* Sen. Mike Frerichs was asked about the Giannoulias endorsement today…

* Transcript…

Host: “Former Democratic State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias recently actually endorsing your opponent, Tom Cross. He said, among other things, ‘I do appreciate the fact that Tom Cross has done his homework on the office of Treasurer.’ He also said ‘I’ve known Tom Cross for awhile, I think he has courage.’ Were you surprised by a Democrat, Alexi Giannoulias, endorsing your opponent?”

Mike Frerichs: “Change is hard. We’ve promised to come in, and clean up this office. One of the things we want to do, we want to make sure that when families are saving for their children’s education, those dollars are safeguarded. Tom Cross thinks the last two Treasurers have done a great job. They’ve used that office as a stepping stone, and taken their eye off the real responsibilities of the Treasurer’s office.

“I’m a certified public finance officer. I have experience in government finance, unlike my opponent. He’s a lawyer who wants to come in and sue people. We’re not going to grow our economy by suing people. We’re not going to improve our office by doing the same tried (sic, “tired”?) things that have been done in the past. We’re going to come in and shake things up.”

The education thing refers to Giannoulias’ “Bright Start” college savings plan debacle.

But, as I’ve already told subscribers, Frerichs tried reaching out to Giannoulias several times without success. He wanted that endorsement.

Also, while I get his point about “suing people,” suing over an unbalanced budget wouldn’t necessarily hurt the economy. Nice line, though.