December 9, 2008 10:06AM # Blagojevich: Business as Usual By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) --- SHARE [Reading over the complaint](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1209081rod1.html) against Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (D) — which is highly entertaining, by the way — I’m struck not by the brazenness of his attempt to “sell” the Senate seat, but by how typical it is of the horse-trading done in politics. Fawned over by lobbyists and staff, politicians tend to collapse together the public interest and their personal interests. It is the norm — not some outrageous deviation — to exchange political favors for help with attaining higher office, including campaign contributions. It’s only a small step from there to private emoluments. Blagojevich may have crossed a legal line, and his foul language certainly sounds in corruption. (Didjya think that politicians don’t swear when they talk to their buddies?) But it’s a line politicians touch their toes to all the time. Only if you pretend that politicians are selfless do you find Blagojevich’s horse-trading unusual. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).