From 'lonely place' to a throng of adoring fans

THE FINAL HOURS : From 'lonely place' to a throng of adoring fans

It began with a morning kiss goodbye to his wife at the front door. It ended with a surreal scene of reporters, supporters, kids and a terrier outside his house.

In between, Rod Blagojevich went from being governor of the nation's fifth-largest state to an unemployed accused felon with no security detail or driver.

Blagojevich left his Northwest Side bungalow around 8:30 a.m. Thursday for O'Hare Airport, where he took a state plane to Springfield. In O.J.-esque fashion, news helicopters followed his black Chevy Suburban to the airport.

His personal assistant, press secretary, and a New York Times reporter and photographer were on his flight. Blagojevich and the entourage arrived at the Capitol around 10:15 a.m., where he spoke briefly to reporters before practicing his speech in his office.

Inside, Blagojevich played cat and mouse with the press. To get to the Senate floor, he took a back fire exit stairwell and waited for the Senate's sergeant-at-arms to escort him in at 11:05.

"I stand before you in a very unique and lonely place," he told senators. After his speech, he returned to his office and, knowing his ouster was inevitable, said goodbye to about 20 staffers, taking pictures with some.

Many people cried, but Blagojevich held it together. He then dodged most of the media by taking a rarely used steam tunnel to a nearby building, where a black Suburban was waiting. Looking forlorn, he got into the back seat, rolled down the window and told one of the members of his security team, "Good luck. I'll call you."

He was back in Chicago by around 1:30 p.m. and went home. About five hours later, his mood seemed markedly elevated as he descended onto his lawn into a throng of media and mostly adoring fans who shouted for him to keep fighting.

In return, Blagojevich spoke Spanish to supporters and hugged weeping women. He told his neighbors to stop by for a "cup of sugar'' when the media surge ends and told neighbor kids -- presumably friends of his daughters -- to stop by for a visit. He also urged the neighborhood children to get in front of the cameras with him.

One man held up a neighbor's terrier, to put it in camera range.

But mostly Blagojevich defended himself and chastised the impeachment proceeding. He said he would keep fighting for the people of Illinois in the private sector but revealed little about his plans.

"I'm not going to say this is an easy time,'' he said. "But ... there are tens of thousands of people across America just like me who are losing their jobs or lost their jobs. I'm not looking for any pity, and I don't need anybody to feel bad for me. Because I'll be just fine.''

One teen posed for a photo with Blagojevich to capture the history.

"He doesn't seem like a total douche,'' the teen remarked after the former governor passed.

Contributing: Kevin Mack