* The Illinois GOP just sent out a news release about poll results that I shared with subscribers today. Illinoisans oppose bringing those Gitmo prisoners to Thomson, according to the poll. From the release…

Survey Shows Only 32% of Illinois Voters Support Quinn/Durbin Plan to Move Gitmo to Illinois, 57% Oppose

60% of women, 58% of independents and plurality of Democrats call plan a “bad idea”

The automated polling firm We Ask America surveyed 1,791 likely Illinois voters yesterday. The poll had a margin of error of ± 2.32 percent. Here’s the actual question…

“It has been reported that a prison in northwestern Illinois is being considered to house individuals that have been incarcerated at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay. The individuals in question are being held due to suspicion that they have connections to terrorist activities. Do you think that housing these prisoners in an Illinois prison is a good idea or a bad idea?”

Subscribe for crosstabs and more results.

This isn’t much of a surprise. National polling by Gallup back in June had this result…

By more than 2-1, those surveyed say Guantanamo shouldn’t be closed. By more than 3-1, they oppose moving some of the accused terrorists housed there to prisons in their own states.

Whatever you think about this particular issue, it’s pretty clear that moving those prisoners to Thomson is a net political negative for Quinn and for those who support the plan.

* Meanwhile, Democratic US Senate candidate David Hoffman’s most recent polling memo is getting some play today. “Hoffman poll suggests hits on Giannoulias are potent,” reports The Hill. “Hoffman camp: Giannoulias nearly unelectable,” says Politico.

From the memo…

At the beginning of the survey, Mark Kirk leads both Alexi Giannoulias and David Hoffman, with Kirk getting an identical 40% of the statewide vote in pairings against each of the Democrats. Given the fact that Giannoulias is substantially better known at this stage than Hoffman (51% name ID for Giannoulias vs. 26% for Hoffman), it is not surprising that Giannoulias begins with a larger share of the vote in his trial heat against Kirk than Hoffman does (37% for Giannoulias vs. 30% for Hoffman).

So, Kirk leads 40-37 over Giannoulias and 40-30 over Hoffman.

Hoffman’s pollster contends that an informed electorate will reject Giannoulias…

Alexi Giannoulias’s own vulnerabilities are so significant, and far more damning than Kirk’s among the electorate, that Giannoulias is deeply flawed as a general election candidate for the Democratic Party. His nomination would put Barack Obama’s former Senate seat in extreme jeopardy for the Democrats. […]

Indeed, after voters hear positives and negatives for Hoffman, Giannoulias, and Kirk, Hoffman has the advantage over Kirk by 42% to 36%, while Giannoulias trails Kirk by a wide margin of 47% to 30%.

The attacks that the Republicans are likely to make against Giannoulias, and in fact already are making1, are powerful in raising deep concerns about him among voters. For example, three-quarters of all voters say they have very (62%) or fairly (13%) serious concerns about Giannoulias when they hear the following:

Alexi Giannoulias’s family bank had close financial ties with Tony Rezko, one of Rod Blagojevich’s top funders who is now in jail, and Alexi Giannoulias met personally with Rezko. Not only did the bank give $11 million in loans to Rezko and his businesses, but the bank also gave Rezko preferential treatment by allowing him to bounce nine checks worth more than $500,000 without closing his account or reporting his actions to the authorities.

Also, according to the memo, just 18 percent agree with the view that “it is unfair to criticize Alexi Giannoulias for problems at the Broadway Bank, including its involvement with Tony Rezko, because Alexi Giannoulias has not been involved with the bank for four years, and many other banks also made loans to Rezko before he was exposed as a criminal.”

The Hill has the Giannouolias campaign’s response…

“Every public poll shows Alexi Giannoulias leading or neck and neck with Mark Kirk, while David Hoffman is trailing badly,” Bowen said. “He is behind, desperate, and now he is running a negative and dishonest campaign, preferring to attack fellow Democrats instead of telling us what he would do in the Senate. Just last week, the Chicago Tribune caught him falsely attacking Alexi Giannoulias and he was forced to apologize.”

* Other campaign stories…

* Cook board votes to cut half of Stroger sales-tax hike: The board voted 12-5 to cut the year-old increase in half. Mr. Stroger earlier had vetoed similar moves, but a new state law cuts the number of votes needed on the board to override the president to 11 from 14… “We had 12. We need 11. It’s always nice to have a little insurance,” she said.

* Zorn: Petition challenge hearings begin: The ‘gotcha’ game is afoot:
“Apparently, for whatever reason, her voter registration didn’t get transferred when she moved” recently, says Deb Mell’s attorney, Michael J. Kasper. “We disagree with the claim that this invalidates her petitions.” I’m no election lawyer, but my reading of an 86-page summary of prior rulings (.pdf) published this month by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners is that Kasper’s right.* As hypertechnical as some of the disqualifications may seem — tossing a candidate for using a professional title on his petitions, failing to number or properly bind petition sheets and so on — there’s a considerable amount of common sense evident in the rulings.

* Kirk Foe Heads To DC: Wealthy atty Patrick Hughes (R) will be the latest to try and capitalize on conservative anger with perceived centrist candidates when he heads to DC this week for meetings with right-leaning organizations.

* Schakowsky Endorses Giannoulias’ Senate Bid

* Matt Murphy picks up endorsements: The endorsements came from state senators John Millner of Carol Stream, Brad Burzynski of Rochelle and Pam Althoff of McHenry along with state representatives Suzie Bassi of Palatine, Franco Coladipietro of Bloomingdale, Michael Connelly of Lisle, Sid Mathias of Buffalo Grove, Dennis Reboletti of Elmhurst, Randy Ramey of Carol Stream, Sandra Pihos of Glen Ellyn and Ed Sullivan, Jr. of Mundelein.