Weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court announces a major decision that is expected to overturn Roe v. Wade, Democratic Secretary of State Anna Valencia today has launched her first TV ad, “Consequences,” that highlights her staunch advocacy for reproductive rights.
The ad contrasts her record with Alexi Giannoulias’ support for Republican Tom Cross, who sponsored anti-choice legislation in Springfield and specifically changed the language of the ban on partial-birth abortions to limit the exemption to instances where the procedure was necessary to save the life of the mother, instead of the life of a mother. The bill was intended to maintain a limit on choice for persons in Illinois, and continued to lack an exemption for rape or incest under the amended language that Cross sponsored.
The ad also highlights Giannoulias’ 2016 op-ed urging Illinoisans to unite behind Donald Trump – whose Supreme Court picks are the reason why abortion rights are about to be rolled back. The ad will run on Chicago broadcast and cable TV, as well as on digital platforms throughout the state.
* Spot…
* Script…
“After 50 years, a women’s right to choose is being torn away.
“My opponent, Alexi Giannoulias, has supported an anti-choice candidate and even lectured us to unite behind Donald Trump.
“Trump’s the reason we are facing this crisis today.
“Elections have consequences. That’s why Democrats statewide are standing with me.
“No woman should face jail time for seeking an abortion. And no politician should make medical decisions for us.
In her ad, Valencia is referring to Giannoulias’ endorsement of former Illinois House Republican Leader Tom Cross, who ran for state treasurer four years after Giannoulias had left the office.Cross, a moderate Republican from Oswego, however, has a history of endorsements that show he supported abortion rights and also same-sex marriage.
He also ran a 2014 television ad in which he said, “I’m pro-choice.” Cross was endorsed by Personal PAC in 2008 and by Equality Illinois in 2014. He was also just one of three House Republicans who voted to legalize same-sex marriage in 2014.
Valencia’s campaign also referenced a bill sponsored by Cross, as House GOP leader, in 2003, describing it as an “anti-choice” bill.
The legislation, a so-called “shell bill,” was designed to amend “the Partial-birth Abortion Ban Act,” according to its synopsis, making “a technical change to a Section prohibiting partial-birth abortions.” Shell bills are typically filed as a way to move legislation often on unrelated issues along more quickly. Budget bills are often moved through shell bills that have already been introduced. […]
Valencia’s ad also features a Chicago Tribune op-ed that Giannoulias wrote in 2016. The words on the screen read, “Alexi Giannoulias ‘Let’s All Help’ Trump.” The op-ed, however, ran two days before the election was called for Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton, and the headline actually read, “Let’s all help our president-elect unify a divided America.”
Nobody was gonna use that shell bill to move something unrelated because the topic was just too hot and the title couldn’t be changed, and it also wasn’t an approp bill. He did what he did, but his endorsement by Personal PAC does say quite a lot. And Cross was also endorsed by Personal PAC in 2010 and in 2012. Tough to call him anti-choice after that.
The hatred and vitriol in this presidential campaign are unparalleled, and our country is deeply and dangerously divided. Hillary Clinton supporters contend they will leave the country if Trump wins (which is the same exasperated refrain we heard when George W. Bush was elected). Some Trump supporters are actually dangerous in their rhetoric, even threatening to take up arms against a Clinton administration.
As it turned out, a few loudmouths threatened to leave and didn’t, but some Trump supporters did, in fact, take up arms after the 2020 election and stormed the United States Capitol Building. He was calling for calm, but used himself as some sort of shining light because he had a drink with Mark Kirk after getting thumped. And the same people who ran Kirk’s race, who went on to run Bruce Rauner’s first race are now running the Griffin slate and salivating at a repeat Giannoulias performance this fall (although, to be fair, they’re also quite pleased with the oppo that has emerged from Valencia’s recent past).
