* Put this into the “I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’” file. The Illinois Republican Party whacks Democratic US Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias for talking out of both sides of his mouth…
Alexi: So I’m also proud to be the first candidate running for the U.S. Senate in the history of the state of Illinois not to take money from lobbyists or from corporate PACs…
Roma: In that spirit of swearing off corporate PACs and lobbyist contributions, what about all special interest money, from unions, from trial lawyers, from, zero PAC money, is that something that you think politicians should all do?
Alexi: I personally do.
But according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, Giannoulias already accepted union and special interest PAC contributions to his Senate exploratory committee.
Apparently, when Giannouolias said “I personally do,” he was referring to the question of “should politicians reject” all special interest money - and wasn’t trying to say that he actually does it.
Hokay.
The Giannoulias campaign attempts to explain…
“Mark Kirk has taken millions of dollars of special interest money and voted their way in Washington for almost a decade. Alexi Giannoulias is the first US Senate candidate in Illinois history to refuse money from federal lobbyists and corporate PACs because he believes that we will never change the way we do business in Washington until we change the way we elect people to represent us in Washington.”
* Comptroller Dan Hynes’ campaign has been whacking Gov. Pat Quinn for the past few days, but Hynes’ campaign Twitter page has lately focused on sports…
Upset that Charles Tillman is out for a while. Hope he gets better soon - Bears need his secondary help.
about 1 hour ago
Looking forward to seeing Mark Buehrle read David Letterman’s Top Ten List tonight.
about 22 hours ago
Lotsa red meat there, Dan. Way to get all controversial on us.
* Republican William Kelly has a bit of fun with his state comptroller campaign kickoff video…
Kelly’s background from a press release…
A Second City-trained humorist, Kelly is he host and executive producer of the TV series, “Sportsaholic” and the Emmy award-winning “Upscale TV,” which just completed a successful three-year run on FOX.
No stranger to Illinois politics, Kelly was previously the Executive Director of the National Taxpayers Union of Illinois. He is a former GOP candidate for Congress and currently oversees a non-profit reform organization, RebuildIllinois.com. He has a long-standing history of anti-tax and government waste activism, which was the subject of the National Review article, “Rebel with a Cause.”
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Monday he was in the dark about any potential statewide bid of Merchandise Mart boss Chris Kennedy, the nephew of his Senate colleague Ted Kennedy. […]
Lately, media reports have said he is eying a run for governor after backing off a senate bid. That would put him in competition with Gov. Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes.
Asked about Chris Kennedy Monday, Durbin said flatly, “I have heard so many rumors.”
“I don’t know where he is whether it is governor or senator or something else,” Durbin said.
“We’ve already received pledges of over $200,000 in just the one week that I’ve been making phone calls. I think that’s a great start and I think it shows again the strength of my support.”
.She’s bright, charasmatic w/ a great story, but how will her transit tax & Quinn tax vote play?
* State Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) talks to Fox Chicago News about running for Congress…
* Memo to newspapers: Get your own houses in order before complaining about blogs. Case in point, the Naperville Sun gave GOP Congresscritter Judy Biggert sponsorship credit for a major local project…
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that would allocate $1 million for improvement of the EJ&E railroad crossing at Ogden Avenue in Aurora.
The bill, H.R. 3288, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-13th), provides fiscal year 2010 appropriations for the Department of Transportation, included a total of $1.5 million requested by Biggert for a Metra Station in Tinley Park and freight-related traffic relief along Ogden Avenue. The bill passed the House on Thursday evening and now heads to the Senate.
But the paper forgot one tiny detail — along with the rest of Illinois’ Republican delegation, Biggert voted against the bill. The Sun staff report also falsely asserted that she “sponsored” the measure (in fact, she did no such thing).
The newspaper story appears to be a clumsy rewrite of an official press release. Oops.
* Al Hofeld, Jr., may seek state Senate seat: A Chicago lawyer whose father changed the face of Illinois politics says he’s getting ready for a possible race for the state Senate.
* GOP Businessman Dick Green Close to Announcing Bid for IL-10
