Blagojevich Book Offers His Side

Chicago, Sept. 8, 2009— -- In the past nine months, Rod Blagojevich has been charged with trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama, impeached and ousted as Illinois governor, mocked by comics and relegated to singing Elvis Presley's "Treat Me Nice" at a neighborhood festival to earn some money.

In "The Governor," a memoir in stores today, and in an hour-long interview with USA Today, Blagojevich presents a very different portrait of himself: He's an innocent man, a victim of an overzealous federal prosecutor and the betrayals of former political allies. From his perspective, he's not a disgraced politician; he's caught up in a miscarriage of justice because he was trying to fight for his constituents.

His situation, Blagojevich says, reminds him of a book he recently read to his 6-year-old daughter, Annie. "In 'Alice in Wonderland,' Alice is looking in the looking glass and everything is upside down," he says. "So much of this story is upside down. ... I didn't do anything wrong."

He acknowledges that he's angry and worried about being sent to prison, but Blagojevich, 52, doesn't seem preoccupied with his legal woes or perturbed by the derision in newspaper columns and editorials. When he ventures alone onto a busy Michigan Avenue sidewalk, he's immediately surrounded by tourists and locals who want to shake his hand, pose for photos or shout encouragement.

"I'm not saying I'm perfect. I've made my share of mistakes, OK?" Blagojevich says. "But never, ever, ever did I ever have a motivation other than to try to do the best I could for the people of Illinois as governor, and I sacrificed my own family interests to do it."