Blagojevich to teens: Politics is disillusioning

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich told hundreds of high school civics club members on Saturday that they should become more involved in politics because the country's future depends on it — even though he hopes his own children don't choose it as a profession because it's disillusioning and full of cynics.

Blagojevich, who was ousted from office after prosecutors accused him of widespread corruption, including trying to sell off President Barack Obama's former Senate seat, also addressed his upcoming retrial on 20 charges, telling the packed hotel conference room that he expects to be vindicated.

"I am facing, what I have said from the beginning ... trumped up charges," he told some 230 Midwest members of the Junior State of America club, reiterating the position he's taken since his December 2008 arrest.

Blagojevich, 54, described the political process as being "somewhat disillusioning and disheartening" at times.

"The incredible cynicism. The amazing sense of entitlement by a lot of political figures. The loss of connection with real ordinary people, because they've been in the business so long, that they forget who they're supposed to represent," he said.

Blagojevich said he hopes his two young daughters pursue other professions.

"As a father who loves his kids and wants them to be happy, and wants them to be safe, wants them to be secure, it would not be my first choice for them to get into politics."

The national civics organization had invited the former governor to the convention to talk about modern politics. Though Blagojevich began the morning talking about how hard his immigrant parents worked, he wasted little time addressing the government's case against him, again criticizing prosecutors for only releasing a small portion of the secret recordings of him that they made.

"I have said play them all to the public. Every one of those conversations. ... You have a right to know whether I've been telling you the truth that I haven't done anything wrong."

Blagojevich took a few jabs at his replacement, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, and other state lawmakers, saying they've handled the budget poorly by raising taxes and hurting education investments.

"Conflict in government is a good thing. It's not a bad thing. Conflict in government and a fight over money is supposed to be what these lawmakers and governors are supposed to do," he said. "They shouldn't make it easy on themselves by going back and asking for more money from the people. That should be a last resort."

Blagojevich also took part in a 'Jeopardy!'-style game against students that aimed to raise money for victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. He was criticized days after the disasters for appearing on a radio program and comparing his legal woes to that of a personal tsunami. In the end he was declared the game's winner, though his total points were not announced.

Naperville North High School student Anastasia Golovashkina, who invited Blagojevich to the event, said it was interesting to watch the former governor work the room.

"People really enjoyed hearing his speech not so much for its content but for the way in which he presented it," she said. "He kind of wants to overwhelm his audience with such a long speech, that in the end people forget what they wanted from the speech in the first place."

Golovashkina said several students felt like he dodged their questions.

"He tried to tie everything back to how he was a fantastic governor and about what he accomplished, and about how he's of course not guilty," she said.

Blagojevich's retrial is scheduled to begin April 20.