Usually Friday is a good day. Last day of work for the week, for most people; an evening out, perhaps, with the chance to sleep in late on a Saturday. The weekend to look forward to. And, of course, if you are a politician, it represents an opportunity to dump bad news in a press release submitted to the media around 4:50 p.m., in the hopes that nobody reads the Saturday newspapers and something, anything, happens over the weekend to give the papers something else to focus on come Monday.
Almost all politicians are guilty of playing this game to some degree, and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias is no exception. In fact, he's used this tactic several times since he seems to have more than his fair share of bad news to dump. Most recently, the news that his taxes show he filed for an approximate $30,000 tax refund as a result of the losses he sustained when his family's Broadway Bank was taken over by the Feds was released on a Friday.
So, what might today bring? Well, it occured to me that we still haven't heard from Alexi as to his second quarter fundraising results. And today is the last Friday available before the Q2 reporting deadline, so I'd say the odds are pretty good we'll hear something. His opponent, Republican Congressman Mark Kirk released his Q2 results about 13 minutes after the final checks were counted, it appears, in order to crow about his record $2.3 million fundraising haul, and also made the point that he raised a million or so in June, even when the media was lambasting Kirk for discrepancies in his description of his military record.
In other news, yes I know the latest Rasmussen poll shows Kirk a point behind Giannoulias, and the popular spin on this seems to be that Kirk is 'trending down.' Well, guess what kids, it's a only a point difference (as Rasmussen says, a "virtual tie"), and given the volatility in this race, you can bet that if I was chortling over a one-point lead by Kirk over Giannoulias at this time, I'd be rightly taken to task. So I think any reports that Kirk is in "trouble" are greatly overblown. Me, Team Kirk and Kirk's $4 million in the bank says that we will weather this storm and come out on top in the end.
The fact that Alexi has not yet released his Q2 numbers is telling. Today may be the day, though, since, as we noted above, it is the last Friday available before the Q2 reporting deadline. Let's see what his momentum becomes once we see those numbers, and then we will take a look.
UPDATED: Today's Wall Street Journal looks at the Blago trial and suggests that the connection of President Obama and "Chicago Way" politics may just about to become a lot stronger, as the Blagojevich defense team is standing in the wings ready to come out fighting... and one of their primary defensive arguments appears to be that 'everyone in Chicago does politics' the way that Blago did... including the President, his closest advisers, and political allies like Alexi Giannoulias:
The [Tom] Balanoff testimony [regarding his discussion with Blago on the suggestion of apppointing close Obama associate Valerie Jarrett to Obama's U.S. Senate seat] was a hint of what may come. Illinois Democratic Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias has been subpoenaed over his role in setting up a meeting between Mrs. Jarrett and Mr. Balanoff. The trial thrusts back into the spotlight convicted Chicago felon and Obama booster Tony Rezko. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin was subpoenaed over his own call with Mr. Blagojevich about the seat. Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett (a former aide to Mayor Richard M. Daley) has been subpoenaed. So has White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who has become entangled (though not charged) in a separate accusation that Mr. Blagojevich sought to trade favors with him when he was a Chicago congressman.
All those subpoenas thrown out there by the Blago defense team, including one for Alexi Giannoulias, may be about to come home to roost.
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54 comments:
Hey TA,
I did not see anything in your blog about the last Rasmussen poll. I thought you like to update polls and show how the race has been evolving. Is it maybe because Giannoulias is now AHEAD of Kirk? In the same poll (Rasmussen) that was consistently showing Kirk ahead in the past with the widest gap of any other polls? There has been a dramatic shift.
Rasmussen poll-Ginnoulias-Kirk
Kirk has lost a lot of support after the lies came out. Giannoulias will win.
TA,
Sorry I re-posted this here while I missed your comment above. I think your interpretation is off. Sorry. The same Rasmussen poll has been showing Kirk ahead consistently by as much as 8 points at the end of April! Now it shows Kirk behind. That's a huge shift and a clear reflection of major troubles for the Kirk campaign. I think the voters have decided that Kirk is wrong for IL. Too many lies. How can you trust someone to be a senator after so many lies/exaggerations for so many years? Kirk will be defeated in November, but this will not be a big surprise.
july poll numbers mean nothing. The narrative of this cycle is unchanged- it favors us-and as long as alexi's fundraising numbers are weak and I think they will be, we're square.
Catlady put mark's home address online. What a pathetic human being. By the way lauren beth gash who has spent 10 years attacking mark kirk and is the source of all of catlady's smears and the attacks on mark's sexuality lives at 418 lincoln avenue west.
If I was the congressman I'd jump on a statement catlady quotes him as making that we need to raise taxes here, cut defense spending and send money to pakistan to create jobs.
The ad writes itself, former mob banker alexi giannoulias wants to raise your taxes in a recession to provide jobs for terrorists-pretty stupid and cutting defense spending when Boeing is a major employer and civic donor-ravinia, hello? shows this guy went to the same moron school as dan seals
oh wait they did go to the same undergrad.
FOKLAEAPS
What I don't understand is catlady and Progress Illinois' claims that Kirk only paid $700-800 a year in property taxes, then catlady posts the 1st installment of 2009 showing $2,500 owed.
Catlady was the "source" for both.
Embellishments running wild?
Louis G. Atsaves
Louis G. Atsaves
Lou - I think I'm pretty much done with getting warped out of shape with the ridiculous stuff posted over at Ellen's blog. The other day, she wanted to crucify Kirk because he supposedly had a picture of himself taken next to a "sexier" navy plane than the one he actually flew on, so says Ellen. What tripe.
Hey guys, where is the catlady posting these days? Am I missing something?
The 10th Dems are, have been, forever will be fixated on Mark Kirk. They thought they'd win this seat back in 2000. The sting has never worn off. Ms. Trash launched the 10th Dems so she could find a way to victimize and destroy Mark Kirk. She's still trying.
Yes, Mark Kirk does live in the rebuilt units at Ft. Sheridan. It was in the Tribune when he purchased that unit back in 2001. He owes nothing on his taxes, he owes noting to anyone so it's just more fabrications that the catwoman and her cronies like to spew whenever they can.
As for Blue, well, he can't quite understand that a one point difference is NO difference, that a poll taken 120 days out from an election is just that: a poll taken at a moment in time. In truth, the only poll that matters is the one on November 2.
Waiting for Alexi's second quarter fundraising numbers is a game to be played.
The other game is waiting to hear and to read more really wacky things from the other side. Mark Kirk will win this Senate seat. Take that one to the bank, Blue.
TA,
I am surprised that you left the 11.41 AM comment of "FOKLAEAPS" unedited. He posted the address of a private citizen online. In my opinion that is unacceptable. You should consider deleting that comment and banning FOKLAEAPS from this site. Just my opinion.
Well, Blue, I'd hardly say that Lauren Beth Gash is a "private citizen." In addition to being a former state rep and congressional candidate, she is a Dem precinct committeewoman, and moreover, the Dem central committeewoman for the 10th district. It's all there on the Internet. Interestingly, FOKLAEAPS doesn't even have the address correct, unless she is using an incorrect address on her listing for precinct committeeman. She's Precinct 216 so you can check it out. In this day and age, especially if you make federal campaign contributons, you're simply not going to keep your address off the Internet. In fact, while busy Googling Ms. Gash, I noted that she accepted money from Tony Rezko in 2000 (same time as Mark Kirk, although he gave it back, I believe. Wonder if she did).
Falbe,
Mark Kirk is the only candidate for US Senate to take donations from Tony Rezko...
And everyone already knows that Blago is just throwing out subpoenas like bread crumbs because the only thing he has left to do is flail his arms around wildly before he joins your guy George Ryan in Club Fed.
Hey! Look everyone! Over there! It's a subpoena!
Ha! Made ya look...
Louis,
The property tax loophole that Kirk has been enjoying for the last several years has a sunset clause on it.
Kirk's taxes were artificially low for the past number of years and will only now be slowly trying to catch up to average over the next several years.
Ellen also pointed out that Kirk was late on paying his first installment.
Again, try some reading comprehension. It helps in trying to avoid that foot-in-mouth disease to which you so often succumb.
Team she might have moved. I know for a fact she lived at the house on lincoln and it used to have israel and american flags planted on the front porch.
It's one thing to note the address of a wacko alsoran democrat that no one has cared about for a decade, it's another thing in this day and age to put the congressman's address on a nutjob blog, particularly at a time when members of congress are getting death threats and bullets sent to their offices. I personally want nothing ill to come of lauren beth gash because if she went away, they might actually get someone competent there. with that post if anything happens to the congressman or if there are any more attacks on him, his team can just point to the post and say, this is the person that caused it. Smoking meet gun.
Whoever is doing those kirk city agenda charts deserves a kudos bar-or a box of them. It's not often you see something new on a campaign, but what they did in showing on the map visually is really smart and it makes his his policies a lot more accessible and easier to understand and visualize.
fokleaps
Rob, I comprehend just fine. What Ellen reports and how she reports it remains the issue. Ellen complains of embellishments yet she remains the champion of champions at it. Three days ago she reported $700-$800 a year. Two days ago it suddenly is $2,500 for 2009.
As I stated over at Capitol Fax, BE FAIR! Take away that "tax break" from Kirk AND ALL HIS NEIGHBORS living in that historical building! Let them know the Democrats insisted! :-)
I had the opportunity to purchase a home that was historically protected and had what appears to be similar "tax breaks" a few years back. I took a pass on it as there were so many restrictions on how it could be remodeled and lived in as to make it not worth our while.
There is a serious downside financially to owning a "historically designed or protected" home that Ellen, you and other embellishers leave out when you breathlessly "report" news that isn't.
Who knows. Someday Ellen will report a few negative pieces of news about Giannoulias. But then again, when it comes to ethics, she fails on that front, just as she complained that the charges about Blagojevich didn't seem like much.
The same Ellen who basked in the glow of being called a "hater" by the NBC5 blog.
And THAT I certainly comprehend!
Louis G. Atsaves
Lauren Beth Gash and her husband, whose last name ISN'T Gash, have lived at 1345 FOREST AVE. in Highland Park for MANY years. She's even listed in the phone book, so it's hardly outing a private citizen. She has never had an Israeli flag on her property. She does have all Dem yard signs, which would be expected and appropriate. She has never lived on Forest, Foklaeps, unless it was decades ago when she first came to town. She is not, as TA says, a private citizen.
Congressman Kirk, all of his neighbors in the rehabbed units at the Fort, have had the benefit of the tax benefit. It expires this year. Nothing illegal about it. Lou is right. Taking advantage of the tax break does limit what one can do to those units.
I'm always amazed at how RobN and his cohorts who hate Mark Kirk go to great lengths to dis him and everything he says and does. It's no wonder that it's hard as hell to get people with the right background and experience to even consider running for public office. With the advent of vicious Blogs like Ellens, the unceasing entries on TA's Blog from attack animals like Carl, RobN,Blue, Ellen herself and her wacko lefties, politics is a nasty thing to watch today.
If Blogs were limited to talking about issues and relevant posts then we might have a fighting chance going forward. This is getting uglier by the day.
Desperation. That summarizes the case of Folkleaps and the anonymous who have been calling people names. Sorry guys, but Kirk can not win. And for good reasons. There is a pattern of many lies for many years and exaggeration of credentials/record. This sort of behavior/deception is not tolerated in any job. Being elected in the senate is no exception. Kirk will lose and it is all his fault. Noone else's.
Blue Wind, I will grant you that if Kirk loses (which he won't) it would have been all his fault, as all of his wounds are self-inflicted. Alexi can't hold a candle to the Congressman in terms of experience and intelligence. Alexi better be spending every waking minute he has raising money and boning up on foreign affairs, because Kirk is going to have a big advantage in both.
What I just "comprehended" was visiting Ellen's site and discovering that she ADDED A PARAGRAPH explaining that the "historical" designation decreases each year. This AFTER I e-mailed her about HER DISTORTION and HER EMBELLISHMENT.
Since I am officially banned from her site from commenting, I guess she will give me no credit for pointing out HER EMBELLISHMENT.
Next time I will just point it out here.
I knew Ellen was sneaky, but REALLY! :-)
Louis G. Atsaves
No,Blue, we are not desperate, just have had enough with your self righteous, continuing attacks on Mark Kirk. You wrongly, falsely imply that he has been untruthful for many years. That is simply NOT TRUE. You continue to post without any merit. You, Ellen Trash and others who are so filled with hate and anger you lose any credibility you might have had. Kirk has done wonderful things for this district. He has been a leader on issues that matter to many voters and that's been proven by his re-election to this seat 5 times. You folks have never gotten over your loss in 2000. Lauren Gash never had the courtesy of even calling Mark Kirk to congratulate him on his win that November night. Classless but true to form.
Mark Kirk WILL win in November. It gauls you to think of it, to even believe that Alexi could hold his own in a debate with Kirk. When all is said and done the voters in Illinois will realize that Mark Kirk IS a human being. Like all of us, he is not perfect. When you match what he has done, what he can contribute as a Senator, it's hands down in his favor. After 10 years you'd think Ellen, Lauren, all of you who throw stones and bricks at him would have learned from your past mistakes.
I'd like to see, in print, any apologies from Ellen on her known errors in her postings against Mark Kirk. She's a lawyer. Perhaps another title is more fitting.
TA,
Sorry you got it wrong. Kirk has lost his credibility at this point. He is not the same Kirk of 6 months ago. No one can take him seriously when he talks about foreign affairs after his ridiculous claims that he "runs the war" from the pentagon room. Sorry, but you have to face reality. Kirk is no longer a serious candidate. Giannoulias has his own problems, but he has credibility. Giannoulias will win comfortably that race. It will not be close.
Blue, suggest you READ the official Navy transcript and records of Kirk's duties in the Navy Reserve, the NAVY official accounting of what he has done. It is nothing like what you are trying to talk about. Those pages are all available, were given to every media person who attended Kirk's recent press event in Northbrook. Kirk is more than a credible, honorable Navy Commander who serves his nation with distinction for the past 21 years. I think you're going to have to dredge up something else to rant and rave about because I believe we are all sick and tired of your ceaseless, pointless, posting.
If alexi was a shoe in why does every story on the race include comments from members of his own party that he can't win and why has he not released a poll showing him dominating the race?
To show you just how bad a position he's in, Illinois has not elected a prochoice Illinois gop senator since 1978. The democrats are screwed and they know it. Once the race turns to issues it's over.
Gash's husband's name is garmisa, he's a fellow hack and is a creamer type union operative from new jersey.
If you talk to families in the navy or people that live at fort sheridan they are militantly pro-mark kirk and there's not even a question about it, he got dod to fund their kids public education and is the only military veteran in the chicagoland area serving in congress.
king louis, great points as always, keep fighting the good fight.
fokleaps
Louis says, "Three days ago she reported $700-$800 a year. Two days ago it suddenly is $2,500 for 2009."
Precisely.
Before Kirk's unique property tax break began to sunset he only paid $700-800 a year in property taxes -- well below that of average citizens.
Now that Kirk's special tax break is beginning to sunset, his property taxes are slowly rising year by year to catch up to the rest of us. In 2009 that meant his taxes were at $2500 -- still well below average Lake County taxes for his type of home.
Ellen very clearly explained all of this. Given that, and your continued inability to understand this basic concept, I question your reading comprehension abilities (or lack thereof).
--
Anonymous 6:59 calls me an animal (after years of conservatives calling Democrats that and other names on this blog and others) and says, "I'm always amazed at how RobN and his cohorts who hate Mark Kirk go to great lengths to dis him and everything he says and does."
I don't hate Congressman Kirk.
I strongly dislike his lying, fibbing and half-truths on everything from his own record to his discussions of national policy.
I also disapprove of several of his conservative positions because those very positions during the past Administration and during the Republican majorities in Congress led our nation directly to the point it's in now.
Larry Falbe and I have had online conversations in the past in which I told him upfront there were a few of Mr. Kirks' positions with which I did support him. (Admittedly, those are growing fewer and further between as Mr. Kirk chooses to flip-flop away from some of his earlier common sense positions.)
When we had those discussions, Mr. Falbe tried to convince me to outright support Mr. Kirk since several of his positions weren't that far from those of Mr. Seals in his opinion.
The same can now be said of Larry -- he should be supporting Dan Seals since his positions aren't that far from Mr. Kirk's in Larry's mind. Certainly, Mr. Seals holds a much more balanced and common sense approach than that of Bob "I'm more conservative than I let on" Dold.
Then again, back in January Larry had posts questioning the Tea Party and its positions.
Nowadays though he seems to be quite enamored with the teabaggers, just as he at one time endorsed Beth Coulson only to now shift to the right-wing and support conservative Mr. Dold.
Such is life.
Louis says, "Three days ago she reported $700-$800 a year. Two days ago it suddenly is $2,500 for 2009."
Mark Kirk's special tax break had been that he was able to get away with only paying $700-800 a year.
That special loophole had a sunset and would eventually expire.
It's in the midst of sunsetting now.
That is why his 2009 taxes climbed to $2500, still well below average taxes in Lake County.
Eventually, it should get to be more in line with what normal folks pay.
Ellen explained all of this which is why it's so odd for you to not be able to understand this basic concept.
Anoymous 6:59...
Folks here call Dan Seals a "pup".
They constantly have other pre-school put downs for other people. In fact, you called me an "attack animal".
Bizarre that you would complain.
To wit, you say, "I'm always amazed at how RobN and his cohorts who hate Mark Kirk go to great lengths to dis him and everything he says and does."
Why do you think I hate him?
The man has been lying about his record for the past decade. You may be ok with that but I'm not.
That doesn't mean I hate him.
Kirk has also been flip-flopping with every road trip he takes and every audience he meets. Teabaggers hear him say one thing. His 10th CD constituents hear him say another. Closed-door GOP precinct captains hear something else.
Calling him out for flip-flopping and pandering to different sets of voters doesn't mean I hate him.
Heck, as I've told our host here Larry Falbe on occasion, Mr. Kirk has in the past supported issues with which I agree. On some of those he's flipped away from his formerly common sense position and as such I can no longer support him on those matters.
During those discussions, Mr. Falbe's tried to convince me to support Mr. Kirk outright under the logic that Mr. Kirk wasn't that far removed from Dan Seals.
By Falbe's own logic then, he ought to be supporting Dan Seals this cycle.
Certainly before the primary Mr. Falbe supported Beth Coulson. He also had posts questioning the motives and positions of the Tea Party right-wingers.
Nowadays though Mr. Falbe has decided to ignore his own formerly moderate positions to support the teabaggers and to go in full bore behind Bob "I'm more conservative than I let on" Dold.
Odd, that. But such is life.
Larry - your system has hiccups.
Sorry for the duplicate posts. Blogger's comment function told me it originally bounced the first comment for length, so I split them up.
Now all of it decided to show up anyway.
Maybe it'll help with Louis' reading comprehension to see it twice. ;)
Ellen "explained" it after I pointed out the discrepancy to her.
So when she added her paragraph "explaining" things, she highlighted the fact that she was EMBELLISHING!
She also left out the part about the restrictions imposed on buildings deemed historical.
Sneaky!
Louis G. Atsaves
I still am for voting Blue Wind off the island, I mean the blog.
I still find it puzzling how folks on this blog can continue to limit the context of a UNITED STATES Senate race to the 10th District.
Having said that, many Republicans in Illinois are NOT happy with Kirk. More than ever before, and it is not just Conservatives anymore.
Counting on Republicans to "hold their nose" and just vote for the Republican probably won't cut it this time either--especially with Conservatives who are most likely to do that.
His integrity has been hit pretty hard and considering he and his Campaign are perceived as never really having had "much use" for Republicans anyway, he's going to be a hard sell.
I truly do hope he'll be able to pick up those votes from Ds and Is.
Conservatives had their chance in the primary to knock off the congressman. Tea parties have been successful in other states, y'all had nothing doing and we go forward with congressman kirk. Does the 10th love every candidate we've been given from the national party lately? No. We don't appreciate how national conservatives have killed off the gop in midwestern and suburban districts like this, but we've always come out strong for bush, mccain, ect.
Suck it up.
As we've said, you'll have 6 years to threaten congressman kirk with a primary. He knows the base is against him on every major social issue and I suspect he'd have voted no on kagan.
If you have any questions about the congressman's conservatism I suggest you read any left of center blog following this race because they are convinced he's more conservative than newt gingrich.
Ellen of the 10th will happily tell you every pro-life vote the congressman's made, every country he's voted to invade, every tax cut he's voted for.
Finally, you might want to check in with your local conservative heroes-the folks at illinois review and ask them if the conservative movement is so strong why they neutered pat hughes.
FOKLAEAPS
Did you borrow or steal the "you had six years to come up with a Candidate" line frome me, FOKLAEAPS?
True to form, no one's listening.
As I've said, does the victor want to be "victorious damaged goods', or simply and gloriously victorious?
There's a six-years term after the war's been won to have to deal with Constituents.
Hearts and minds.
Louis,
Everything Ellen wrote and you wrote to her imploring her to clarify further had already been written at Progress Illinois at one point or another anyway.
What are you complaining about?
Kirk is taking advantage of a perfectly legal tax loophole to help improve his own personal bottom line, just as he has criticized the Republican standard-bearer Bill Brady and his opponent Alexi Giannoulias for doing.
Rob's right. The whole tax controversy's grounded in Repubican values and principles--and it looks like "Team Kirk" fell for Alexi's bait "hook, line, and sinker".
There go the Conservatives AND Libertarians now. And another clue: there's trouble brewing when things are "awfully quiet out there."
Hearts and minds--and "doing as I do" is just fine v. trying to spin it into gosh knows what.
Time to take a stand. No one can be all things to all people. It's insincere--and just about everyone knows that.
Tell me "FOKLAEAPS":
In Illinois, if given a choice between a D and and R, who are "selling themselves" as "very similar":
= Will Ds vote for an R or a D?
= What portion of Rs will go for a third party or Indie instead?
= What portion of Indies will go for the candidate "they like best" or "think they can trust the most"?
Who came up with this "Mr. Independent" strategy--and is everyone absolutely certain its going to work o/s the 10th?
Are the "Kirk Team" absolutely certain they'll do OK turning away their "base"?
Mea culpa for the typos--keyboard's going bad.
=Did you borrow or steal the "you had six years to come up with a Candidate" line frome me, FOKLAEAPS?=
And, with all the kindest that I can possibly muster, what makes you think, FOKLAEPS, that Conservatives would EVER listen to you?
You seem to even be having trouble just getting "your foot in the door"--not only with Conservatives in IL, but Moderates and Ds, as well.
This is IL. It's not DC. And it's a statewide race. You seem to keep forgetting that.
Sorry. That should have been "kindness" that I can muster.
From the Kirk Campaign:
"If @Alexi4Illinois donated his $30,000 refund to charity wouldn't he be eligible for a tax write-off in 2010?"
Do they REALLY need someone to explain this to them?
How "petty" and "nagging" can one get? Giving off the impression of disliking and envying "wealth" much?
Is this considered building a good "image" for Kirk?
Not only does the Campaign not seem to understand the tax code, it also seems to be disregarding Republican basic Republican values and principles, AND painting Kirk himself as a hyprocrite.
Hmmm...reading McConnell's quotes is sending a shiver up my spine. Deja vous.
Just to put things into perspective for you: the "taxation" issue--even without the slight to Brady--is far worse than the "military issue" ever could have been.
I have a question:
Why did Kirk choose to run as a Republican instead of a Democrat?
I've come to a conclusion after the barrage of senseless comments lately. Mark Kirk is a Republican, has always been a Republican who stands for smaller government, fiscal discipline, socially moderate stands on issues like a woman's right to choose but not using federal funds to provide that choice, sound environmental stands, leading of stem cell research, and a commitment to personal responsibility. Nothing has changed in what he stands for as an elected official. He made a human error in exaggerating an already stellar record in the Navy. That outstanding record is backed up by the NAVY, not by those of us who stand in strong support of this proven leader. Of course he didn't need to exaggerate his record. Of course he didn't need to make himself look larger than life. Mark apologized at a lengthy press event nearly 2 weeks ago. He told reporters at that press event that he'd stay there and answer everything on their minds. He did that. He also wanted them to understand that once that press event was over, so would the discussion end about his error in judgment. He and we need to move on to hear how he wants to help move our nation back on track and move forward by returning to DC as Senator Mark Kirk.
I've come to realize that only a few of the hard-core die-hards who post here want to hammer and hammer until the cows come home which is pointless and useless.
Mark Kirk has done more right than wrong, more good than bad. I hope we can all say that about our own performances each day we're on this earth.
When TA posts about fundraising numbers it's clear that the discussion will veer off and end up as just more of the same old, same old. And it's ONLY the few who continue to beat an already stale, dead issue. The average voter in IL doesn't give two hoots in hell - yet. The Rasmussen poll shows that the Independent Voter still favors Kirk. Why? Because they still see the bigger picture. The Blue Winds, RobN, Ellen, Lauren, Joe and a FEW others who frequent this Blog are simply never going to move forward. The rest of the voting population wants and deserves to move forward and to hear what Kirk and Alexi can say about HOW they'll create jobs to help our depressed State get moving forward.
I'm moving forward by not reading this Blog or any other Blog until AFTER the election. It's simply pointless. Rants on both sides make it impossible to have any kind of discussion/debate on issues. So, as Joan Rivers would say, talk among yourseves.
Anon 7:28--its taken the Kirk campaign this long to send someone over here to stop the bleeding??
FOKLAES--I find it entertaining that someone who is hiding behind a acronym is trying to out people's addresses and personal information, I'm sorry but it only exposes how much of a DC hack and slime-bucket you really are. TA should seriously consider limiting your "contributions" to this blog.
On the Kirk issue, TA and others seem to forget something very important: there IS a TRUE CONSERVATIVE on the Senate ballot. His name is Randy Stufflebeam, he got 34,000 signatures +(you needed 25k to get on) and they went uncontested by Kirk's pitiful and amateur campaign staff. ALL of the Rs downstate and in central/western IL who have issues voting for a pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-stem cell, pro-lying candidate in Kirk now have a true conservative/tea party patriot that they can support. If you're tired of the partisan hackery, go pay a visit to www.runrandyrun.com.
TA--this guy is going to cost your boy Kirk "the Liar in Chief" his election. I've said it before, Kirk can't win based on demographics and this just sews it up for Sen. Giannoulias
Until Next Time,
A Concerned Colonial
TA--one final thought, if you visit Stufflebeam's site, you may find out that his positions are much closer to Bingo Bob Dolt's than Kirk's are. After all Dolt is "more conservative than I let on". By the way, how do you feel about Dolt having BP stock and then using his campaign to support them? The only thing he and Kirk actually seem to have in common is questionable ethics and a penchant for 'misremember'-ing the truth.
Until Next Time,
A Concerned Colonial
CC. suggest you stuff your Stufflebeam where it belongs. You and the rest of the carping, harping windbags add nothing, bring nothing. TA gives you this space because nobody gives a damn about that angry catwoman's blog so you come here and yap at everything and anything. Nobody cares. Enjoy your Sunday.
A Concerned Colonial,
I totally agree with you about FOKLAEAPS. The comments of that poster have a very weird style and are sometimes bizarre. That's ok,of course, as long as he/she shows respect to other posters. But in this thread FOKLAEAPS clearly crossed the line by posting the home address of someone for no good reason. I dont understand why TA did not delete that post and ban FOKLAEAPS. That sort of behavior should not be tolerated.
Suggest you check on Stufflebeam actually being ON the ballot in November. You guys are way off. Not a surprise.
=Anon 7:28--its taken the Kirk campaign this long to send someone over here to stop the bleeding??=
The Kirk Campaign believe that "blogs" have no influence on ANYONE, and actually LAUGH at even supporters who blog on Kirk's behalf.
That's not an assumption. That's a fact based on personal experience with one of the "DC Hack's" on Kirk's Campaign.
I will speculate and "assume", however, that that same hack--and others probably DO blog and "contribute" nothing more than calling people "haters", telling them to "STFU" when they try to debate the issues, etc., THUS working against those of us who are making progress and controlling damage within the context of said blogs.
It's actually a "first" in IL blogging: MOST of Kirk's supporters--and maybe staff--are actually managing to inflict more damage on Kirk than help and to "undo" the "good will" done by others. It's been going on for months now.
And I'll take a guess as to why this is happening.
The "DC guys" and maybe even "new staffers", who have no history or reputation in IL blogging (even under assumed names) just think they can "pop" in, spew their one-liners, and everyone will fall at their feet and follow them without any challenge...because well, they're superior to the pundits and activists who have been around for years--and will CONTINUE to be around for years.
They get "blown" away because of how "amateur" and "transparent" they are--and then decide to just pop in from that point forward to call those having decent debates and discussion "names" or to lazily repeat "talking points" every once in a while.
Furthermore, if a "question" pops up that's pretty critical--and you reach out to someone on staff to help, good luck getting a response back.
Even after you identify yourself, the blog, your handles, etc. so that they can take a look at your level of support, etc.
First campaign to do that in my experience. Most know who their "blogging" supporters are--and are MORE than happy to work with them.
Not this one.
But you will eventually get a call back from someone, asking whether you'd like to volunteer do some "data entry" into their databases.
Hmmm....
TA-
Looks like I've found an embittered Kirk supporter. What do you think the cause is? Your candidate being untruth? Or his campaign being unable to handle anything with any level of skill?
Honestly, Kirk's campaign has been playing AA ball in a major league race.
To the anon who challenged me on Stufflebeam, I would love some stats or information telling me to the contrary. According to election commission releases, the guy is on the ballot. Can't wait for Kirk to run to the right to shore up the base so they don't vote for a real conservative instead of a RINO.
Until Next Time,
A Concerned Colonial
CC, you and your have been saying the same thing about Kirk for years. Yet, he continues to best you over and over again. My favorite was 2008.
lol, Colonial.
"Bitter" is not a good descriptor. I've been around for WAY too long to let stuff like this upset me.
Just advocating, sharing thoughts and observations, and otherwise providing feedback.
Feedback, like 3:14 exhibiting quite a bit of "complacency" with that comment--considering that this is no longer a congressional race in the 10th.
And completely ignoring the possibility that feedback received in 2008, which didn't apply then, COULD possibly apply in this race because...well, it's not 2008, nor a congressional race, nor a 10th CD race, nor even a race against the same opponent.
Kind of the "complacency" I'd guess that prevented them from doing OR on their own candidate, which probably could have avoided alot of the crap that's been slung around over the past few weeks.
But then it seems that feedback from anywhere is not welcome, nor required by the Kirk Campaign.
With the Senate race, some in the 10th are too close to the fire to feel the heat! Remember that most Rs in the state of Illinois, most voters for that matter, first learned of Rep. MSK in June...when the military exaggerations were covered over and over in the main stream media...
This race was a slamdunk...and is now quite even. I am confident though, that as the voters pay more attention to this race as we approach November and learn more about the candidates, MSK will win comfortably...
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