Blagojevich's feel-good campaign

Rod Blagojevich greets well-wishers outside the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago to start each day, makes a point of speaking to the daily spectators who've expressed support for him during his corruption trial and typically leaves the building shaking hands, kissing cheeks and taking photos with the increasing number of people who wait for him to emerge at the close of proceedings.

That's all out of view of the jury, just as his plaintive diatribe against one-time close friend Alonzo Monk was supposed to be earlier this week, as jurors are instructed to steer clear of any media reports on the trial.

So what's the former Illinois governor up to? Part of it's the nature of the political beast. As his body guard recently moaned on a cell phone in the hallway outside the courtroom, "He can't walk down the street without talking to somebody."

Yet, some legal experts suggest there's something else afoot as well.

"He is crazy like a fox," said Barrington Hills attorney Andrew Stoltmann, who's been following the case. "He realizes the likability factor goes a long way in whether he is going to be convicted. It is a clear strategy to win a popularity contest and influence jurors. Jurors tend not to convict people they like and can relate to easily."

Blagojevich keeps a jovial and confident demeanor in the courtroom as the jury enters and leaves, and he has been admonished by Judge James Zagel to curtail facial reactions and gestures he's made to spectators in the gallery.

Even so, when defense attorney Aaron Goldstein cracked a joke on cross-examination Thursday that someone else named Aaron "has a nice name," some chuckled, but only Blagojevich laughed out loud.

He might assume the jury's media blackout isn't likely to be complete, either. "All politicians think that the more they talk, the more persuasive they are," said DePaul University law professor Leonard Cavise. "He assumes he's talking to the jury, which he assumes is tuned into the media."

Prosecutors, however, filed a protest with Zagel following Blagojevich's remarks outside of court that Monk's father would be ashamed of his son's testimony, and Zagel assigned them to sit down with defense attorneys and iron out some guidelines. They scheduled an informal session for today, when the trial is not in session.

Yet Zagel, as it turns out, might also have to monitor attempts to influence the jury within his own courthouse.

A turkey sandwich in the Dirksen cafeteria was renamed "The Innocent aka Blago" Thursday on a chalk-drawn menu placard that also advertised a Patty Melt.

Blagojevich called his $5.45 namesake sandwich "fantastic" and told members of the media his wife, Patti, had one, too. The question, however, is whether any jurors bought it as well.