The Senate race in Illinois is devolving and it continues to be a contest of which candidate will have fewer scandal. Alexi Giannoulias took a step back in that race today.
By February 2006, businessman and political fixer Tony Rezko was already politically radioactive, caught up in a federal investigation that would see him criminally charged by the end of that year.
News reports had linked Rezko, a key adviser and campaign fund-raiser for then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, to shady deals involving state pension funds -- among the crimes that ultimately would send him to prison.
This particular story is dubious. The loan was made to a company that Tony Rezko had a stake in. It was made after news had come out that Rezko was involved in scandal, but it was also made after Giannoulias stopped running day to day operations at the bank.
It is, however, more evidence of just how much of an insider Giannoulias is and how connected he is to other insiders in Illinois and that doesn't help at all.
First, we learned that Congressman Kirk claimed to have one a military award he never won. Then, we learned that he claimed to be deployed in Afghanistan when he was really in Afghanistan training on weekends. Now, we learn he's been inflating his record as a teacher.
New questions are emerging about a candidate's record in the race for the U.S. Senate.
First Mark Kirk was questioned about the accuracy of his military record. Now there are questions about what Kirk says about his teaching career.
Did Mark Kirk misremember, exaggerate or lie when he talked about a teaching job he held 29 years ago? Did he really believe that some of the pre-schoolers he taught might bring a gun to class? It is the latest episode in a sometimes unbelievable US Senate campaign.
While he has never claimed to have been an accredited teacher, Congressman Kirk's campaign often mentions their candidate's brief experiences in the classroom: He taught the 1982-83 academic year at a private high school in London and earlier in 1981, the campaign says, at a church run nursery school in Ithaca, New York.
What's really amazing about all this is that Kirk has won five elections to the U.S. Congress. None of his opponents, and he usually won handily, ever figured this out. It appears that Mark Kirk can't seem to keep things straight about his own history and that doesn't give one a good feeling about how he'll speak about the issues of the day.
It once seemed impossible that Alexi Giannoulias could win. He's the ultimate insider in a year when that is not a good place to be. Furthermore, all his so called accomplishments are now seen as liabilities. It appeared as though the failure of his family bank would be the major story. Now, the story is Mark Kirk's inability to tell the truth.
It should be noted that LeAlan Jones is the Green Party candidate for Senate from Illinois. He once polled at 14%. He's had no scandals that we know of.
Republican Representative, and candidate for the United States Senate, Mark Kirk has overstated his military accolades, claiming that he received the Intelligence Officer of the Year award. In a statement last Saturday, Kirk admitted that he had exaggerated his record.
Kirk says that he recently reviewed the biography on his website and realized that he'd made a mistake. He has been boasting, however, about this award for years, saying that he was awarded for his service in the war in Kosovo, Operation Allied Force.
Kirk used the award in his resume during his first run for Congress. He has also used his military time and accolades as a case for greater experience over his opponent in the race for the Senate, Alexi Giannoulias.
There's been a lot of news recently and so it's unclear just how much effect this will have on the Illinois Senate race. His opponent, Alexi Giannoulias, has plenty of problems of his own.
Only hours after federal regulators took over the failed bank that his family controlled, an emotional Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias took a big swig of water and labeled his day personally "devastating."
Now Giannoulias must convince the White House and voters that it's not politically devastating as well.
The closing of the doors at Broadway Bank for the final time Friday failed to slam shut ongoing concerns over Giannoulias' relationship with the bank and the impact on Democratic hopes to retain the Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama.
In 2006, Giannoulias portrayed himself to voters as a savvy young executive at a thriving community bank with the experience that qualified him to be state treasurer. Four years later, his role at the bank is being downplayed and the bank is out of business as he tries to persuade voters to send him to Washington.
The Democrats are stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. Giannoulias is not at all viable. Yet, if he were to drop out, there's no chance that a Democrat would win anyway. Frankly, their primary voters are to blame. His top opponent was David Hoffman. Hoffman was the Chicago Inspector General. Hoffman got the well earned reputation for taking on Chicago corruption. Hoffman was significantly more viable and would have reflected voter anger. Meanwhile, Giannoulias is the consummate insider. Yet, Democrats chose Giannoulias over Hoffman in the primary. All that we know now we knew then as well.
Scott Lee Cohen, the pawnbroker who flamed out of Illinois politics just days after voters nominated him as the Democratic lieutenant governor candidate, is making plans to run for governor.
Cohen last weekend told House Speaker Michael Madigan, who doubles as state Democratic Party chairman, that he intends to mount an independent run for governor, Madigan's spokesman said. In addition, a Cohen adviser confirmed Friday that Cohen plans to announce his candidacy this week and is trying to find a suitable running mate.
This will make for great political theater. I don't know how viable he'd be as a candidate but then again he came out of nowhere to win the primary.
The Chicago Tribune did a serious examination of loans by Broadway Bank when U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias was chief loan officer and found millions going to two convicted felons.
he family bank of Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias loaned a pair of Chicago crime figures about $20 million during a 14-month period when Giannoulias was a senior loan officer, according to a Tribune examination that provides new details about the bank's relationship with the convicted felons.
Broadway Bank had already lent millions to Michael Giorango when he and a new business partner, Demitri Stavropoulos, came to the bank in mid-2004. Although both men were preparing to serve federal prison terms, the bank embarked on a series of loans to them.
Alexi Giannoulias took a senior position at the bank at about the same time and used it as a launching pad for his political career. But as he campaigns to step up from state treasurer to the U.S. Senate, he has tried to distance himself from the bank's business with the pair and has been reluctant to detail his role.
The loans included millions to companies owned by one or both. Giannoulias doesn't appear to be the one that approved these specific loans. He was, however, chief loan officer and so the one in charge of the department.
Two men with ties to Alexi Giannoulias' Broadway Bank were recently arrested for "check kiting".
Two owners of Boston Blackie's have been charged in a scheme that cost a pair of banks nearly $2 million and also created another political headache for Democratic Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias.
The father and son owners used business accounts at the Giannoulias family-owned financial institution, Broadway Bank, as part of their scheme, according to charges filed by Cook County prosecutors.
Prosecutors did not accuse Broadway Bank of any wrongdoing. But they did say Chris Giannis, 38, and his father Nick Giannis, 62, wrote checks with insufficient funds from accounts at Broadway to make deposits at other banks, then quickly moved that money out of the other banks.
The Giannoulias campaign immediately announced that any contributions from either of the Giannis' will be donated.
Giannoulias has made a big issue that his campaign won't take money from PAC's and corporations. There are, however, questions about who is supporting his campaign and their background. These two will open up questions about that.
Besides that though, while there are ties to Broadway Bank, there isn't much here against Giannoulias. There's no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of Broadway Bank and certainly not Giannoulias himself. It is, however, embarrassing for a few days. Larger problems at Broadway Bank remain a much bigger problem for his campaign.
Alexi Giannoulias sat down with the Tribune editorial staff last week to try and explain his role in the debacle in his family's bank, Broadway Bank.
Giannoulias took great umbrage at the suggestion that risky lending practices precipitated the bank's decline. Though he acknowledged that in retrospect the bank was overinvested in real estate, he insisted that his now-deceased father, an immigrant who founded the Edgewater bank in 1979, placed great faith in the stability and safety of property as an investment.
Giannoulias didn't challenge often-cited figures that place Broadway further out on the limb than its peer institutions: Of 240 banks its size, it ranked second in percentage of loans that went to real estate and 10th in loans for construction and development. Its reliance on volatile brokered deposits was far higher than the industry average. All of those measures climbed dramatically between 2002 and 2006, when Giannoulias left the bank to run for state treasurer. That year, Broadway was the fifth most profitable community bank in the country, and young Giannoulias' campaign capitalized on that success.
Giannoulias once told a mutual friend that have gave loans to a savory character because he simply qualified. His credit was excellent and he had the proper income. That's exactly what he told the Tribune staff as well.
If this interview was supposed to "clear the air" as Giannoulias said in the beginning, it certainly didn't appease the Tribune editorial board. The board concluded that Giannoulias was essentially talking out of both sides of his mouth. He took great credit when the bank was doing well. When it's tough, he says that others, his father for instance, made decisions. Yet, his experience at Broadway was the single accomplishment that Giannoulias used to win the Treasurer's seat. His four years are rather unaccomplished.
This story isn't going away. The bank will likely be in the hands of regulators in a month. The story will continue to be on the front pages. This race will be the ultimate proof of Tip O'Neil's famous proclamation, "all politics is local". This race will be all about Giannoulias' actions during his days as the senior loan officer at Broadway Bank.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk said Monday the fate of his Democratic rival's family bank should be an issue of concern for voters.
"I think there's no question that Alexi Giannoulias bears direct personal responsibility for reckless loans that could bankrupt the Broadway Bank," Kirk said of the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee. "I also worry that the possible collapse of the Broadway Bank will leave taxpayers left paying for Alexi's reckless loans."
Kirk's comments came after the Tribune reported Sunday that the bank's chief executive, Demetris Giannoulias, said the family must raise at least $85 million by the end of April to prevent a government seizure of the financial institution. Demetris Giannoulias is the older brother of Alexi Giannoulias.
This should surprise no one. This will be a main issue in the campaign. It isn't going away. It's nearly impossible for Giannoulias to minimize it, and so it's hard to see how he'll win in November.
Please note. I welcome any and all comments from any political perspective. I will not stand or approve any swearing, and personal attacks will likely also not be approved.
