Reply #4: He wants to be acquitted....if not in a court of law, in a court of public opinion.

[MADem]

I'm not defending the guy, FWIW, so don't assume that. I'm simply making a few observations about how he's handling himself--and he's exceeding expectations profoundly.

He's doing, with this latest media blitz, what he did with the Burris appointment....go over the heads of the local party bozos, the national apparatchiks, and the party leaders to a wider, national audience. There's actually a "constituency" out there that finds this guy with the goofy hair who talks like a thug to be someone "interesting." He appeals to their "Defend the guy who isn't smooth and fancy-pants, getting beaten up by the party insiders" instincts. Yes, it's all BS, most certainly, as he's as "inside" as they come, but if he can paint it that way, he can score points.

Look at the Burris thing--it started out as "No way that guy is going to get seated, how DARE Blago even try to pull that crap! He's NOT going to get away with it--we're gonna smack him down but GOOD," to "Good morning, Senator Burris. Right this way to your desk." Even Feinstein reversed herself on that one. Everyone did.

Blago may be a son of a bitch, but he isn't stupid. Not by a long shot. His defense, IMO, is going to be "I was KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDING. I ALWAYS talk like that. I say outrageous things, like 'You'll have to sell your children to get out of this mess' or 'I'll cut off your thumb if you screw up' or other hyperbolic absurdities. It's my 'style' you see. It may be crude, but it is effective, and only people who don't know me--like wiretappers--don't know that I'm joking. And people who DO know me, and have it in for me, have deliberately misrepresented my nature to the Feds for their own nefarious purposes."

He's going to try to charm The American People, too, and paint himself as victimized, misunderstood, a "regular guy" who is getting beat up by the mean guys with silver hair, expensive suits and silk ties.

We'll see how it goes. Everyone knows who Drew Peterson is. They might not have, before. And perhaps the goal there on the part of the publicist isn't to make him more likeable (he is a sleaze from the git-go, there's no helping him) but is to ensure that everyone has an opinion on him, and enable his lawyers to have more than their share of fair cracks to "shape the jury" down the road if he ever gets brought to justice. That PR firm might just know what it takes to get the most mileage for their clients, be they sinners or murderers.