‘A Senate Seat on Ebay’

"It's almost more social psychology than politics," he said, "like he was sticking his jaw out and asking everyone to hit him." Green characterized the governor's actions as "putting up a Senate seat on eBay."

The arrest of Blagojevich underscores a history of political corruption in Illinois, a state whose last governor, George Ryan, a Republican, is in federal prison (and petitioning President Bush for clemency). Former governors Otto Kerner, who was elected twice in the 1960s, and Dan Walker, who was in office in the early 1970s, also went to prison.

Robert Grant, the supervising FBI agent on the case, said that if "Illinois is not the most corrupt state" in the nation, "it is a hell of a competitor."

Fitzpatrick said his office acted swiftly because of the potential consequences of Blagojevich's "corruption spree." He said the governor held up millions in funding to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, awaiting a campaign contribution.

With recent layoffs at the Tribune, which entered bankruptcy on Monday, Fitzgerald said he would "lay awake at night" and "worry about whether the layoffs" included Blagojevich's targets. As it turned out, Mr. Fitzpatrick said the newspaper did not dismiss any employee that the governor's office had sought to remove.

Fitzpatrick said he was stunned by the brazen nature of Blagojevich's behavior, a man who had come into office promoting himself as a great reformer of Illinois politics.