Here's the latest from the Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate.

Alexi Hits The Airwaves

State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is going up with his first television ad of the season, which focuses on his involvement in the fight this past spring to protect the 122-year-old, Chicago-based clothier Hartmarx Inc. from liquidation. (You can find our full of the Hartmarx battle here.) Watch it:

Mick Dumke also published a lengthy profile of Giannoulias in the Reader this week. While he doesn't break any news, Dumke does a thorough job of covering his political rise and the struggles of his family's bank, which has lost a considerable amount of capital in the past year because of its heavy investments in the real estate bubble and other development deals. Here's the nut graf:

There's little doubt what the biggest issues are: voters are angry and distressed about the economy, and, to a lesser extent, waste and corruption in government. While Giannoulias and his campaign team are betting that his progressive politics, reform efforts in the treasurer's office, and ideas for creating jobs will resonate, his opponents are talking a lot about Broadway Bank's aggressive lending policies and trying to force Giannoulias to talk about them too. They'd like nothing better than to turn his candidacy into a referendum on the high-risk growth strategies that propelled the banking industry toward catastrophe.

At a press conference last week in which he proposed various banking industry reforms, Giannoulias faced questions about Broadway Bank.  Greg Hinz reported on his response:

"You saw greed everywhere," Mr. Giannoulias said in response to a question about Broadway. A moment later, he conceded that he personally approved loans for projects in Florida, New York and other states. But "hundreds" of community banks are dealing with similar woes that have driven many of them to insolvency, he added.

"I don't think anyone even as smart as you could have foreseen" the near-total collapse of the economy and real estate market, Mr. Giannoulias said.

Mr. Giannoulias did not directly talk about what will happen to Broadway. But he said his brothers who run it are "concerned about the future. . . .I hope they can make it through."

Meister's Poll

Jacob Meister's campaign released the results of the newest primary poll today, using the number of undecideds (49 percent) to characterize the race as "wide open." But what's striking about the results is just how little movement there has been in the past two months (based on the limited polling conducted thus far). Check out how these results stack up with the data previously released by Cheryle Jackson and David Hoffman's respective campaigns:

Meister Poll (December 3)
Giannoulias: 33%
Jackson: 10%
Hoffman: 7%
Meister: 1%
Uncommitted 49%

Jackson poll (November 10)
Giannoulias: 31%
Jackson: 13%
Hoffman: 8%
Meister 2%
Undecided: 45%

Hoffman poll (October 13)
Giannoulias: 26%
Jackson: 12%
Hoffman: 7%
Meister N/A
Undecided: 55%

The Politics of Afghanistan

Following the president's address Tuesday night outlining his plan to increase troop levels in Afghanistan, the primary candidates wasted no time staking out their positions on escalation of the conflict. Both David Hoffman and Jackson issued statements opposing the troop surge, while Giannoulais and Meister support the Obama administration's efforts. National news outlets, including both The Hill and Politico, noticed Jackson and Hoffman's positioning and wondered to what degree campaign politics played into their positions.

Full Disclosure: The SEIU Illinois State Council, which sponsors this website, has endorsed Alexi Giannoulias in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.