* Edward McClelland makes an interesting case about newspaper endorsements. After asking Alexi Giannoulias what spending he would have opposed in the past two years, a Tribune editorial board member cut him off short…

McCormick: “You don’t get to have these long discussions in Congress. You vote yes or no.”

The resulting Tribune endorsement of Mark Kirk claimed that Giannoulias couldn’t answer the question, and Kirk has since used that statement in his advertising. From McClelland…

Has McCormick never watched a Senate hearing? Congress spends most of its time having long discussions. It spends a few minutes voting on the bills that result from those discussions. Presumably, as a senator with expertise in banking, Giannoulias would have had input into TARP, allowing him to shape it into a bill more to his liking. Congress isn’t simply presented bills and asked for a thumbs up or thumbs down. It’s not the Chicago City Council. It writes bills, debates them, and offers amendments.

Giannoulias gave a legitimate answer, but he was in a hostile forum. The Tribune Editorial Board only endorsed its first Democrat in 2008 — a wise business decision, considering most of its subscribers voted for Obama. Everyone expected the Tribune to endorse Kirk. We didn’t expect the paper to write his campaign ads, too

* Meanwhile, after failing to come up with any real reason to vote for Bill Brady in their original endorsement, the Tribune has since published an editorial about education reform that was red meat for the base.

* And that brings us to the 10th Congressional District race. A Tribune reported rightly noted recently that Republican Bob Dold was not exactly up front about his stand on abortion during the primary…

In the 10th Congressional District, the latest Democratic ad ties Republican Robert Dold to a group that opposes abortion rights. The ad ends with the tagline, “Too extreme for Illinois.”

After being somewhat cagey on the issue during the GOP primary, Dold has said he supports abortion rights, but doesn’t want tax dollars spent on it and wants minors to get the consent of a parent or judge before getting one. Dold was recommended by the Illinois Federation for Right to Life in the Republican primary, but the group pointed out that Dold doesn’t oppose abortion

New York Times / Chicago News Cooperative columnist James Warren also just wrote a piece about Dold…

A candidate can’t be expected to embrace everybody who supports him. But those backers can still leave a voter wondering where a candidate really stands.

Robert Dold, a Republican who’s running for Mr. Kirk’s north suburban congressional seat, publicly asserts he’s pro-abortion rights, but he keeps being endorsed by anti-abortion groups, the most recent being the Illinois Family Institute.

The key abortion question on its candidate questionnaire relates to proposed federal legislation to require that providers speak vividly to mothers. The proposed script for doctors includes the line, “There is substantial evidence that the process of being killed in an abortion will cause the unborn child pain, even though you receive a pain-reducing drug or drugs.”

Mr. Kirk said that he’s against the proposal. Mr. Dold, the self-proclaimed Kirk Redux moderate, said that he’s for it.

Dold, by the way, refused to eventually filled out Planned Parenthood’s questionnaire. The group, along with every other pro-choice organization, are none too happy with Dold.

And that brings us to the Tribune editorial entitled “Come on, Mr. Seals“…

You can get immune to candidates taking liberties with the truth as they rip each other during campaigns, but sometimes they mislead voters so badly you have to call them on it. Such is the case with Democrat Dan Seals.

Seals is running for the U.S. House in the north suburban 10th District. He and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are running ads that say Republican Robert Dold is “too extreme” on abortion. But they don’t cite Dold’s own words or views on abortion. That wouldn’t work, because Dold plainly says he supports abortion rights. They cite, instead, the views of the Illinois Federation for Right to Life.

“Bob Dold is hiding who he is. Dold’s supported by radical groups that would criminalize abortion in every case,” says an ominous voice in a Seals TV ad.

The editorial gets into the tricky business of what candidates say they are vs. what they really are. We often rely on established groups for guidance on this topic. For instance, if a candidate says he’s pro gun rights, but has no support from any gun organizations at all, is he or she really “pro-gun”? Well, yes, he or she could actually be pro-gun. Endorsements often go to incumbents when it’s a close call. But if a gun group specifically blasted a candidate as being “anti-gun” I’d take some notice.

Dold ran against what appeared to be a pro-life candidate in the GOP primary, but Illinois Federation for Right to Life still “recommended” Dold. That’s always been puzzling to me. From Tom Roeser…

Pro-lifer Arie Friedman lost to Bob Dold for 10th district Congress: at least Dold is somewhat pro-life—but I’m assuaged that pro-abort State Rep. Beth Coulson, worse than even NY-23’s Dede Scozzafava (the same lefty Beth who didn’t even endorse George W. Bush for reelection in 2004) has conceded to Dold.

The problem here is that Dold has indeed been “cagey” about what he actually supports. And until he has a voting record, we don’t know for sure who he really is and what he actually believes, even though his sisters insist that he’s pro-choice. Still, he’s worked overtime to publicly disassociate himself from some of the conservative groups that are supporting him, and that makes me more than a little suspicious about what’s really going on here. So it doesn’t look totally out of bounds for Seals to whack Dold on abortion since the pro-choice groups are so universally down on the guy. This isn’t nearly as clear-cut an issue as the Tribune tries to make it, except that Dold is their guy and they’re defending him. I get that, too. I just don’t follow their logic.

On the other hand, the Tribune claimed that state Rep. Mark Walker “has an anti-business voting record” even though Walker was endorsed by the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce. So go figure.

* Congressional roundup…

* National Democrats doubling down on two suburban congressional contests

* Candidates answer your questions on negative campaigning

* Rep. Bean, GOP opponent differ on stimulus

* 8th District Candidate bios

* 8th Congressional Dist. candidate Walsh turns to TV

* Tea party candidate struggling in race to oust Bean from Congress

* Democrat wages a repeat challenge against Biggert

* Cantor on a campaign tailgate Sunday to help GOP vying for Kirk seat

* Labor groups rally for Hare

* Following the money in the 14th Congressional District

* Campaign donations to Foster, Hultgren

* Green Party candidate in 17th District hopes voters will send a message

* 17th Congressional District Race: Week 7 — Davis

* 17th Congressional District Race: Week 7 — Hare

* 17th Congressional District Race: Week 7 — Schilling

* PJ Star: 17th Congressional District endorsement: Phil Hare

* PJ Star: 18th Congressional District endorsement: Aaron Schock

* VIDEO: Bill Foster Dodges Questions About Nancy Pelosi