Karl Rove is spinning in his grave.

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Not so, encoded anonymous. Karl Rove's tactic would be to accuse his opponent of having run a bank into the ground. Facts be damned, accuse the other guy of your own worst problem.

Two things:

First,

Um, let's try that again....

First, Giannoulias brings the issue out into the open, thereby denying the Right their "breaking-omg-news" opportunity. By opening up on the issue, they can't promote that he's hiding the issue.

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and the second?

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["Karl Rove is spinning in his grave."]

Reminds me of that Simpson's Halloween episode where Satan puts Nixon on the jury of the damned.

N: "But I'm not dead yet!"

S: "Hey, I did a favor for you!"

N: "Yes, Master."

People are sympathetic to local, family-run banks. The GOP spin will be to make locals believe this guy is somehow a Wall Street type who made his fortune at the top of the market and then left everyone else holding the bag. And so on.

The best thing the Dems can say is that the Repubs are heartless idiots who screw up everything they try.

It's called getting out in front of controversy--I don't know much about Giannoulias, but at least he knows how to run a political campaign.

Allan Snyder's comment FTW! I believe it's called savvy and proactive.

Yea, I can sure identify with the pain of having the "Family Bank" collapse.

Lot's of guys down at the factory have had their "Family Banks" fail

It is refreshing to see that Giannoulias has stated out in the open that he left the family banking business 4 years ago. When he left the banking business it was in good hands. Why go with the Republican that was carrying water for George Bush and the GOP. DO NOT FORGET THAT THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND THE GOP LEFT US WITH THIS ECONOMIC MESS WHEN THE GOP WAS INCHARGE AND BUSH WAS THE PRESIDENT. ALL OF THIS WAS ON OBAMA'S DESK WHEN HE TOOK OFFICE IN JANUARY 2008. THE ECONOMY IS TURNING AROUND LITTLE BY LITTLE, BUT OF COURSE YOU HAVE THE MINORITY GOP THAT JUST SAYS "NO" TO ANY LEGISLATION THAT OBAMA, HOUSE OR SENATE PUTS FOURTH. If by chance that the voters are stupid enough to elect the Republicans to the House or Senate I guess those voters deserve what they get (when the economy goes through the floor again with the loss of jobs, etc.). They sure can't complain!

Yea, I can sure identify with the pain of having the "Family Bank" collapse.

Lot's of guys down at the factory have had their "Family Banks" fail

Precisely. In our roles as designated political geeks, let's not lose sight of how this looks to people who aren't consumed with the political/campaign process as we are.

I might add that much of the talk here in Illinois is about not just his failed family bank, but his numerous business dealings with the outfit. A mobbed-up bankster running for the senate at a time when bankers are less popular than the Taliban...and then the banker's bank fails. What could go wrong? Add the fact that Mark Kirk is still fairly successfully posing as a moderate, and it's big trouble.

This self-centered ass should never have run, and his staying in the race will very likely lose us the seat.

shortstop, I agree. Too bad we're going to be stuck with Sen. Kirk.

As a Chicago resident that grew up in Kirk's district, Giannoulias has his hands full for several reasons:

- Giannoulias was state treasurer during the time when Bright Start, the state's 529 college savings plan, tanked and cost investors in excess of $100 million in losses, with only a partial recovery.

- The Blagojevich trial will begin in June, shining a spotlight on Dems and the issue of corruption. It's likely to end very close to the November elections.

- Dems control both the house and senate at the state level, and IL has the second-worst deficit in the country ($13 billion).

- The incumbent governor, a Democrat, is trailing a conservative GOPer in the gubernatorial race by 10 points. Considering that this is a reliably blue state, that is not a good harbinger.

- While Kirk has tried hard to destroy his reputation as a moderate, the local media still continue to consider him as such.

- The RNC is salivating at the chance to pick up Obama's seat, and has pledged to pour lots of cash into the Kirk campaign.

This will be a very difficult race for Alexi to win.

At this point, it's a lot better than talking chicken, or trotting out demon sheep.

When Giannoulias's father died a few years ago his brother took over the bank. They weren't overextended in the mortgage market, they had most of their loans in commercial real estate which of course has taken a beating.

Agree with Dan on most points, but would point out that we had GOP governors from 1977-2003 -- not at all usual in this "reliably blue state." Quinn's numbers have more to do with his own performance (and Blago's before him) than with any dramatic sweep of Republican sentiment across the state.

Making lemons out of lemonade? No, the more apt cliche is you can't polish a turd.

In an email on Friday, Alexi actually tried to make the (completely untenable) argument that he knows hard times because his family business has failed. Right, because it's really going to make life difficult for Alexi's family, since they'll all pocket millions in tax writeoffs. Yes, folks, this millionaire feels your pain.

Precisely. In our roles as designated political geeks, let's not lose sight of how this looks to people who aren't consumed with the political/campaign process as we are.

I'll bite--how does it look? The banks that are despised are the ones on Wall Street. I don't know anything more about this guy, but the statement "his family's bank failed" is pretty value-neutral.

Alexi's viability hinges on Obama's popularity and how much he campaigns for him.

The banks that are despised are the ones on Wall Street.

The majority of voters simply aren't going to make that distinction. Rightly or wrongly, the popular perception is that every failed bank, regardless of size, deserved to fail and that the smaller banks still standing are there because they operated with more integrity. Most people also don't make the distinction between subprime involvement and commercial real estate activity.

Add to that Giannoulias's millions of dollars in loans (while he was a senior loan officer) to outfit guys -- the details of which are just starting to get media attention -- and there's way too much shadiness coming off this guy for the average voter who's not party-committed.

It's really too bad; I think Hoffman could have won despite not having enough name recognition downstate in the primary -- something he could have solved between the primary and the general. His record as a reformer against the Daley administration would have played very decently downstate. But he was an outside candidate, Giannoulias had the state party backing, and that's how it goes.

Alexi's viability hinges on Obama's popularity and how much he campaigns for him.

Well, that's a tough one, isn't it? Obama's stayed out of this race so far, but Giannoulias was sort of his protege throughout Giannoulias's state treasurer campaign. Obama's still very popular across the state, but the banking issues make his campaigning too heavily for Giannoulias a bit of a loaded proposition. I'm curious to see how the WH will handle this one.

I agree that it was a serious mistake for Illinois democrats to nominate a banker with a ton of baggage against the "moderate" Mark Kirk.

And I don't whether to be appalled or impressed by his chutzpah in trying to turn the tables on his opponent. I want Dems to be aggressive in their campaigns... but my bull**** meter is going off at the concept that Kirk is more responsible for Broadway Bank's failure than Alexi.

It looks like Obama wants to stay out of this one. I would too. Overall, we've got a narrative that Repubs are siding with the banks and Wall Street and lobbyists... no doubt they'd *love* to tie a failed banker with mob ties around his neck.

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Not so, encoded anonymous.
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I see you frequent Drum's place as well. ;-)

And of course you're right re tactics; I just can't resist a cheap laugh.

I don't think has any other option but to embrace the crisis. Lord knows if he doesn't bring it up, his opponent will. It's worth a try, I guess.