A recent statewide poll showed Governor Rod Blagojevich's job approval rating was lower than President George W. Bush's.

As if that isn't astounding in and of itself - that a Democratic governor in a Democratic state would be polling worse than a wildly unpopular lame-duck Republican president - there was even more bad news for the governor when you looked closer.

Blagojevich's political base appears to be deserting him.

In state legislative politics, your word is supposed to be your bond, but that doesn't always happen. Illinois legislators will often tell one person one thing and tell another something completely different. Rank-and-file legislators aren't completely trustworthy.

Legislative leaders, on the other hand, are supposed to be different, particularly when it comes to promises they make to each other. The Senate president, House speaker, and the two minority leaders share a historic bond that is never breached.

Last week was way over the top, even for an over-the-top guy such as Governor Rod Blagojevich.

So what the heck was House Speaker Michael Madigan up to last week when he finally came out in support of an income-tax increase and urged the governor to drop his opposition to the idea?