"Seals for Dold" Video Making Waves on the Internet

One of the most creative political ads this season, and one that invokes at least a wry grin, if not outright chuckles, from viewers, is Republican Bob Dold's "Seals for Dold" video (which, of course, takes a light-hearted look at his opponent, Dan Seals' positions), which has now exceeded 12,000 views on YouTube. In case you haven't caught it yet, it's a must-see:



While some of the usual political pundits, notably those on the "dark side," seem obsessed with fact checking and the biological issue of whether the seal lion in the video is legitimately a member of the "seal" family, it's clear a lot of folks are viewing the video and getting a kick out of it.

By comparison, views of the "Seals for Dold" video have eclipsed any other 10th District political videos put out by Democrat Dan Seals by thousands of views, even though some of his videos were posted over two years ago, and the "Seals" video has been up about a week.

Congressman Dan Seals? For real, Broheim?

Bob Dold Criss-Crosses the 10th Congressional District on His "Let's Get to Work" Bus Tour

Republican candidate Bob Dold is taking his famous campaign bus out for one more spin as he criss-crosses the 10th Congressional District to bring his "jobs, jobs, jobs" message to the people of the 10th. Here's a feel-good photo montage of some of the places and businesses he has visited, and the enthusiastic supporters who are lining up behind him:



This race is going to be close, but I think Bob will be able to put a large part of the credit for a win to his bus tour and getting out directly to the people in a big way, while his opponent Dan Seals... well, we're actually not quite sure what Dan Seals has been doing with his time, besides pestering the DCCC for more money for negative campaign ads.

Michael Bond (Hasn't) Said Suzi Schmidt Hates Kittens (Yet)

It's tough to get attention with a political flyer in the last weeks before an election just because the sheer volume of political mail that hits the mailboxes, and the tendency of the voters to just tune out after a while. But if any mailer is going to get your attention, this one from Suzi Schmidt pointing out the ridiculousness of the lies told by her opponent, State Senator Michael Bond, about Schmidt, will do it:

Politico Article Suggests That Alexi Giannoulias Exaggerated His Involvement With Saving Jobs at Hartmarx

A new article on Politico this morning suggests that U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias is taking a lot more credit for saving jobs at Hartmarx then he deserves. Given the importance of job creation this election cycle and Alexi's very thin resume, his claim to have intervened and used the power of the State Treasurer's office to convince lender Wells Fargo to back off on its pressure on Hartmarx, resulting in saving 600 jobs in Chicago, has been a centerpeice of his campaign. Maggie Haberman at Politico did a little digging, though, and concluded the following based on an interviews with a Hartmarx official:

I spoke to a former Hartmarx official, who agreed to speak on background and suggested that Giannoulias was making more of his role in the crisis than may have been the case. The official said that Giannoulias had just one contact with the company, and heavily credited other officials, including Schumer and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), with working to get the bank to agree to a plan to save the jobs.

The company "had relationships with politicians," the former official said. "Schumer ...and Louise Slaughter were exceptionally helpful." The official said company honchos spoke with Schumer and Slaughter "several times."

They played a role "sort of persuading or suggesting" or, in some cases, threatening Wells Fargo, the source added.

"I can't say he did nothing," the source added of Giannoulias, but insisted that much of the work came from elsewhere.

Politico contacted the Giannoulias campaign which quickly backpedaled and stated that 'the campaign had never claimed that Giannoulias was the only force involved in saving Hartmarx, and that it was an effort of labor groups, elected officials and others.'

Sure looked like at the time Alexi was taking full credit:



Also not noted in the article, but brought up elsewhere, is that the Hartmarx tale doesn't end with the saving of 600 jobs in Chicago, because apparently they lost 300 jobs in Rock Island as a result. So, net score -> 300 jobs "saved". Only problem is, it looks like Alexi has been taking a lot more credit that he deserved. And I betcha the folks in the Quad-Cities are not huge Giannoulias fans now in any case.

Democrat Carol Sente (59th Dist.) Claims Son of Breast Cancer Survivor Dan Sugrue Is Against Funding Cancer Research, And Other Lies (UPDATED x3)

Appointed 59th District Democratic State Rep. Carol Sente (who replaced former State Rep. Kathy Ryg after her retirement) vowed that she would fight against the status quo in Springfield and bring a new and badly-needed perspective to state government. She promised that if we elected her, she would go to Springfield to fight for us, and not be a rubber-stamp for Mike Madigan or the Democratic party.

Today, we learn in the Daily Herald that not only has Carol Sente gone back on all of these promises, she has attacked her opponent, Dan Sugure, with baseless accusations of "exremeism" and cutting women's programs.

First, the Herald notes that, despite Sente's pledge to be independent of the Dem machine, she has so far taken way over $200,000 in campaign cash from the State Democratic Party, and more is pouring in on a daily basis, it seems. In fact, based on Sente's campaign disclosures, it appears that Sente has no less than FOURTEEN Dem staffers that have been sent up to work on her campaign, which is viewed as a "must-keep" seat for Madigan, since he expects to bleed seats all over the state.

When the Daily Herald confronted Sente with this obvious incongruity, the only response Sente made was that she didn’t ask for the party’s financial assistance. If that's the case, Ms. Sente, you could have sent all of it back to Springfield, which would have been a lot more consistent with your campaign rhetoric. Now, we see that Sente is just another Democratic operative. (By the way, if taking Mike Madigan's money feels so wrong to you, Carol, send it up to Rich Voltair, who is running against Republican Sandy Cole in the 62nd District - he's not received any help from the Democratic Party and I'm sure he'd take $200K and 14 staffers in a heartbeat.)

Even worse, Sente's Dem party hacks have made baseless attacks against Dan Sugrue, claiming that he'd blindly cut important programs like funding for breast cancer research:




There's, of course, no basis for this, or any of the other attacks Sente has made on Sugrue. The "cancer" allegation is all the more reprehensible, though, since Sugrue's mother is a breast cancer survivor. Sugrue mentioned that to the Herald, too:

“I nowhere have said I would cut breast cancer research my mom is a breast cancer survivor,” he said of an assertion in one of the ads.

“I think it’s an act of desperation on their end,” Sugrue said of campaign tactics.

Bottom line, apppointee Carol Sente is the worst kind of politician -- telling us what we want to hear on one hand, and then when she thinks we are not looking, gets in bed with the very people she has vowed to repudiate when she gets to Springfield. Shame on her.

Vote for Dan Sugrue, who the Chicago Tribune called "truly independent".

UPDATED: I forgot to point out that one fact that didn't make it into the Daily Herald article was that in addition to taking mega-bucks from the Democratic State Party, Sente has her campaign headquarters in the local U.A.W. hall in Lincolnshire.

Meanwhile, the Sugure campaign is hitting back at Sente's lies with a timely mailer of its own:

UPDATED x2 10/29/10: More Lies from Carol Sente: The last days of an election cycle are traditionally the time to lob out your campaign's most baseless and egregious accusations, because there isn't much time for the opposing candidate to refute them, and traditional media outlets like the Daily Herald won't cover them. Politician Carol Sente has this down to a science, although she's been lobbing baseless claims at Dan Sugrue for weeks now. The latest bullsh*t claim she's made against Sugrue is that Dan "wants to take taxpayer funds away from public schools to subsidize private and religious schools." Sente also claims that Sugrue "will help property taxes spike to fund public education so he can direct your tax dollars to religious and private institutions." Sure. Of course, on Sente's latest mail bomb, there's no documentation for any of this.

Perhaps someone should call Sente's office and let her know that, except for the pre-schooler, all of Dan's kids are in public school. If that was really Dan's hidden agenda, I think we'd know it by now. Sente, as you may know, doesn't even have children. Who do you think is more concerned with the state of our public schools? That's right, the guy who has his kids in the system.

Sente claims that Sugrue is a "radical, anti-government extremist." I am very hopeful and optimistic that Sente's false campaign of terror and alarmism is going to spectacularly backfire on her. Voters don't like to be lied to. The real extremist here is Sente, not Sugrue.

Meanwhile, if you haven't seen it, here's Dan's latest mailer touting all of his endorsements:

UPDATED x3: Here's a letter to the editor of the Daily Herald from someone who knows the Sugrue family, and is appalled at the scurrilous lies being told about Dan by Carol Sente and her mob of thugs from the Mike Madigan brigade:

I have received four mailers paid for by the Democratic Party of IL accusing Dan Sugrue of several insanities like his alleged radical social views and being supported from an extremist organization from the far right wing, and of agreeing with alleged gender discrimination practices defended by one of his financial supporters.

I had met Sugrue at a meeting for the committee of a foundation that would benefit the community where his kids attend school. Sugrue was volunteering his time and provided free services as a lawyer. A few months later, I met him again, this time with his wife and children at a dinner party. I was well impressed with both of them and the dynamic of their family. When I learned that Sugrue was going for the state representative seat, even though I am not registered with the Republican party, given the fact that the Sugrues were such genuine people with high moral and family values, I decided to check him out further and validate his commitment to the community.

I am outraged at the lies that Carol Sente is raising about him. They are so unfounded that my first reaction was to feel sorry for her, seeing how her strong opponent drove her to such desperation and lack of common sense. If Sente really cares for the people, why is she misleading them? Sugrue is leading his campaign with the positive approach of how he will represent the current issues that are affecting us. Why isn’t Sente doing the same thing instead of undermining the only option that will bring a real solution to the major issues in our community? What would happen with us if she gets elected? I will vote for Dan Sugrue.

Emma Flanagan

Green Oaks

Mark Kirk Hits Alexi Giannoulias on Foreign Policy Experience and Temperment in WTTW Debate (UPDATED WITH VIDEO)

Tonight on WTTW in Chicago, Phil Ponce moderated the last scheduled debate between Republican Congressman Mark Kirk and State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, in the hotly-contested U.S. Senate race here in Illinois. Based on what I saw and read afterwards, Kirk and Giannoulias each gave it everything they had, but once all the chaff was fired into the air, it was Mark Kirk who emerged less scathed, and looking much more senatorial by the end of the debate.

Here's your early news wrap-up: AP story here, Tribune Clout Street Blog here, Sun-Times/Lynn Sweet live blog here, Sun-Times article here, Politico here, debate fact-check (courtesy of the Kirk campaign) here,

and

my very favorite, the debate live blog at Capitol Fax Blog, done mostly by our favorite commentor FOKLAEAPS, who goes by "Shore" over at Cap Fax. Don't miss it.

UPDATED: If you missed the debate last night, Lynn Sweet provides the WTTW video, all 56 minutes of it. Enjoy.

Politico Notes What We Already Knew: Independent Voters Turning to GOP Senate Candidates, Including Mark Kirk (UPDATED: Rasmussen Poll Shows Kirk Up)

Today Politico picks up on what we noted a few days ago when the latest Tribune poll came out -- undecided Independents are turning to the Republicans in general nationwide, and in Illinois, Congressman Mark Kirk in particular:

In the dead heat Illinois Senate race, Republican Mark Kirk is now up 44-41 over Democrat Alexi Giannoulias according to a Chicago Tribune/WGN poll released Monday—thanks in no small part to independents.

Kirk takes 50 percent of the undeclared voters to Giannoulias’s 28 percent . In a Tribune/WGN poll a month ago, Kirk was taking 38 percent of independents while Giannoulias was taking the same 28 percent he’s getting now. And in that period, those independent voters saying they were undecided fell from 22 percent to eight percent.

From what I hear from GOP insiders, all Republican polling points in this same direction. I tend to think that if Alexi had contrary information, he'd be releasing it to cancel out Kirk's momentum, especially after the above-the-fold headline in the Chicago Tribune the day the poll was released. So far, crickets.

UPDATED: Blog reader and local political junkie Adam Beeson noted in comments the just-released Rasmussen poll showing Mark Kirk up over Alexi Giannoulias, with a still-close 46% to 42%. Rasmussen says:

The race is little changed from last week, when Kirk led 44% to 40%. Highlighting the closeness of the contest is the fact that Kirk and Giannoulias have now run within four points or less of each other in 11 surveys since early June. Prior to the latest results, Jones' support held steady at four percent (4%) in four surveys since September.

But Democrats are counting on visits to Illinois this week by Bill Clinton and President Obama to shift voters in the Democratic-leaning state into Giannoulias' column.

But, based on Clinton's rather lackluster performance yesterday, and considering he seemed to pretty much be preaching to a choir of voters who would very likely have voted Dem with or without the visit, I doubt very much that Clinton moved the needle for any Dem candidate. Obama is going to make a much bigger splash and have a much bigger turnout, but again, many attendees will likely have voted Dem anyway, or are just showing up for the free concert or to see Obama and could give a hoot about voting if the Barackstar isn't personally on the ballot.