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| Giannoulias makes Senate bid official |
| 2009-07-27 |
| First-term state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias today firmly affixed his candidacy for the U.S. Senate to President Barack Obama, contending a new generation of leadership in the mold of the man he considers a mentor will outweigh any taint of scandal surrounding Obama's former Senate seat. Giannoulias, 33, frequently invoked Obama in launching his bid for the Democratic Senate nomination. He portrayed the race as a choice between the politics of the future or the "tired politics that voters rejected in 2008"—a veiled slap at recently announced GOP contender, North Shore U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, 49. It's a race between the Pub politics of the past versus the Chicago machine. Giannoulias is a card-carrying made man in the Daley organization. Asked by reporters whether someone with little more than two years in public office was qualified to sit as a senator, Giannoulias said "they said the same thing about Barack Obama." ...and it looks like "they" were right. "I don't think it's about who's held office the longest," he said. "I think it's about who's got the best ideas, who's going to move this country forward, who has a history of having an innovative principled office, someone who's going to bring some integrity back to the process so people can be proud of their United States senator." Obama was a key ingredient in Giannoulias winning the state treasurer's office in 2006, backing the young banking heir over the state Democratic organization's slated candidate. Giannoulias had helped Obama raise seed money for the 2004 Senate race and provided Obama with connections in the city's Greek community. Still, Giannoulias watched recently as the Obama White House unsuccessfully tried to recruit Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan as the favored Senate candidate. "I think the president and I will be just fine," said Giannoulias, a basketball buddy of Obama. Other Democrats are considering a run, but Republicans see opportunity in the open-seat Senate contest created after appointed Sen. Roland Burris said he would not seek election. Burris was named by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich three weeks after Blagojevich's arrest on federal corruption charges that included allegedly trying to sell the seat left vacant by Obama's November victory. "People are disheartened and disgusted with politics, especially in Illinois where there's a black eye in Illinois politics—scandal and corruption and pay to play, which is why we need fresh leadership," Giannoulias said. ...and I want my piece of the pie. If I were the Republican running against Giannoulias, I'd make sure that each and every day of my campaign, I had a video, press release, and talking points out there on his and his family's involvement with the Broadway Bank. Google it. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Giannouilias? TED? I thought you were talking about this guy for a moment |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-07-27 11:04 |
| #2 This guy and his 'family' make the Daley's look like altar boys. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2009-07-27 10:52 |
| #1 Doc, even if every literate voter in Illinois googles Broadway Bank and votes anti-Democrat as a result, Giannoulias should still carry the election, with a 100% vote from the illiterate and the dead. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-07-27 08:09 |