Yesterday, State Treasurer (and former "senior loan officer" at his family's Broadway Bank) Alexi Giannoulias desperately tried to turn the focus of the U.S. Senate race here in Illinois from the scandal-plagued bank issues, to his opponent, Congressman Mark Kirk.
However, either Alexi is short on campaign strategy brainpower, or just doesn't have a lot to hit Kirk with, or perhaps both. Alexi's big new direction was to label Mark Kirk as a consummate Washington insider, calling him a "posterboy for why Washington is broken."
Maybe Alexi needs to step back and look at who's standing behind him. Oh, yeah, that's his campaign chairman, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the #2 guy in the Senate, and as consummate a Washington insider as you'll ever find. If Washington is broken (and it's clearly the Democrat's Washington now), it's a lot more Durbin's fault than Kirk's, pal. So much for Nancy Pelosi's claim she would drain the swamp. Rangel, anyone?
No wonder Alexi is trying to turn things away from his banking problems. It's already showing to be a drag on Alexi's fundraising, which his campaign has purposely let slip that will be less than Kirk's impressive Q1 results of $2.2 million.
If yesterday's talk at the City Club of Chicago was any indication, however, reporters are not going to let Giannoulias off the hook for the banking issues, not now, and certainly not when it goes under. And, we confess to great curiosity as to whether Giannoulias is one of the names named by former guv Rod Blagojevich in his trial this summer.
Good times ahead, folks.
UPDATED: KIRK CRUSHES GIANNOULIAS IN Q1 FUNDRAISING
From the Kirk for Senate Campaign:
Kirk Raises $1 Million More Than Giannoulias in First Quarter
“I am humbled by the outpouring of support from citizens across the State of Illinois who support our thoughtful, independent message of creating jobs, lowering taxes and fighting corruption.” – Congressman Mark Kirk
Kirk Advantage Shows Growing Difficulties Facing Scandal-plagued Giannoulias Campaign
Northbrook, Ill. – Five-term Congressman and Navy veteran Mark Kirk released the following statement after Alexi Giannoulias’ campaign reported it raised $1 million less than the Kirk campaign in the first quarter of 2010:
“I am humbled by the outpouring of support from citizens across the State of Illinois who support our efforts to create jobs, lower taxes and fight corruption. After Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris, Illinois voters are looking for clean government and they will have a clear choice in the coming election.”
Earlier today, Giannoulias reported he raised $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2010 – one million less than the Kirk campaign. Giannoulias did not provide any significant details on his coming FEC report, including his current cash-on-hand, out-of-state support and union PAC money. The Kirk campaign reported raising more than $6.6 million for the 2010 cycle with over $3 million in the bank at the close of the first quarter.
As of April 1st, the Kirk campaign received contributions from more than 9,000 individual contributors (80% from Illinois). More than 4,200 people (85% of all contributions) donated to the campaign in the last three months alone.
UPDATED x2: DALEY DEFENDS LEXI: The Tribune's Clout Street Blog is quoting Chicago Mayor Richard Daley as defending Alexi Giannouias against an apparently growing chorus of people who think he ought to drop out of the race.
UPDATED x3: ALEXI'S STAFFERS CAN'T EVEN CONVINCE ELLEN: My blogging nemesis, Ellen of the Tenth, gives a firsthand report of one of Alexi's surrogates (his "director of social media") trying to explain away Broadway Bank. Always the smartest person in the room, Ellen spends her post giving the blow-by-blow description of the Alexi shill trying to answer some tough Broadway Bank questions and not convincing Ellen, who of course offers up her own spin as more 'effective' at explaining away Alexi's troubles.
Bottom line, Ellen seems to think the main problem is that both the Tribune and the Sun-Times are in the tank for Mark Kirk. Um, yeah, that bastion of right-wing extremism, the Sun-Times, is really out to carry the water for Kirk and demolish Alexi because they hate progressives over there. Sheesh. If this is how the Alexi field army is failing to convince even the die-hards like Ellen, he's in some serious trouble, folks.
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13 comments:
The bank has until april 24, I think the last day of the nfl draft (I am fan of things besides this blog including football). Then it fails. The next day I expect to see some withdrawal announcement and Dan Hynes or someonelse brought into save their skins.
FOKLAEAPSS
Nope, not going to happen. Alexi would have to resign and this twit thinks he's a winner. Foklaeapss, we damn well better hope and pray that Alexi's ego holds, that his backers keep pushing him forward for our sake. He can't be thrown out on 4/24. The rules are clear in that he would have to resign this spot. Dan Hynes isn't all that exciting but he sure doesn't have the baggage of this snot nosed kid. Just keep on praying that Alexi thinks he can pull it off. Do you think his basketball buddy will come out anytime soon for a pickup game?
From the Sun-Times article today:
Giannoulias waved off any suggestion that the bank controversy may lead to him pulling out as the party's nominee.
"That will never happen. We're going to win this race," Giannoulias said.
Well, TA thinks that would change in a heartbeat if Durbin and Obama told Alexi to take a dive (after being assured that he'd be taken care of in some fashion).
Alexi is out by the summer or this race turns into a rout
If politicians say they are toast they are finished because no one follows a guy who says hes a loser. Most candidates know by 2 weeks before the election if they will win or lose. Karl Rove had to say in 2006 that we weren't going to lose or else people were going to stay home and not bother to help gop candidates.
I saw a news conference alexi did yesterday at the city club and it was 10 minutes of nonstop questions about the bank even though his speech was supposed to change the subject. The media has ruled against him and his resume is to empty and his team too stupid to save him.
Remember his campaign manager ran the hynes campaign which lost to governor gadfly and his campaign flack ran that vaunted hillary clinton press operation in Illinois in 2008. These are not the brightest lights. THey also have giangreco, a clown who never won anything during the halcyon days of the gop here and only made his reputation after the gop imploded.
Bottom line. This looks ugly now, its going to get uglier in 11 days and it's going to turn into a stinking rotting dying dog once blago gets going and you know that cat is going to take every part of the democrat party down with him.
hopefully he'll take the pup with him.
FOKLAEAPS
Right on, except that The Pup was never important enough to register on Blago's radar (and Seals never had any money to merit any attention from Blago as a potential contributor), so we're basically left with guilt by association ("D") as the only way the Blago circus also takes down the Pup. But it could happen...
Well TA, I think the end is near for your nemesis, that tired old catwoman rocking furiously in her damn near broken chair with that cat on her lap. It's funny to contemplate. Now she's co-opted a co-writer as well, this Nyberg nut. I was hoping against hope that there'd only be one nut job so out of control as Gill but not there's two of them. Their hatred and anguish at Mark Kirk could fill several volumes. They can't find a damn thing positive to say about Giannoulias which is also funnier than hell. These two losers are going to be fun to read for the balance of this election. Their guy just better keep on trucking forward in this election. Oh yes, TA, it is bizarre that they kind the local yokels in the media are in the tank for Kirk. They're pathetic, those two, not funny.
I "Carl Nyberg" write at Ellen of the Tenth, but I am not Ellen.
Sorry Carl, didn't notice that that particular post was one of yours. But you're known by the company you keep.
Leonard Nimoy had to write a book called "I Am Not Spock" to get his fans off the Spock kick because he'd become so closely associated with his character. Food for thought.
Interesting how Carl Nyberg and Ellen Beth Gill are allowed to post their contrarian opinions over here, yet no one participating in this blog site can post "over there."
Congratulations TA. It looks like Ellen and her little echo sidekick both read you faithfully!
Louis G. Atsaves
It speaks volumes about TA and his maturity. Just the opposite of those two silly folks who seem to enjoy just talking to themselves. What fun. But you're right, Lou, those two must troll here several times a day so they know what's going on in the world. They sure do live and orbit on their own planet. Let's hope it stays just like that for the next 7 months.
TA,
Long time Kirk fan...since his first primary for Porter's seat. One strategy concern...Kirk wins relatively easily with Alexi on the ballot...after Broadway fails and Blago's trial commences. Shouldn't his campaign refrain from piling on the Alexi negativity now and instead focus solely on downstate engagement? He has a window of time where he doesn't need to engage with Alexi -- the media is doing it for him. He should surface the Broadway/Blago issues more heavily in August...when it will be too late to replace Alexi on the ballot. My concern is if they continue to pound him, fueling the media, and together with the White House force Alexi out in late April / early May, Hynes will pose a much more difficult challenge.
I guess what I'm asking, why not wait to focus on Alexi until August when he has to stay on the ballot and use the time now to live downstate and exercise his media opportunities to work on name ID and positive Kirk messages? I just hope we don't overplay our hand and help the cause of removing Alexi from the ballot.
with apologies to walter cronkite, when you've lost catwoman you've lost Illinois. The liberals in the district hate him because suburban liberals unlike their city liberal peers don't like corruption and like to pretend they are upstanding citizens. North shore liberals like ellen also don't work for the state and are not in unions and so their salary and services they rely on won't go away if mark wins. This is a conversation that takes too long here, but I bet alexi does worse on the north shore than carol mosely braun did in 1992 or even 1998.
Alexi has already fired his campaign manager from his primary campaign and replaced him with the great mike rendina who ran governor/senator hynes's campaigns. Oh wait. His donations are dying and mark is winning the inside game in dc as the washington post this morning called him the winner of he spring fundraising quarter-chris cilizza along with mitt romney.
you don't wait until august to start attacking your opponent. that's what democrats do and why they lose. Mark is doing what he should which is to define alexi in the spring, beat him to a pulp in the summer and kill him off in the fall.
Aside from pat hughes, this has been about as good as they could have asked for and we still have a bank failure and an ugly blago trial to go.
The only negative out there is if Obama decides that he has to win this seat and goes all out. The RNC will be massively underfunded this year and I still dont trust brady, so those 2 things which 12 years ago had been real big aides to mark might not be there.
H
FOKLAEAPS
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