Hotline After Dark -- The Ties That Bind Us?

Last night's TV was dominated by the arrest of IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) on federal corruption charges, with much of the talk focusing on whether or not it impacts Pres.-elect Obama.

NBC pol. dir. Chuck Todd: "A lot of concentric circles between Blagojevich and Obama. There's no question that there's going to be some folks that Obama's bringing from Chicago to Washington, some that might have actually had conversations with the governor that are going to be in tape recordings that the FBI was wiretapping with. But there's clearly no evidence that anything was going on, and if anything, the quotes from Blagojevich in that amazing indictment are the most exculpatory thing there for the president-elect" ("Nightly News," 12/9).

Karl Rove: "I don't think this touches him, and we all ought to accept him at his word particularly since, [U.S. Atty Patrick] Fitzgerald, if there was any indication at all that it did touch Obama, I think we would have gotten a pretty clear indication of that today. ... But the problem I've got is that he said he was sad for the people of Illinois. I would have felt a lot more comfortable if he'd said this is ... despicable and unacceptable" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 12/9).

Ex-WH adviser David Gergen: "The larger question here is, will the Republicans, will conservatives, will bloggers, will others go after Obama, coming from a culture of corruption in Illinois, and given his relationship with Tony Rezko. ... Will they use that in some way? I personally think that would be very, very unfair. But I will have to tell you that I think it removes one layer of protection for him in the next few months. And that is, if something else were to happen around him, he's a little more vulnerable. His team is a little more vulnerable today than it was yesterday" ("AC 360," CNN, 12/9).

More after the jump.

(KATHERINE LEHR)

Newsweek's Wolffe: "Blagojevich was making so many demands of so many people, that I think there were lots of folks in Chicago who knew that this was out of control. Maybe they didn't know it was criminal, or maybe they suspected there was wrongdoing at the end of it, but I have got to say, from the get-go, the transition folks, Obama's circle, have been incredibly careful about approaching this. And to the extent they've had any involvement, it has been with an eye to the background, the reputation and the corruption charges swirling around the governor" ("1600," MSNBC, 12/9).

Chicago Sun-Times' Sweet, on the possibility of a GOPer being elected in a special election: "It's a theory, but that doesn't mirror reality. Illinois is a heavily Democratic state, and the idea that if there was any problem at all that you would have every resource that Obama has to bear, including incredible organizations, David Axelrod, the whole crew would pitch in if they thought there was a problem in keeping that a Democratic state. So I think I am pretty safe in saying it will be a Democrat" ("On the Record," FNC, 12/9).

CNN's Cooper, on Blagojevich contemplating appointing himself sen. to defend against criminal charges and groom himself for a WH run: "Hunter Thompson was right. When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" ("AC 360," 12/9).

Ex-"West Wing" EP Lawrence O'Donnell, on whether he could have put this in a "West Wing" episode: "I couldn't. If anyone brought this up in the writing room of the 'West Wing,' I would have been the first one to shoot it down based on my seven years experience working in the United States Senate. ... Consider me stunned and shocked. This isn't even easy for me to talk about. I don't have any frame of reference for this kind of behavior" ("1600," MSNBC, 12/9).

Ex-AR Gov. Mike Huckabee (R): "He didn't really participate in a lot of the normal collegial activities. ... He was not really a mixer. Let me be charitable here. ... I am being diplomatic. He really was not connected well with the other governors. ... He was a loner. I don't think he really thought that he needed the rest of us, quite frankly. There was this sort of -- I think an arrogance about him" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 12/9).

Gergen: "I have a hard time pronouncing his name. I just call him the idiot. ... The surprising thing to me is that nobody turned him in. ... It suggests a culture of corruption that surrounded him, not just he personally, but the people around him. And he comes from a state which, unfortunately, has had a lot of this" ("AC 360," CNN, 12/9).