Not the media’s finest hour
Thursday, Apr 29, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sometimes, bad things happen when pundits follow the mindless herd…
[President Obama is] not coming home to show his love for Alexi Giannoulias…
The Quincy visit comes less than a week after Broadway Bank closed, giving the impression that Obama is wiping the flailing Senate candidate off his shoe.
He’d better give his old friend another hug for all the viewers in Iowa, Missouri — and Illinois.
Just more silliness from people who’ve been reading too much into the crackpot DC tea leaves. White House reporters even demanded to know earlier yesterday whether Obama would mention Giannoulias in his speech.
The Chicago press corps was all atwitter…
Just hours earlier, Giannoulias had been facing questions in Chicago about whether Giannoulias’ late invitation to the event constituted a “snub” after months of bad press about the collapse of Giannoulias’ family’s Broadway Bank.
“There’s a lot of rumors and innuendo, but the White House is supportive of this campaign because they know we’ll stand up for Wall Street reform, move this country forward,” Giannoulias said.
They even mocked Giannoulias…
Reporter: “Do you need a hug from Obama today?”
* Well, as it turns out, Giannoulias did get a hug from Obama…
And a shout-out…
When Obama was introducing the Quincy mayor and Illinois officials, he gave a shout-out, referring to Giannoulias as the “soon to be senator.” Right before the speech, Giannoulias met briefly with Axelrod, Reggie Love, Obama’s body man, and Marv Nicholson, chief of advance (the latter two are part of the basketball bunch).
And then commenced a noisy round of gear-shifting…
Yet there was no mistaking the political implications for Giannoulias and his relationship with the White House as Obama closed out a two-day three-state campaign-style Midwest tour with a town hall event at the Oakley Lindsay Civic Center.
Obama mentioned Giannoulias’ name during his remarks. Later, the president gave a departing good-luck hug to Giannoulias, his former basketball playing buddy. Obama has been close with Giannoulias, providing a vital endorsement in getting Giannoulias elected state treasurer four years ago.
Prior to Obama taking the stage, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod summoned Giannoulias out of his seat in the audience for a private backstage meeting. Axelrod said it involved “catching up” with the candidate.
A White House background sheet on the day’s activities, noting the elected officials from Illinois planning to attend the event, listed Giannoulias at the top, even though in ranking and seniority the state treasurer is last among the statewide offices.
Crrrrreeeeeeeeekkkkk…
Forget the man hug. Forget the announcement that Alexi Giannoulias is Illinois’ “next Senator.”
President Obama’s greatest gift to Giannoulias during his speech in Quincy was the speech itself. Obama ripped into Wall Street, using many of same anti-investment banking tropes Giannoulias has been employing in his campaign against Mark Kirk.
Funny…
The national press corps is already in place, I noticed they had a grand buffet set up for them. Nothing for local regional press.
Instead of going off the rails, the pampered Heathers should’ve been listening to this guy all along…
“Giannoulias and Obama are friends and he’s friendly with people around him,” Paul Green said. “It’s a no-brainer. He will support him when it counts.”
And this was a presidential understatement…
“Now, part of the problem is, is that when I travel now it kind of causes a ruckus.”
Oh, and one more thing. I never wrote this…
Rich Miller of Capitol Fax points out that he called the election even earlier: nearly a year ago, when Lisa Madigan refused to run for the Senate.
What I wrote was: “I’ve personally had this race in the ‘lean Republican’ column…” That’s not a prediction of a Mark Kirk win. I gotta wonder why that part of the piece wasn’t quoted.
- Team America - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 9:54 am:
What a ruckus over nothing. If Obama had completely ignored Alexi and given him no acknowledgment at all, THAT might have been a story worth all of this breathless hyperbole. I think the bigger story is that Obama did not do anything more overt to boost Alexi in his hour of need than to mention his name and give him a public man-hug.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 9:57 am:
There was blood in the water with Alexi and the media swarmed. Barring another whopper, they’ll probably leave him alone for a while now.
- cassandra - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 9:58 am:
It’s certainly going to be entertaining watching Alexi push the idea that the family bank was a victim of bad forces elsewhere during the next
six months of campaigning.
And a lot of folks will probably fall for it.
After all, we the people are the folks who thought the real estate boom would never end.
And acted on that belief. Just like Alexi.
- Brennan - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 9:59 am:
Hopefully President Obama can broker some deposits into the accounts of Alexi for Illinois.
- bored now - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:00 am:
i guess chuck sweeney has never been to a presidential (or even campaign) speech before. the “traveling press” pays quite handsomely for the “grand buffet.” what did the “regional press” pay? why nothing, of course. they aren’t confined to the president’s movements and have transportation to and fro.
really a very silly thing to mention and appears to show press pool envy. i thought illinois was the end-all and be-all (nothing matters outside illinois)? or is that just for (most) politicians?
- just sayin' - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:02 am:
You’ve been way ahead of the curve on this issue Rich.
Of course Obama loses nothing by playing the loyal supporter, for as long as it makes sense to play the loyal supporter. So far Alexi is fighting back well and holding his ground for the most part against Kirk. We’ll see if that changes.
- bored now - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:04 am:
Team America: that’s just an incredibly stupid (ok, probably just extraordinarily self-serving) conclusion. this wasn’t a campaign trip. sure, mark kirk was able to campaign while he was occupying the time of military escorts in afghanistan, but presidents don’t do that. we have ethical standards for presidents. just because mark kirk doesn’t follow them doesn’t mean that the president shouldn’t. geez…
- OneMan - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:09 am:
Well two things…
One in terms of money for Alexi, his campaign has busted the chops of Kirk for donations from anyone working for any company that has had a whiff of issues that he will have to return money from a decent number of folks (lots of people work for Boeing, Baxter, etc) so some might be hesitant to give if he is going to return their money because of who they work for.
B) I still say if the Rod show is in full effect in October the president is going to stay away for the greater Democratic good, there is a bigger risk that the Tony stuff might stick after testimony in court.
If he comes and shows Illinois Democrat love with all of that going on it will make it’s way into 100 different congressional mailers.
When all is said and done, the Rod show might do more damage to Alexi (just hurting the Dem brand in Illinois) than the bank will
- shore - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:14 am:
Jon Corzine:hugged,abandoned, defeated
Creigh Deeds:hugged,abandoned, defeated
Martha Coakley:hugged,abandoned, defeated
Dan Seals:hugged,abandoned, defeated (twice)
ali g: hugged,…..
- John Bambenek - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:15 am:
If the bank went under after the Blago trial, that might have matter more. The Blago trial will be a firewall of almost evertything that happens before being forgotten by Election Day. Feline genocide, tax returns, bank closures and wife-beating prostitute slashers included.
Alexi likely won’t get tied to the blago stank.
- Bakersfield - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:16 am:
Maybe the president can slip in a funder when he comes to chicago to testify in the blago trial.
And with Bored Now’s last comment can we now assume that you are Andy Martin?
- Team America - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:18 am:
Bored Now: that’s just an incredibly stupid (ok, probably just extraordinarily self-serving) comment. Why then “introduce” a bunch of Democratic elected officials at all? Where weere the invited Republicans? Most importantly, what do you think Obama’s statement about Alexi being the “next senator from Illinois” was supposed to be, if not a campaign prop? How is it ethical that THAT was tax-payer funded? I’m not responsible for Obama’s lack of ethics, but I feel justified in pointing out when his unethical actions just aren’t particularly effective.
- Greg B. - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:19 am:
Rich definitely never said, “Rich Miller of Capitol Fax points out that he called the election even earlier: nearly a year ago, when Lisa Madigan refused to run for the Senate.”
I would’ve been all over that….
- bored now - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:19 am:
sorry, oneman, but my brief decade in illinois suggests that there is an incredibly high tolerance for corruption in the state. and this tolerance isn’t confined to chicago. so while i wouldn’t suggest that anyone with the name of blagojevich run for office anytime soon, there’s no doubt that people are much more likely to think of barack obama than rod blagojevich when they think about democrats. i’d expect to see more of the president, and more of the president’s minions, as the election gets closer. the president’s favorability ratings, his message and the loyalty of his supporters will be much more influential on this election than blagojevich’s (show) trial. it’s blagojevich’s (and republican’s) fantasy that his trial will depress democratic chances in the fall. i’ll bet even bill realizes now that rod is a crook…
- phil - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:19 am:
wow you were miss quoted and taken out of context amazing
- OneMan - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:22 am:
Sorry John,
I think you are giving the voters too much credit, lots of George Ryan stank stuck to other people.
There may not be footage of Alexi dancing with Rod, but I am sure there is footage of them together and Rod’s stank is going to make George’s smell like Channel #5
- Brennan - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:24 am:
=this wasn’t a campaign trip.=
“Replied Burton, “I don’t think it would be appropriate for the president to talk about anybody’s campaign at what are all official events.”
But he did.”
Lynn Sweet
- George - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:24 am:
The real question that the national press corps will be sparring over for the next several weeks was whether they followed the proper etiquette of a man hug.
- Pre - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:26 am:
—probably just extraordinarily self-serving— And your comments aren’t self-serving? Team America’s comments are right on. If Obama wanted to do more he would have done it. This is not good for Alexi.
Count down till the Alexi camp creates a campaign video with hug from Obama… 3,2,1…
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:31 am:
Pre, if it’s “not good for Alexi,” then why would they make a campaign video out of the hug?
Take a breath.
- shore - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:32 am:
1. This is not 2006, the glow is off the annointed one.
2. As I noted earlier, with voter frustration it’s about the candidates not, their endorsements see dillard, kirk, hastert, ethan, coulson, beth, washington-hynes harold/dan ad, hamos, julie. and it goes on and on.
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=48D05A71-18FE-70B2-A8D91F7E2BF8E867
- Adam Smith - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:32 am:
It never ceases to amaze me how the navel gazing by commenters misses the fundamental impact of all of this. This entire dust up over an invite, a hug, a shout out, etc. only reinforces to the public that there is something about Alexi that ain’t quite right. This is only a story because he is in a serious jam that is destroying his credibility as a candidate.
All of this is having a devastating impact on the public’s image of Alexi. It has hurt his poll numbers, his fundraising and the context in which everything he does is covered. As the perception of Alexi as damaged goods takes hold among the public it won’t matter what other issues come up. In fact, all the other issues will make it much harder for Alexi to reverse the prevailing perception that he is character-challenged.
All the hubbub about this visit just put Alexi’s problems on the front page again AND spread the story more broadly around the country.
- John Bambenek - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:34 am:
It all depends, really. But George Ryan was in office on Election Day in 2002. Blago has been gone for a year.
Republicans will have to exploit Blago and show that X, Y, Z candidate was an unindicted co-conspirator.
But I imagine, the late payments to schools, social service providers, et al will be a bigger budgel to use. People will care more that their kids schools are bankrupted by a state that budgeted money it didn’t have to give than what Blago did in 2005.
- Team America - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:34 am:
I think Pre’s point (and mine) was that while the “hug” is better than nothing (although I’m not sure if that would actually be used in a video), it falls short of what Alexi probably needed.
But one thing it does do is put Obama’s stamp of approval (however faint) on Alexi, which will damp down any talk of him withdrawing from the race, which is great news for Kirk.
- Pre - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:35 am:
–Big deep breath– My point… it could have been a lot better. It should be discouraging that it was only a brief mention and hug. Regardless, I think he still going to make a hug video.
- Independent - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:36 am:
This photo would make for a great caption contest.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:36 am:
TA translation: No hug and a snub, good for Kirk. Hug and a shout-out, good for Kirk.
lol
- bored now - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:37 am:
Team America: yeah, WHERE WERE the invited republicans? that’s a great question.
oh, that’s right. they were out there protesting the president’s visit. questioning whether hawaii is actually in the united states or some other act of equal stupidity.
there’s a theme here. while the president ran with the intention to unite the country, republicans like mark kirk and mitch mcconnell want to divide us. question the president’s credibility. question his legitimacy. do *anything* to subvert the president of the united states.
you follow in that tradition. you deign to equate mark kirk’s flagrant violations of the military code (something for which any one who didn’t serve on the house appropriations committee would be court martialed for!) with the presidential tradition (i know, i know. republicans only care about tradition if it re-inforces their pre-existing beliefs) of announcing candidates of their party as “the next ____.”
yep, questioning *this* president’s legitimacy. that’s just *so* republican…
- Team America - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:38 am:
Yes, just about anything associated with Alexi nowadays is good for Kirk. Happy times!
- Bill - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:39 am:
==i’ll bet even bill realizes now that rod is a crook…==
Nah. Well maybe, but I don’t think he is much different than most politicians. He’s just a little crazier and a little more stupid.
- OneMan - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:42 am:
I would take in office over on trial any day of the week. No elected official is under oath during campaign season and we know Rod is going to toss anyone and everyone under the bus. And the senate seat is going to be front and center and most folks will not differentiate that much between appointment and election
- Bill - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:44 am:
Here is the real issue despite whether the President kisses Alexi or not. Alexi will support the President’s agenda and Kirk will do what he can to obstruct it.
None of the rest of the show should make any difference in the end. I know what side of the culture wars I am on and I think most Illinoisians do as well.
The party of hope and chanage or the party of NO. Take your pick.
- George - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:44 am:
Rich, what they are saying is that this is good for John McCain.
- Team America - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:46 am:
Hey Bill - you can’t eat “hope and change”. No jobs + higher taxes + astronomical deficit = dem losses in Nov.
- Brennan - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:50 am:
=The party of hope and chanage=
I doubt it’s a change for the President to get the hell out of Washington when his campaign contributors are getting raked over the coals by Senator Levin.
- Bill - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:57 am:
TA
The jobs and deficit problems are Bush’s fault as everyone knows. The President is working to take care of those. As for the federal taxes part, the only raise on the horizon is cancelling the Bush give away to the rich.
The President is well on his way to solving many of the problems of the middle claass in America and he needs his buddy Alexi’s help to continue.
- Team America - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 10:59 am:
Bill - you better get out there and explain that to the American people because the polls show they aren’t buying it.
- Louis Howe - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 11:00 am:
Where’s the political and financial accountability??? Before running for office Alexi’s only prior business experience was at his family’s bank. He used that experience extensively during his Treasurer’s campaign. Now taxpayer’s are on the hook for more than 350 million resulting from his family’s bank mismanagement. He should resign from the campaign, but instead, Obama has again blessed his candidacy but chastised Wall Street. What a hypocrite! Financial reform starts with a commitment to taxpayer interests, not political affiliation.
- Lefty Lefty - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 11:04 am:
Hey Team America: Your taxes are probably lower this year. Almost everybody’s are. Just sayin’.
And while I’m here I’ll note that my locally-owned bank is about get eated, and another local bank I have some insight into is swimming in bad commercial debt. Neither are in trouble due to illegal or unethical actions. There is a growing list of Illinois banks getting eated, and the more there are the less that Broadway matters.
- Small Town Liberal - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 11:05 am:
- 1. This is not 2006, the glow is off the annointed one. -
This is Illinois, Obama’s popularity is still quite helpful.
- Responsa - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 11:09 am:
Bored, first you mock TA’s question about the dearth of Republican invitees to the (non political) Quincy event, and then you say that the not-invited Illinois Republican officials were outside protesting Obama’s visit? That’s just silly, not to mention irresponsible. You do not actually believe that do you?
- RobRoy - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 11:13 am:
Prez, “I know it was you, Alexi. You broke my heart”.
- Brennan - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 11:18 am:
TA: Americans still blame Bush more than Obama for the economic problems. Obama has gone from 32% of the blame in July09 to 50% of the blame in March10. During the same period Bush has fallen from 80% to 75% of the blame.
=the only raise on the horizon is cancelling the Bush give away to the rich.=
This is false. The Democrats have already proposed an increase in the tax on dividends to 39% from the current 15%(Obama seeking 20%).
- bored now - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 11:33 am:
Responsa: i’d be shocked if republicans weren’t invited to participate. and i’m sorry if you are so naive to actually think that republicans would get on a stage with barack. tea baggers are already suspicious of “rino’s” like mark kirk, just imagine what they’d think if kirk (or any republican) got on stage with him!
oh, wait, we don’t have to imagine. we can just ask charlie crist!
the republican officials i was referring to were in iowa, not illinois. otoh, i agree with team america. this race is all about kirk. as much as kirk wants to make this race about things that alexi had nothing to do with, we all understand he’s doing everything he can to avoid talking about the things he (kirk) did have something to do with (like his preposterous claim that he *knew* there were WMDs in iraq or his claims of independence or his closeness to wall street, etc). that you use the word irresponsible is ironic, since the irresponsibility is fully on republicans who have made it their agenda to undermine the president of the united states (and to have the gall to claim some form of loyalty to or interest in the good of this country)…
- the Patriot - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 11:34 am:
Even if Brennan is right and 50% blame Obama and 75% still blame Bush there is obvious overlap. (Old Math) Most of the strong Bush allies are either in Strong republican seats or were already beaten. Bush policies even if you concede they were horific will not play a role. Obama policy is is front and Center.
Obama has mad a huge mistake with the Bailouts, stimulus, and spending packages. Normally you may squeeze another 2 years out of blaming your predecessor if you down play the immediate outlook and slow play. He chose to go all in with 3 trillion of our tax money. If he doesn’t catch a card on the river before November with the economy, democrats will lose seats.
- Small Town Liberal - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 11:35 am:
- What an utter wackjob statement. -
Totally wackjob, I mean, doesn’t anyone care about the American dream of making way more money than you could ever possibly spend and not having any obligations to society?
- Plutocrat03 - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 11:45 am:
AG’s problems may or may not continue to get worse.
When the public learns of the way bank capital was disbursed to family members, how much the failure has cost the FDIC as well as other details, the credibility of the anti banking rants will lose some of their impact.
Tax returns (which will be due before the election) may show things that will make Quinn’s and Brady’s returns look normal. Again not so good for AG.
- ABCBoy - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 11:58 am:
bored now: Straw-man much?
==
I know what side of the culture wars I am on and I think most Illinoisians do as well.
The party of hope and chanage or the party of NO. Take your pick.
==
Uh…you realize that Kirk is a social moderate/liberal, don’t you? Besides, being the party of “no” can be a very good thing if the idea that’s proposed is a bad one. My bet is that back in 2000-2006, you were pretty cool with the Democrats being the “party of no”/”dissent is the highest form of patriotism” etc….
As for the Obama/Alexi thing: I agree the tea leaf reading is way over-blown. The chattering-class is bored. Adam Smith is right. The meta-issue is that Alexi is still in deep trouble right now, otherwise the Obama/Alexi thing wouldn’t even be on people’s radar.
Obama is still relatively popular here in Illinois compared with the rest of the nation generally. And if Obama DIDN’T back Alexi right now, Alexi would be in a far worse position. Net-net, if I were running Ali G’s campaign, I’d definitely want the Obama shout-out/hug, etc., simply to reduce the likelyhhood of Chris Kennedy or other would-be replacements/buzzards from circling my campaign…
- Living in Oklahoma - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 12:06 pm:
Next Tribune Headline:
Alexi Giannoulias is the greatest man hugger of all time. A close second. Dick Vermeil!
Does anyone seriously think that Alexi, after being gone from his families bank for 4 years had anything to do with its failure? Last I checked banks have a board of directors, and more than 1 employee.
- siriusly - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 12:12 pm:
Hoping the media will cover political campaigns responsibly is like hoping the General Assembly will pass a responsible budget.
Sounds like a good idea, but it isn’t going to happen.
- bored now - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 12:21 pm:
ABCBoy, are you under the impression i wrote this?
==
I know what side of the culture wars I am on and I think most Illinoisians do as well.
The party of hope and chanage or the party of NO. Take your pick.
==
i’m more than happy to discuss any argument that you think might be a strawman that *i* make. not really inclined to pursue the arguments of others, though…
- Bill - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 12:33 pm:
lol
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 1:07 pm:
===
…anyone working for any company that has had a whiff of issues that he will have to return money from a decent number of folks (lots of people work for Boeing, Baxter, etc)….
===
OneMan, if I understood your first post correctly, I think the exact opposite is true. Baxter, Boeing, etc. got a good bit of bashing in Alexi’s vid, and generally, people who work or worked at all levels for the listed companies are loyal to those companies, clearly understand the impact they have on our economy, generally follow politics more closely than the “average bear”, are highly sensitive to bad press, and do NOT like that type of publicity.
What Alexi’s Team did to make their point by dragging those companies in the way they did will be viewed as a very bad judgment call on the part of the Giannoulias Campaign, leading to an irresponsible move on their part to score a political point at their expense.
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 1:15 pm:
As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if most–if not all–of those companies had their Communications people watching closely to see what the resulting fall out might be.
They understand that there a possibility of “distancing” if there’s something major going on at the moment, but they don’t take kindly to “rehashing” the PAST the way Giannoulias’ Campaign did after settlements were made, fines were paid, etc. and they worked hard and successfully to recover their “good standing” in the eyes of the public.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 1:41 pm:
So 21st Century political reporting has been reduced to who is getting hugged and who isn’t?
And there was press chasing around behind Alexi all day trying to find out if he was going to get a hug?
As a Republican, I am amused. As a Greek, I am amused. We Greeks love to hug everyone! Of course Alexi was going to get his hug! He is genetically predisposed to hugging it out!
Now come commentators are looking for a kiss next? What’s after that? A wink? A come hither look? A leer? Siriusly, I endorse your comments 100%!
Sheesh!
- Scooby - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 2:04 pm:
Just asking, what was the media’s finest hour? There’s a free question of the day, here’s some possible choices:
- Same Zell
- Conrad Black
- The Blagojevich radio show
- Pretty much any TV news story during sweeps, “Puppies who save Penguins, EXCLUSIVE!”
- wordslinger - Thursday, Apr 29, 10 @ 3:29 pm:
If the election were held today, Alexi and probably Quinn would be losers.
But the joke is, the election isn’t until November, LOL.
The Dem brand is making a comeback. The health care win showed that they could take a punch and deliver after a dreary, six-month wallow in the ignorant slop of the opposition. Now they’re going to get another win on financial reform. A little bump in the economy (Caterpillar had a nice forecast the other day; housing’s up) and you have a brand new ballgame.
For all the lip service that the tea-partiers pay to Reagan, they miss his fundamental attractions: he was an optimist and a pragmatist. The GOP will rue the day they took the whining tea-partier route over the McCain, Crist and Graham conservatives. Reagan would work with anyone, and smile after he beat your brains in.