* The McLean County Medical Society formed a PAC back in late March and transferred $201,000 out of what appears to be the Society’s operating fund to the PAC on June 23rd. It then contributed $200,000 to Sen. Bill Brady’s campaign on June 30th. Brady is from Bloomington, which is in McLean County. Quite a nice chunk of change there.
* This doesn’t look like a huge deal to me. I think 11th District GOP candidate Adam Kinzinger did a pretty good job explaining the reasoning in the final graf of our excerpt…
In the primary election, Kinzinger’s biography on his website and his news releases said he was serving in the Air Force Special Operations Command. […]
It turns out Kinzinger was detailed to Air Force Special Ops for two three-month stints in 2008 and 2009, but was not permanently assigned to Special Ops, Air Force officials said.
“The way it was worded was incorrect,” Dawn M. Hart, chief of community relations for AFSOC public affairs in Florida, told the Chicago Sun-Times on Saturday. “He only worked for [Air Force Special Operations Command] for those two assignments.” […]
Kinzinger was never disciplined by the Air Force for saying he works for Special Ops. But he changed his website to say that he “has worked for” Special Ops. […]
Changing “is” to “has” on his website was no bigger deal than changing his age from 31 to 32 in February, Kinzinger said.
If there’s more to this than I’m seeing here, then we’ll of course revisit. Your thoughts would be appreciated, however.
* The Tribune wants a new state law to guarantee special elections for vacant US Senate seats, but it does point out a serious problem with the case moving through the federal court system right now, which could force a special Senate election on the state…
Elections officials need 180 days lead time for a special election. That allows time for candidates to gather petitions and for challenges to be resolved, plus time to prepare the ballots, program the machinery, handle early and absentee balloting and deal with emergencies. As of Tuesday, there are 119 days until the Nov. 2 election.
* Roundup…
* Lawmaker divests nursing home stake: State Sen. Heather Steans has divested her ownership stake in a troubled southwest suburban nursing home that has faced repeated citations for serious patient neglect, including medical failures that allegedly contributed to two patients’ deaths. The December death of Cordelia Lee at Evergreen Health Care Center in Evergreen Park and another death of a 90-year-old patient last year are part of a pattern of substandard care that moved state health authorities earlier this month to revoke the facility’s license… Steans had no operational role in Evergreen, and the Chicago Democrat said that, following a Tribune report on the facility earlier this month, she shed her 2.8 percent interest in the home.
* David Axelrod headlining Giannoulias fund-raiser July 25
* Giannoulias: Obama will campaign for me: “I have a feeling he’ll be out here a few times before November,” Giannoulias said Tuesday in an appearance on the ABC News/Washington Post “Topline” Web show. Giannoulias said that he had not personally asked Obama to stump for him, but added: “The White House has been great; they’ll be out here.”
* The Sun-Times has now changed the wording of its reporting on yesterday’s testimony by SEIU Illinois honcho Tom Balanoff. Yesterday’s post read…
[Balanoff] says Alexi Giannoulias, a friend to then President-Elect Barack Obama, asked him to ask Blagojevich about a possible appointment for him.
But that’s now been deleted after the campaign raised a question about its accuracy. Live-blogging is extremely difficult, especially during long, drawn-out events like trials, so these things happen. The story today reads…
Balanoff also testified that Giannoulias helped arrange a meeting of Jarrett, Balanoff and Giannoulias to discuss a Blagojevich appointment of Jarrett. Balanoff called Giannoulias to tell him Jarrett was dropping out. “In passing, he said: ‘Maybe he’ll appoint me,’ ” Balanoff testified.
Balanoff testified that he told Giannoulias he would run it by the then-governor.
Blagojevich, in a Nov. 24 meeting, bristled at the thought.
” ‘That motherf - - - - -, I wouldn’t do s - - - for him. Every chance he got he took a shot at me,’ ” Blagojevich said of Giannoulias, according to Balanoff.
So, it’s not nearly as bad as I thought yesterday. Time to move on.
* Speaking of moving on, a day after Mark Kirk apologized again for embellishing his record, he has launched two new TV ads. Let’s rate them.
In the first commercial, titled “Risky,” Kirk’s campaign shows a picture of a young-looking Giannoulias and then notes he is 34 years old. It then goes on to describe controversial loans Broadway Bank made to men with ties to organized crime while Giannoulias worked there, showing black-and-white pictures of the loan recipients. It also criticizes Giannoulias’ performance as treasurer when a college savings program run by the office lost $73 million.
“Alexi Giannoulias: Trust him with your money?” the announcer asks.
The other ad is called “Stand.” From the Sun-Times…
“Stand,” portrays Kirk as a more committed environmentalist than Giannoulias because Kirk spoke out against BP’s plan to discharge more into Lake Michigan while Giannoulias has a top aide who worked as a lobbyist for BP.
Environmental groups The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters, both have endorsed Giannoulias in this race, saying Kirk exaggerated his role in stopping BP’s proposal to dump more discharge into Lake Michigan.
The new ad buy starts on broadcast television in the Chicago area today and cable television Thursday.
From what I’m hearing so far, these are not huge ad buys. But they are getting wide publicity. WaPo…
The commercials are evidence that Kirk is following a “your best defense is a good offense” strategy, seeking to use his press conference and these ads to shift the focus in the race back to Giannoulias after a month of questions about the veracity of his military resume.
Kirk is also trying to exploit his financial edge over Giannoulias by beginning to define the race in the costly Chicago media market over the summer — typically a very quiet time for politics.
* Also, the troubles with posting the full Kirk press conference video continued late yesterday when I posted only his speech and not his media Q&A. Here’s the Q&A…
*** UPDATE 1 *** Giannoulias is responding with his own ad. So far, this is Internet-only. But the campaign claims they will make a buy. No word on how big that will be. This is a one-minute ad that slams Kirk. Rate it…
*** UPDATE 2 *** Today’s “Morning Joe” program was simply brutal. Make sure to watch…
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the Giannoulias campaign…
AD CHECK: THE TRUTH ABOUT KIRK’S NEW LIES
FACT: KIRK’S AD IS PAID FOR BY BIG OIL
Alexi has taken no money from BP, from its lobbyists or executives. Mark Kirk is paying for this ad with BP money: he has taken more than $120,000 from the firm that is making millions representing BP in the aftermath of the spill, $2,500 directly from BP and its executives, $4,750 from its corporate lobbyists, and another $8000 from Representative Joe Barton, who infamously apologized to BP executives on the House floor last week. [FEC; Center for Responsive Politics; Chicago Tribune, 5/18/10]
FACT: KIRK LOST KEY ENVIRONMENTAL BACKING FOR SIDING WITH BIG OIL
Congressman Kirk’s record on the environment has cost him the endorsement of the Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters. They chose Alexi because Kirk has continually sided with Big Oil by voting to protect tax breaks for big oil companies, to expand drilling throughout America’s coastal waters, and to allow drilling in prohibited areas. He even stood with Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin in 2008 to overturn the moratorium on drilling off the Florida coast. [Chicago Sun-Times, 6/8/10]
KIRK AD LIE 1: The Sun-Times said Kirk, quote, “fought hard to stop BP from dumping more waste into the lake.”
TRUTH: Jack Darin, who heads the Sierra Club’s Illinois chapter, called this claim “another case of Mark Kirk exaggerating his resume… He took a boat trip and held a press conference, but I think for him to say he stopped BP is clearly wrong. Unfortunately, Indiana went ahead gave BP the pollution permit for the pollution we were all so upset about, and still are. So BP in fact has not been stopped.”
KIRK AD LIE 2: Alexi says higher energy taxes are on the table.
TRUTH: Alexi has never pushed for higher energy taxes. He supports a market-based system that puts a price on global warming pollution, reduces our dependence on oil and spurs investment in renewable energy and new clean energy jobs. Numerous independent studies have shown that his transition can occur with minimal cost to consumers, and help make America more competitive in today’s global economy.
KIRK AD LIE 3: Alexi Giannoulias’ top aide was a longtime BP lobbyist.
TRUTH: Alexi’s unpaid advisor was never a lobbyist for BP. He was a real estate attorney who worked on zoning cases for BP-Bovis, the construction and development joint venture that converted existing Amoco stations into BP stations. It is required by the City of Chicago that real estate attorneys handling zoning cases register as lobbyists. He never advocated for BP and has done no work on oil and drilling issues.
KIRK AD LIE 4: Now running for Senate, Alexi supports higher taxes to fund billions more in spending.
TRUTH: Every proposal outlined by Alexi includes a counter-part offset to ensure that it is deficit neutral. Alexi also supports pay-as-you-go federal budgeting rules, which Congressman Kirk voted against. It’s no wonder — Kirk voted for every Bush budget and tax cut for the wealthy that tripled our national debt, took us from record surpluses to record deficits, and put the global economy on the precipice of collapse. [HR2920, Vote 612, 7/22/09; HJR45, Vote 48, 2/4/10; HCR353, Vote 79, 3/20/02; HCR95, Vote 141, 4/11/03; SCR95, Vote 198, 5/19/04; HCR95, Vote 149, 4/28/05,; HR4241, Vote 601, 11/18/05; HCR376, Vote 158, 5/18/06; SCR 21, Vote 377, 5/16/07; HR3, Vote 45, 3/8/01; HR6, Vote 75, 3/29/01; HR8, Vote 84, 4/4/01; HR1836, Vote 118, 5/16/01; HR1836, Vote 149, 5/26/01; HR3090, Vote 404, 10/24/01; HR3529, Vote 509, 12/19/01; HR586, Vote 103, 4/18/02; HR2143, Vote 219, 6/6/02; HR4019, Vote 229, 6/13/2002; HR2, Vote 182, 5/9/03; HR2, Vote 225, 5/23/0 3]
KIRK AD LIE 5: As Treasurer, he made risky investments that cost families $73 million in lost college savings.
TRUTH: Even Congressman Kirk has admitted that the problems experienced in one of Bright Start’s 21 funds was the fault of Oppenheimer, not the Treasurer’s office. As reported by the Chicago Tribune, “Kirk addressed a controversy involving Giannoulias’ stewardship as state treasurer of the Bright Start college savings program-and appeared to take Giannoulias’ side… Kirk went after “a state bureaucrat that has a bad record.” Asked by a reporter who that bureaucrat was, Kirk replied it was the person who ran the Oppenheimer “core plus” fund-who is not a state employee.” [Chicago Tribune, 10/12/09] In fact, under Alexi’s stewardship, the Bright Start program went from one of the worst in the country to one of the top five, according to several independent analysis.
KIRK AD LIE 6: At his father’s bank, Alexi made tens of millions in risky loans to convicted mobsters. Then, the bank collapsed.
TRUTH: Because of banking regulations that were strictly followed by the bank, all of these loans were legal and reviewed by state and federal regulators. Any suggestion that these few loans had any relationship to the bank’s financial problems is a lie.
