REMINISCENT OF CHECKERS

(FOX CHICAGO)

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s appearance last week, with his wife and children, at PAWS, an animal shelter in Chicago, immediately reminded me of a story about another politician and a dog.

 On September 23, 1952,  then Senator Richard Nixon, the Republican Vice Presidential nominee gave a speech  on radio and television defending himself against allegations of improprieties relating to a fund established by his backers to reimburse him for his political expenses.  During his speech, he did admit to receiving one gift after his election as Senator.  

“A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two youngsters would like to have a dog. And, believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was. 

It was a little cocker spaniel dog in a crate that he'd sent all the way from Texas. Black and white spotted. And our little girl-Tricia, the 6-year old-named it Checkers. And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it. “

His speech was heard by an estimated 60 million Americans and the Republican national Committee (RNC) received millions of telegrams and phone calls in support of retaining Nixon’s position on the ticket with Republican Presidential nominee General Dwight D. Eisenhower.  This put him on the road to his own election as president in 1968; a road that ended in disgrace with his resignation on August 9, 1974.

As anyone with any media savvy knows, animals and kids sell news.  If the dogs are shelter animals and the children sympathetic because they are the progeny of a man going to prison, the cameras and reporters will fill the room.  Blago is quite media savvy and he knew the story of taking his daughters to get a new puppy would engender warm feelings—at the expense of his young daughters.

Reporters have been staking out the Blagojevich home since his 14 year sentence was announced last week and Blago made sure the reporters knew where they were going when they left their home Friday evening.  If the former governor wanted privacy and quiet time with his family he did not have to announce their plans.  A decent man would not have posed for pictures holding the puppy or allowed his daughters to pose for pictures.  A decent man would not have held a press conference with the whole family and their current dog saying, "We feel these are tough times for our family and this little puppy and Skittles over here are comforting. And they are just something that our little girls can love and cuddle and get comfortable with."

Anyone questioning whether this was an unfair ambush by the media can watch this footage from CBS Chicago and easily see how Blago welcomed the attention.

After choosing a Maltese-poodle mix, Rod, wife Patti and 15-year-old Amy and 8-year-old Annie all appeared before reporters and television cameras with their new puppy.  If Rod really cared about helping his children get over “tough times,” why subject them to the glare of the cameras?  While Patti told reporters that they wanted to “get the girls’ minds on something fun and positive,” I question her motives also because I see nothing positive about having the children face the media.

Blago is treating his children like pawns in a game of chess, a game a lot more complicated than checkers.