing may be more certain about the Blagojevich media blitz:

"I think it's going to make the jury selection that much more difficult" when it comes to finding impartial jurors, says former federal prosecutor Alan M. Gershel, now a law professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Michigan.

So, is Blagojevich nervous about the trial?

Selig, who is handling the public relations end, says: "He's very confident that he can come out on top."