* The outlook for the Illinois US Senate race by Chris Cilliza at the Washington Post…
Combine Kirk’s problems and those of Giannoulias, which are still significant and majorly problematic even though they haven’t gotten much attention of late, and you have a recipe for what we believe will be the nastiest Senate race in the country this fall.
The take by MSNBC’s First Read isn’t much different…
This does have the feel of a race to the bottom.
I have those same feelings.
* Meanwhile, Lynn Sweet followed up on Congressman Mark Kirk’s claims that the White House was involved with leaking the Department of Defense memo which raised concerns about Kirk’s “partisan political activities during his last two tours of active duty.” You’ll recall that this was the heart of the Kirk campaign’s response…
“This raises grave concerns and questions about who gained access to Kirk’s confidential records. The document in question should be viewed for what it is — a baseless political ploy by partisans bent on defending a U.S. Senate seat at any cost.”
From Sweet’s column…
With no evidence, the Illinois GOP Senate campaign of Rep. Mark Kirk accused the Obama White House of leaking information about Kirk’s military record, a charge White House senior adviser David Axelrod said Thursday is not true.
“Obviously, Congressman Kirk has some problems that are of his creation and he can’t download them on us,” Axelrod told me. “I assure you that everyone here has plenty to do. No one is trafficking in revelatory records about him.” […]
On Thursday, I asked the Kirk campaign if they had any more information to back up their leak accusation — in the wake of the White House denial and Welch saying the leak came from inside the Kirk operation.
The statement sent over from Kirk’s operation did not address the leak controversy. Here it is: Said Kukowski, “Congressman Kirk has served honorably for 21 years as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer.
“The Fitness Report from his service in Afghanistan is documented proof that the congressman not only did nothing wrong — he performed exceptionally in service to our country. In the end, Alexi Giannoulias cannot distract voters from his calls to raise taxes, increase spending and continue the failed policies that led our state into economic ruin.”
Not exactly a response.
And what about that initial claim by the Kirk campaign? First, they expressed “grave concerns” about who gained access to the congressman’s records and seemed0 to blame the White House. From Terry Welch, who broke the story…
The memo was sent to me from someone who received it from inside Kirk’s own camp. Suggesting it came from administration officials or political operatives is baseless. I have backed up every single statement I’ve made about Mark Kirk, but he has chosen to respond to substantive and substantiated claims I have made with unsupported accusations. […]
If Kirk’s campaign wants to accuse me of colluding with someone in his opponent’s campaign or in the administration, he better bring some proof. The truth is Kirk has a leaky campaign.
* It’s the Kirk campaign’s second react sentence which bothers me the most, however…
“The document in question should be viewed for what it is — a baseless political ploy by partisans bent on defending a U.S. Senate seat at any cost.”
That’s some pretty bold talk about an official memo issued by Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Gail McGinn. If you check McGinn’s bio, she started at the Department of Defense in 1988, under a GOP administration. She rose to her current position in 2002, also under a Republican administration, and has a long list of government service awards.
My own opinion is that the Kirk campaign tried to piggyback on the national kerfuffle over the White House allegedly offering jobs or slots to Democrats to keep them out of primaries. It hasn’t worked at all, and probably will only backfire, which may be why the Kirk campaign backed off when pressed by Lynn Sweet. Kirk’s initial reaction was just way too far over the top and couldn’t be sustained.
*** UPDATE *** Oops. I forgot to post this odd story…
Someone has jerked the “Kirk For Senate” sign from the window of the Lincoln Square campaign headquarters of Adam Brown. […]
Even though City Councilman Brown, who is running for state representative against incumbent Democrat Bob Flider, is the high profile candidate being promoted at the office, a few Republicans are quick to remind everyone within earshot that it is the Republican headquarters, and not just Brown’s headquarters.
Now, about that sign. Who took it out of the window is not exactly known, but the Macon County’s Republican Party head honcho, Jerry Stocks, is said to be upset with Congressman Mark Kirk’s “misstatements” about his military service. The “misstatements” have soured a lot of Republicans on Kirk’s candidacy to replace Senator Roland Burris in the November election, and left them wondering what the difference is between a “misstatement” and a “lie”.
Yikes. This scandal not only hurts Kirk with the media, but it also goes right to his base. Not good at all.
- bored now - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 10:30 am:
kirk’s ego doesn’t allow him to let this go. any elementary student in crisis management knows what he *should* say: ‘i’m damn proud of my military record, and ashamed that i exaggerated it’ — and then shut up.
kinda reminds me of that former politician currently on trial…
- wordslinger - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 10:34 am:
It’s a slur against McGinn, an Army kid who’s served her country her whole adult life. Read the bio.
This guy will obviously say anything.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 10:52 am:
This is a whole lot of ridiculous. The nitpicking on one side and the faux accusations from the other is turning this into a circus act most voters do not care about.
Kirk has to let this go and get back to work. Any questions the nitpickers create regarding his military service should be reduced to straight facts: “Congressman Kirk has served honorably for 21 years as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer.” Once he departs from that and tries to answer or cover up Democratic accusations, the more he feeds into this dead end story.
We are tired of hearing about Broadway Bank. We are now tired of hearing about Kirk’s Exaggerations. Voters are not so stupid that they believe everything being spun on these personal political issues. Instead, they are sorting through the dross and keeping focused on the facts.
Why? Because we have bigger problems than Broadway Bank or Kirk’s Exaggerations!
Enough aleady! After turning this US Senate race into a farce, the same political spinsters are complaining that the US Senate race is a farce! Like we do not see through their line of bull?
It is time for both sides to start talking to US! There is too much political hackery on both sides. The first candidate to change the subject back to our economic collapse, our fiscal bankruptsy, or high unemployment rates will win because we don’t want to hear this stuff anymore!
Get back to your corners, and regroup. Don’t open your mouths until you have something else to talk about and have an interest in listening to us.
Same goes for the political reporters on this.
- easynow - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 10:55 am:
bored now, I’m with you. When you see you’re in a hole, stop digging. Old military adage — retreat, regroup and advance. Obviously cooler minds in the Kirk camp are speaking up and they will get back to attacking Alexi, which they do so well.
- old pol Mike - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 10:55 am:
So who wins a “race to the bottom”?
- cassandra - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 10:58 am:
So, I’m an average uninterested voter sitting in the voting booth trying to remember something about the candidates for Illinois Senator. I don’t identify with either party overmuch. Alexi–yeah, something about the family bank failed after he left. Kirk, uh, let’s see, didn’t he lie about his military service.
I think I’d either skip ‘em or go with Alexi.
And that’s unfortunate, given the Machine Democrats’ stranglehold on the state. But folks do vote more on emotional grounds than anything else. Kirk is going to have to work really hard to counteract that. And I must say, all these media comments about his personal arrogance are consistent disturbing. Overconfidence is one of the worst personal biases when you are making decisions about the lives of others.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 10:59 am:
Rich, you had this one right days ago:
Digging a Hole Out of the Ocean …
Now you can put, today, the Kirk campaign with the following stellar campaigns of the past:
Rich Williamson
Jim Ryan for Gov (Vol. 1)
Joe Birkett
Jack!
Lolita Didrickson
And the list goes on …
What do these campaigns have in common? A complete lack of knowing what their strengths are, a lack of campaigning BOTH hard AND smart on their strengths, and the campaign itself just … lacking. All the while, these campaign staffs not realizing, or in denial, they are indeed lacking!
- cassandra - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 10:59 am:
Sorry, I meant consistent and disturbing.
- Chathamite - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:01 am:
This race and Boxer v. Firorina out in California are going to be the most interesting ones this fall. I am still for Alexi. Despite his faults, Kirk just does not give me a good feeling. The aarogance has a lot to do with it.
- Finger Pointing - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:11 am:
Well said, Oswego. Obviously, Kirk’s campaign team isn’t ready for prime-time. Perhaps a shake-up is in order.
- Carl Nyberg - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:12 am:
Notice when the story first broke Kirk was able to get a bunch of Republican vets to make statements (or sign-off on statements) that said it was no big deal and what was a big deal was Giannoulias had never been in the military.
But as more info came out, it seems those Republicans, people like John Shimkus and Adam Kinzinger, are much less willing to discuss Kirk.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:13 am:
===So who wins a “race to the bottom”?===
Political consultants win. Everybody else loses.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:19 am:
I disagree regarding the Jack Ryan Campaign to a certain degree.
Their outreach to various groups was perceived as genuine, the Campaign had recruited a huge number of very active volunteers from across the State who felt welcome and were happy to be helping out, and Jack certainly had a knack for reaching out to Voters one-on-one.
Furthermore, the Campaign seemed to try, whenever possible, to reply to “assaults” by sticking to fact, keeping it as clean as possible, and resorting to direct fire and dirt as a last resort–or at least being a bit more careful and “stealthy” so that “arrogance” and “rudeness” would not be labels stuck to the Candidate.
As I’ve said before, some might benefit by studying the positive and popular aspects of the Ryan Campaign, especially as it relates to a Candidate’s “image”. Having said that, someone–Sweet, maybe–recently said that one of Giannoulias’ strengths is that he’s “well-liked”, but that the Kirk Campaign learns quickly.
After the last couple of days, I’m not so sure about that last bit.
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:20 am:
Sorry. 11:19 is mine.
- Carl Nyberg - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:21 am:
I think bored now is on to something.
Rod Blagojevich = pathological liar = Mark Kirk
I don’t think pathological liar is a condition in the DSM-IV, more like a symptom.
But being a pathological liar is connected with a specific disorder: narcissistic personality disorder.
Symptoms:
Does Blagojevich score at least five of nine on this list?
What about Mark Kirk?
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:24 am:
“Anonymous”
===a lack of campaigning BOTH hard AND smart on their strengths, and the campaign itself just … lacking. All the while, these campaign staffs not realizing, or in denial, they are indeed lacking! ===
When you are not ready for prime-time (records will not hurt my campaign!)and the campaign staff really believes, after jack is humiliated, bringing in a politician from Maryland (Alan Keys???) to take the “mantle” of the ‘well run’ Jack! campaign … sorry, it fits.
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:25 am:
Snark aside because the label was awarded long before the rumors hit: I don’t think that the Kirk Campaign will ever be referred to as the “Feel Good Campaign”, which is one of the things that made it so popular and Alexi folks seem to understand.
While I’m being candid, I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised by some of the response the last few weeks from not only Alexi but his spokesperson.
They’re certainly playing dirty, but under the guise of being polite, which is pretty powerful stuff as far as Voters are concerned.
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:31 am:
Just one more note: having been “with” the Ryan Campaign from the get-go, I can tell you that Jack didn’t start off “warm and fuzzy” because he was a bit too reserved–and his debating skills were only “fair” in the beginning.
But he was willing to ask for, listened to advice, and applied whatever he thought would help–and he learned EXTREMELY quickly. The improvements from debate to debate were absolutely fascinating.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:35 am:
I will not respond anymore to the defending of Jack!, because if you can NOT see how the statement below holds zero water in your defense of Jack! then you can’t see see why, today, Kirk is in deep trouble…
===As I’ve said before, some might benefit by studying the positive and popular aspects of the Ryan Campaign, especially as it relates to a Candidate’s “image”. ===
Jack! image????? That is how we got Alan Keys, with the image being pummeled by Jack!s reality!
I think Kirk IS/WAS following that advice, which is why we are where we are today with Kirk …
Nothing more needs to be said!
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:38 am:
Willy, your response is exactly the type of response some could say they’d expect from the Kirk Campaign right now.
Nothing more needs to be said!
Heh.
- colt 45 - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:39 am:
finger,
you can’t shake up something that isn’t there.
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:40 am:
And here, I’ll even be a bit more specific with regard to what’s wrong with the response: It’s CONVENIENTLY and completely out of context. Some refer to that as the easy way out. Yeah, but you can pretend you look “tough”.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:46 am:
The easy way out is to just resign your campaign because you lied to everyone and their brother, like Jack! …Jack! will always wear the Alan Keys jacket …to bring it back, Kirk could learn from Jack! … STOP LYING!
As a Republican, I get so upset when a decidedly poor campaign refuses to see … they are/were a POOR CAMPAIGN!
And we wonder WHY we lose to Dems???
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:49 am:
Context: the success of the campaign BEFORE Jack resigned.
But you are obviously unwilling–or I’ll guess, UNABLE–to stick to the context because…?
- Excessively Rabid - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 11:58 am:
Is Jack Ryan still available? I would vote for him over either of the others at the first opportunity. George Ryan would be a toss-up.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 12:00 pm:
Enough about Jack Ryan, please. He’s washed up. Move along.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 12:01 pm:
I was told long ago … You build something on a LIE … no matter how it shines … IT IS A LIE …
You get that Mark Kirk … get past this, or you could be the next Jack!
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 12:02 pm:
Thank you Rich!!!
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 12:04 pm:
Thank you, Rich.
- Windy City Mama - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 1:19 pm:
I just can’t imagine this administration being involved in leaks. But a couple of names just keep popping in my head. I’ve tried to shake them out but they keep coming back.
Sestak
Romanoff
Joe the Plumber
Blair Hull
Jack Ryan
Sarah Palin
- shore - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 1:42 pm:
1. This is not all that nasty, a failed bank and some resume enhancements. There’s no race, sex, marriage, or other non political stuff. These are hard attacks and a little deeper than position attacks, but not as bad as it can get.
2. The media really has not done its job on seperating the 2 hits. In every kirk story and jab at him has been the aknowledgement in the press that he still has had a great career with lots of accomplishments and is a smart guy. The same things are not said in defense of alexi.
- Served - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 2:34 pm:
I live right across from that Macon County Republican HQ and noticed the Kirk sign was down the other day, but didn’t think anything of it.
But give me a break, if they’re really going to snub Kirk and still go full force behind Adam Brown, they’re ridiculous.
- Ellen Beth Gill - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 2:43 pm:
Mark Kirk has been misremembering and exaggerating his entire record, including his record in congress, to his consitituents for years. He’s taken credit for many bills that he had no or little hand in at all, he should have shared the credit, or never went anywhere so credit doesn’t matter and should not have been taken. The military related claims are only a small part of this story. I’m having to extend my Misremembrance and Exaggeration Week into next week and that’s just with the claims I can document were made and disprove with simple internet research.
- bored now - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 2:57 pm:
shore, i can’t tell if you’ve never met kirk, or simply have a *much* lower definition of intelligence. kirk’s strength (the ability to regurgitate information that other people have thought up) can’t be defined as intelligence in my book, and no one has ever accused kirk of having an original thought.
i’ll concede that kirk makes a great presentation, which i’d say defines him as a great showman, not an intellectual. but there’s a reason why kirk has one reputation here (where he’s rarely seen) and another reputation in d.c. (where he’s among people who actually know what they’re doing)…
- Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 3:44 pm:
*** kirk’s strength (the ability to regurgitate information that other people have thought up) can’t be defined as intelligence in my book***
I know perpetual Kirk haters like Gill, Nyberg and others are having a field day right about now, but does the above statement mean we can never use the thoughts and information of those like Socrates, Aristotle, Jefferson, Einstein, and other great thinkers? Rather than use what the great thinkers thought up for us, we have to go out and reinvent the wheel each and every day?
Just wondering.
- Rob_N - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 4:28 pm:
Louis says, “does the above statement mean we can never use the thoughts and information of those like Socrates, Aristotle, Jefferson, Einstein, and other great thinkers?”
So Louis you’re comparing Mark Kirk to Socrates, Aristotle, et al and his water carriers to students of history’s greatest philosophers?
Fits right in with the Kirk campaign strategy of an exaggeration extravaganza.
- bored now - Friday, Jun 11, 10 @ 4:41 pm:
Louis G. Atsaves: while i suppose that’s a wonderful strawman argument, do you really think that regurgitating “Socrates, Aristotle, Jefferson or Einstein” makes one intelligent? hell, i think i’d be happy if kirk was regurgitating socrates, aristotle, jefferson or einstein, but he’s not. he’s been parroting those “great minds” donald rumsfeld, dick cheney and karl rove.
i’m not sure why you object to my definition of intelligence as the ability to conceive original thought (do you really believe that everything has been thought of already?), but i accept your apparent concession that kirk has yet to demonstrate intelligence under this definition. look, i’m giving the guy his due: he’s a great presenter of other people’s ideas, and i believe that’s even recognized in his fitness reports. for some people, that may be enough (after all, maybe we don’t have enough point point warriors out there!). i suppose i just have higher standards.
i don’t want *my* senator to be someone who’s on the same level as roland burris. we already know that mark kirk won’t influence congress or legislate in a meaningful way. he’s *proven* that. which is why it’s easy to support alexi. we don’t know if alexi will sink down to kirk’s level in congress, or rise to that of a bob dole…
- Anonymous - Saturday, Jun 12, 10 @ 10:34 am:
Is credibility on small issues more important than judgement on big financial issues?
The difference between misstatement and lie is whether there’s any way to interpret what was said as true, but misleading. There’s no way to interpret a lie any other way but false.