“How is this different from Blago aside from the form of the pro quo?”
HUGE difference...Blago was “shopping” the appointment for $$$$$$$$$ and/or a position...definitely illegal!
I don't see much difference. Gregg wanted to be Secretary of Commerce. Obama wanted him as well. That's the quid. The quo is the payoff to Judd by the Governor of NH. Sure the chattel is different but the quid pro quo is all the same. What does the Governor of NH get out of it you ask? Federal taxpayer funds courtesy of President Obama.
American politics stinks like a fish rotting on the beach. And the fish are both republican and democrat.