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| Will Barack Obama make a full-court press for Alexi Giannoulias? |
| 2010-02-04 |
| Now that the president's friend and basketball buddy Alexi Giannoulias is the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, here's the thing: Will Barack Obama feed Giannoulias the ball and do the hard work setting picks for him, or will the president stay out of the gym, cool, detached, without breaking a sweat over Illinois politics? Obama was burned by campaigning in Massachusetts last month, where the state went from deep blue to red, the election of Republican Scott Brown an embarrassment to Obama and a referendum on the president's policies. Complicating things for the president in Illinois is that Giannoulias was battered by primary opponent David Hoffman, who used the Giannoulias family's Broadway Bank -- and its loans to mob figures and a convicted influence peddler -- in a series of devastating TV spots. That influence peddler is none other than Obama's own real estate fairy, Tony Rezko. The national Republicans are eager to take Obama's old Senate seat with liberal Republican Mark Kirk. And they're hoping to tie the president to the seamy politics of the state and to Obama's old friend Rezko. So how far will Barack be willing to go and risk getting bruised badly? "The president doesn't necessarily need to come here that much," said political consultant and Fox Chicago analyst Thomas Serafin. "He could come early and do some fundraisers, and then after Labor Day spend the rest of his time in Washington, dealing with the state of the world." That might be good advice. The state of the world is one thing. But in the summer, as the Senate campaigns heat up again, the state of Illinois will be about one thing: Corruption. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Obama to Alexi: "Alexi! Good man. Good work. Goodbye." |
| Posted by: Grunter 2010-02-04 16:20 |
| #1 Obama channels Rick Blaine: "I stick my neck out for nobody!" |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-02-04 15:59 |