Blagojevich trial to begin without him

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Governor Rod Blagojevich won't participate in his impeachment trial, which is scheduled to start today in the Illinois Senate. Instead, he will be giving television interviews.

Blagojevich was accused by federal prosecutors last month of trying to sell President Obama's former US Senate seat to the highest bidder. While the Democratic governor acknowledges that his conviction is certain, he has refused to resign.

Blagojevich contends that the trial rules are unfair, but he and his lawyers have not tried to influence the rules as they were written or afterward.

After weeks of near-silence, Blagojevich has begun an intense public relations campaign, comparing himself to the hero of a Frank Capra movie and a cowboy being lynched for a crime he didn't commit.

He said in an interview taped for NBC's "Today" that when he was arrested on corruption charges, he took solace from thinking of other jailed leaders - Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi.

He also said his 5-year-old daughter, Annie, has asked whether he will still be governor on her birthday in April.

"If I were a betting man, I'd say I probably won't be," Blagojevich said, according to a transcript of the interview released yesterday. The full interview will air today, the same day Blagojevich is scheduled to appear on "Good Morning, America," "The View" and "Larry King Live."

ASSOCIATED PRESS