Desperate Giannoulias Releases Internal Poll Showing Tie With Kirk

If I were Alexi, I would have done the same thing, even though recent expensive media buys and constant polling has got to be costing his campaign big-time. A new internal poll released by the Giannoulias campaign shows him in a 44-44 tie with his opponent, Congressman Mark Kirk.

Given the tanking in external (and even internal) polling that Alexi Giannoulias has shown over the past several weeks, which all seem to indicate an increasing concern among Illinois voters over the issue of his family's failed Broadway Bank, Alexi wisely dipped into his campaign account and started an early media blitz to try to counter his slide in the polls before it becomes an irreversible death spiral. He really had no choice. The White House has been giving mixed signals, and there has been a marked lack of enthusiasm among Democrats, from what I can tell, about his candidacy. In a blue state like Illinois, which still (for reasons unknown) still thinks Obama is cool, even the suggestion that the Dem candidate for U.S. Senate ought to at least be thinking about dropping out of the race spells very bad things for such a candidate.

So, this really was Alexi's last chance to buy himself some more rope from the Dem base... and we, of course, hope it's enough rope that will hang the Dems, figuratively of course, come November.

You can almost hear the message Alexi is shouting out to his contributors and supporters... "Don't give up on me, I'm still alive!!!"

As we've said before, we WANT Alexi to stay in the race. It's good that Alexi is not giving up and, even though Mark Kirk can't take anything for granted, we like our chances this coming fall very much.