A scandal explodes

The arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) detonated over the political landscape on Tuesday. The damage it inflicts, with its explosive mixture of alleged power-peddling and money-grubbing, could be widespread, destroying some careers, damaging others and making life difficult for many more.

To start with what is easiest: Blagojevich will certainly not be a serious candidate for the White House in 2016 — as he appears, incredibly, to have believed. The taped evidence of his profanity-laden discussion about what he could get in exchange for his choice of replacement for President-elect Obama’s vacant Senate seat depicts an ugly politician whom most voters would regard as unfit for high national office.

Whether or not he is indicted and convicted for the corruption alleged in Tuesday’s 76-page criminal complaint, the governor has added to the Republican Party’s weaponry against the incoming Democratic supremacy. Democrats justifiably denounced the “culture of corruption” over which Republicans presided before 2006. Now, the Blagojevich arrest, coming shortly after other ethics-related problems that have ensnared other Democratic lawmakers, means Republicans can repay their foes with interest.

Nothing in the criminal complaint appears to suggest any impropriety by Obama or his incoming administration; if anything, the FBI’s evidence seems to show that the president-elect’s aides would not play ball with the Illinois governor. But the fact that this was Obama’s seat, and his home state, and that Blagojevich appears to have believed he had leverage with the new administration, will cast a shadow toward the new White House. There will also be questions about what transition team members knew about Blagojevich’s alleged efforts and what they did with that information.

The scandal also casts a shadow on Congress. The complaint against the governor cites six candidates for the vacant seat, each of whom is identified only by a number. Several House members are candidates, and Washington was abuzz with speculation Tuesday about which, if any, lawmakers are among the numbered. Prosecutors say they are pointing accusing fingers only at the governor and his chief of staff, but this will do nothing to improve the public’s low opinion of the denizens of Capitol Hill.

Finally, it is important to step back and look at the fundamental principle allegedly traduced by the governor. He is accused of seeking a quid pro quo for doing what was his duty — appointing someone to represent the people of his state in the Senate. On tape, he appears to suggest several factors influencing his decision — all relate to his own advantage, and none touches on the interests of the people of Illinois.