Democratic primary attacks from David Hoffman are hollow, reek of GOP anti-Obama criticisms in 2008.
Inter-party attacks show inconsistency, flagging support for a little known dem candidate.
Even Cheryl Jackson, a lesser known candidate has a wide lead over Hoffman.
Chicago Tribune Polling 12/14/09 (Democratic Primary): Giannoulias (D) 31% - Cheryl Jackson (D)17% - David Hoffman (D) 9%
Rasmussen Polling 12/11/09 (General Election): Alexi Giannoulias (D) 42% - Mark Kirk (R) 39% - Giannoulias +3%
In the past two years alone, we've made great inroads to repairing the economic calamity America has been left with under Republican rule for eight years.
Once again, Americans are called upon to wield their constitutionally given right to fire or re-contract our representatives in the U.S. Congress. No doubt, these races get contentious, but sometimes every once in a while there are few issues thrown into the open because there's really not many to discuss.
In this case of David Hoffman versus Alexi Giannoulias, we find ourselves in similar territory.
Let's get some things cleared straight away. Alexi Giannoulias was formerly associated to a small bank owned by his family that formerly held some loose connections to Tony Rezko; a bank Alexi quickly severed ties with. It is also significant to state that the bank is a small one, and any chances of ire directed towards the state treasurer because of his ties to a small town bank because of Henry Paulson's TARP program seem highly overstated.
The Giannoulias family is an immigrant family that got to the United States and quickly were able to bring upon themselves the reality of an American dream come true. I don't believe voters will be quickly hypnotized because the word 'bank' is mentioned near Alexi's name.
Many pundits are calling the race a toss up in a state that hasn't found itself very willing to vote republican since George Ryan was indicted a few years back. People of course aren't amnesiacs and aren't quickly to forget good ol' Blago, but these two governors are creating a cognitive dissonance among Illinoisans who simply don't know where to turn to find suitable people to run the state.
Let us not forget that the 2008 elections were held during the whole Blagojevich debacle and had little if any bearing on state elections at the time. We found historically republican districts being won by democrats.
There's no denying that the race in 2010 is closer because of Blagojevich, but Rasmussen's latest poll shows Alexi 3 percentage points ahead of Mark Kirk, and that's of course considering that Rasmussen has been recently proved to show inflated numbers for republicans. The last poll before that, run about this same time last year by Research 2000 showed Giannoulias 8 points ahead of Kirk.
I can't offer any big criticism of David Hoffman, because truly, there is little of it to be had. I could criticize him as Giannoulias did in a recent debate between the two for using tons of his own money to fund his campaign, but that issue is neither here nor there. A candidate has that option if they have the money to do so as much as it pushes down grassroots candidates.
Both Giannoulias and Hoffman would be great candidates to fill the President's old Senate seat, but let's be realistic about this. David Hoffman is a weak candidate for the seat severely lagging in primary polls.
Illinoisans know Giannoulias well. He's been on the political scene for a few years now and holds the respect of republicans and democrats alike. He's been the type of political figure you'd want to run your state, he's been people friendly and never afraid to lend his constituents a personal word despite how busy he may be. I've even had direct messages from the man himself through Facebook.
If all David Hoffman supporters can cling on to is his severely loose ties to Tony Rezko, then I really struggle to understand why these concerns weren't raised by these same people in their support of Barack Obama in 2008. That's being disastrously inconsistent in an attempt to boost a candidate that has little chance of winning to begin with.
The only real benefit that could come from Hoffman's challenge would be the strengthening of Giannoulias as a candidate, but since Mark Kirk has no real primary challenges himself, any serious attempt to low blow Giannoulias into a loss would give the image of a weak candidate and dimming the chances of Illinois maintaining dual democratic Senate seats since Peter Fitzgerald retired.
Let's end these shenanigans now. We have much left to do in the U.S. Congress to keep supporting a candidate in Hoffman who has little recourse left in trying to win this election.
If you must, cast your vote for Hoffman in the primaries, but a strong democratic showing for our nominee will undoubtedly reap huge benefits for that person in the general election. You should really think about it.
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Alexi Giannoulias - 33 years old, two jobs: Lousy Overpaid Banker, Lousy entitled Stae Treasurer.
ReplyDeleteDavid Hoffman - 42 years old, five jobs: Foreign Policy Aide in the Senate, Federal Clerk, Supreme Court Clerk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Inspector General for the City of Chicago
It's really not even close. What is it about Alexi Giannoulias that qualifies him to be a U.S. Senator besides his inheritance or the fact that he is a former basketball acquaintance of Barack Obama?
You used the word "ties" several times in the same paragraph. Don't you think the Republicans are going to have fun using that same word when they torch Giannoulias with a 15 million dollar smear campaign?
Why not vote for the more qualified candidate - the one with no "ties" to Blagojevich or Rezko?
Hoffman is clearly the stronger nominee in a general election - and that's why he'll have my support.
When you realize that voters don't generally respond positively to ad hominem then maybe you'd see why Alexi is a better candidate.
ReplyDeleteHe used to help run a small family bank, but he's a lousy overpaid banker? You realize he hasn't worked for the bank since he was fresh out of college, right?
Also, the word 'ties' was used because I was specifically addressing criticisms aimed at Giannoulias, criticisms that are nothing but baseless personal attacks with no substance.
I think Republicans will have plenty of fun realizing like they did in 2008 with Obama that repeating the name Blagojevich and Tony Rezko doesn't really have much bearing on the way people vote.
Please explain to me how Hoffman is POSSIBLY more qualified. He was Chicago's inspector general and former Federal prosecutor. If you're really going to try to take the 'qualified' line of argument, you're going down a route you've already lost.
Hoffman has no chance to win the primary election, let alone have any decent chance against Kirk. No one knows who Hoffman is in Illinois.
Do the smart thing and support the party's nominee if you even hope to retain the seat for the party. The message is clearly aimed at party loyalists.
Jose, I like the post, and its well written but it reminds me of a lot of Clinton-friendly writers in January 2008, when they were saying a lot of the same things of Obama that you are now saying of Hoffman -- calling Giannoulias "our nominee" before the race has been won would probably be the most noticeable comparison to Clintonistas.
ReplyDeleteAs for Hoffman's lagging in polls, you should realize that Cheryle Jackson's support is essentially the black community, and only the black community, a community that will likely turn for Alexi or David. Jackson literally has NO downstate operations. In fact, Alexi and David are the only candidates with viable campaigns.
However, I am happy to see that you have mastered some of the campaign communication skills, saying "You realize he hasn't worked for the bank since he was fresh out of college, right?"
You could have just said Alexi ran the bank after he graduated law school (in 2003) until he was elected to be the state's treasurer (in 2006). But you didn't say it that way. I'm glad we'll be on the same team in a month.
My party loyalty will drive me to support Giannoulias come February 3, should Hoffman lose the primary. And I'll likely volunteer for him if given the opportunity -- like I have been given by the Hoffman camp -- because I really dislike the right-wing loon that Mark Kirk has become since abandoning his House seat in a liberal district.
Thanks for keeping discussion alive.
I wasn't trying to sound presumptuous when I said 'our nominee'. I meant that last part to be a simple statement of if we have a strong showing for whomever will be our nominee in the primary, then that nominee will likely see that showing again in the fall.
ReplyDeleteI think there's big differences, though, in the line of argument from Clintonites for last year's primaries. The national democratic primary is literally a long race to the end whereas this one is just a race to the primary and then a long standstill until the election. There is no in between action.
In that sense, Clintonites were definitely pushing it by assuming she was going to be the nominee, but let's be real about this, I don't think you or I really believed Obama would become President during this time last year. I worked strongly for him in the hope that maybe something real would come from the campaign in terms of change, but never ever had any real inclination to believe that we would win the presidency which makes our victory all the more sweet-republicans and loyal Clintonites just have no way to comprehend this.
I definitely agree about Jackson, but the problem is that this huge part of the constituency is causing Hoffman any chance WHATSOEVER of winning the primary. Even if he somehow did, I don't think black voters would have the inclination to turn out for Hoffman as opposed to Giannoulias. The black democratic electorate voted for Alexi as treasurer and will likely turn out again for him to succeed Burris. I don't think they'll turn out at all if Hoffman somehow won.
I do sometimes say things that could be said in a better way, but that's why it's good to have an editor when you write for a paper! ;)
Thanks for having this discussion with me, btw. Not many people are willing to do so honestly without trying to throw around mud and I appreciate that a lot.
If you'd like to keep having them, this blog runs parallel with my account on Daily Kos which has been an incredible source for discussion and people really aren't afraid to come out and say what they think. You should consider an account there to at least get into some really lively discussion with some really smart people. Alexi himself has an account there and has written a few op-eds since last year.