Progress Illinois

There are two new campaign ads out this afternoon.

First up, Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias' campaign has a new web video slamming GOP frontrunner Mark Kirk for seeking Sarah Palin's support:

On a related note, the Sun-Times editorial board criticized the North Shore Republican this morning in a piece headlined "Moving right might cost Kirk election."

Next is 10th Congressional District candidate Julie Hamos, who released her first TV spot today. Health care is the theme. "Let's not let this moment in history pass us by," she says about the prospect of reform. Watch it:  

Speaking of health care, United Power for Action and Justice and the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law have published a new video featuring two physicians explaining why they believe reform is necessary.  Watch it:

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Last fall, GOP Rep. Mark Kirk wasn't sure that Sarah Palin had the proper qualifications to serve as vice president. But apparently he thinks she has what it takes to help him wrap up his U.S. Senate primary bid.

According to the Washington Post's Chris Cilliza, Kirk recently penned a memo to Republican bigwig Fred Malek soliciting a formal endorsement from the former Alaska governor when she swings through Chicago to appear on Oprah Winfrey's television show:

After noting that Palin will be in Chicago later this month to appear on "Oprah", Kirk writes that "the Chicago media will focus on one key issue: Does Gov[ernor] Palin oppose Congressman Mark Kirk's bid to take the Obama Senate seat for the Republicans?"

Kirk goes on to write that he is hoping for something "quick and decisive" from Palin about the race, perhaps to the effect of: "Voters in Illinois have a key opportunity to take Barack Obama's Senate seat. Congressman Kirk is the lead candidate to do that."

The Chicago media's sole focus will be on whether Palin "oppose[s] Congressman Mark Kirk's bid to take the Obama Senate seat for the Republicans?"  Really?

The only explanation for this bizarre memo is that Kirk is genuinely worried that some conservative challenger might undercut his campaign before it gets off the ground, even though no one who fits that profile has yet emerged.  But is pursuing Palin's support really worth it?  After all, she is pretty darn unpopular outside the hardcore conservative base.

Moreover, his efforts to secure her endorsement represent yet another flip-flop. Indeed, Kirk initially praised John McCain's selection of a running mate last September, only to change his mind when it became clear that she was dragging down the Republican ticket, telling the Tribune editorial board that he would have picked someone else as a running mate.  Now we've come full circle.

UPDATE (2:47 p.m.): Here's a response from Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias:

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North Shore Republican Rep. Mark Kirk has hit the airwaves with a new radio spot bashing the Democrats' health care reform effort. The Plum Line's Greg Sergeant nabbed the audio and has posted it online. Click on the video to hear the U.S. Senate candidate's message:

"Democrats in Washington want to put the government in charge of your health care. But Congressman Mark Kirk is fighting back. He's leading to effort to stop the government takeover. He offered the Republican alternative: lawsuit reform, no government interference with your doctor, the right to buy coverage from any state in the union, and no cuts to Medicare. Illinois needs a U.S. Senator like Mark Kirk who will stand up for seniors."

Like his machinations regarding cap-and-trade, this is certainly some red meat for the skeptical conservative base. And for those of you who have followed our coverage of Kirk's health care criticisms, there's nothing new in here.

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Painting what he described as a "stark contrast" between his platform and the policies endorsed by Republican Senate frontrunner Mark Kirk, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias rolled out the first section of a five-part economic plan (titled "Future Works America") before reporters this morning.  "Mark Kirk and the failed politics of the past got us into this economic mess," he said. "I have a plan to lead us to a more promising future."

Standing beside a new homeowner in Chicago's North Center neighborhood, Giannoulias called for a one-year extension of the $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit (which was included in the stimulus bill Kirk voted against) and a one-year payroll tax holiday on the first $20,000 of income for individuals making less than $75,000. (Th eSenate is expected to pass the homebuyers credit this week, although the extension would only last eight months.) He also wants to create a tax credit for small businesses with less than 50 employees, available for one year to companies that add workers to their payroll. To pay for the mini-recovery package, the treasurer would work to close corporate loopholes that benefit companies who ship jobs overseas. Watch him layout the expected benefits of the plan:

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The United States is currently suffering through a devastating recession, conducting two wars, and struggling under both a broken health care system and an aging energy economy.  So what does Rep. Mark Kirk want to make a key issue in the 2010 Senate race?  The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).  During an appearance on WLS Radio's Don Wade and Roma this morning, the North Shore Republican took the opportunity to dredge up the embattled organization and spread a false claim about its connection to SEIU (whose Illinois state council sponsors this website). Listen (full audio here):

Internal mp3

KIRK: Remember, in Chicagoland, ACORN founded SEIU in Chicago and they are intimately linked.

Time for a quick history lesson...

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As Media Matters documented yesterday, "the conservative media have opened a new front from which to attack President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama's support of Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics: smearing the city as unfit to host the Olympic Games, often by citing individual instances of violence."  Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, have criticized the president for leaving Washington this week for Copenhagen.  All of which led the Plum Line's Greg Sargent to contact GOP Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk to see where he stands on the bid.  Here's the response his team received:

Kirk campaign aides told our reporter, Amanda Erickson, that they were uncertain of his position and would get back to us with an answer. They have yet to do so.

Kirk voted to secure the Olympics but hasn’t said where he stands on Obama’s trip abroad to make that happen, and the controversy surrounding Obama’s pitch, which the president makes this morning, would seem to put Kirk in a delicate spot.

I suppose it takes longer to reply when, like Kirk, you have to formulate two answers: one for the "narrow interests" of your congressional district and one for the statewide constituency you hope to represent in 2011.  

With health care reform gaining momentum on Capitol Hill, GOP Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk took another crack at "slowing things down" in his North Shore district yesterday morning. During a town hall event in Northbrook, the Republican Senate hopeful pushed many of the same dubious "alternative proposals" he put forth back in August-- tort reform, looser state insurance regulations, and expanded individual tax credits -- as part of his so-called "centrist approach" to reining in the skyrocketing cost of health insurance.

Speaking to a weekday crowd packed with senior citizens, Kirk continued to sow fears that the Democratic-favored reforms will "really hurt seniors." Specifically, he repeated the misleading claim that President Obama's proposal to reform the Medicare Advantage program could cost 200,000 elderly Americans their health care. As we've previously noted, there is no basis for the Republicans' fearmongering. The New York Times editorial board dug into the issue last weekend and came to the same conclusion, noting that "coverage for a vast majority of Medicare recipients, those in traditional Medicare, should actually improve under health care reform." And the Washington Post's Ezra Klein yesterday cited a new academic study which found that the proposed changes to Medicare Advantage would not have a significant effect on the benefits received.

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At his health care townhall in Northbrook today, GOP Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk received an off-topic question regarding his support earlier this summer for the House climate bill (which would curb carbon emissions via a cap-and-trade system).  In response, Kirk reiterated that he would vote to oppose the bill as a senator because, beyond the North Shore congressional district he currently represents, "we are overwhelmingly a manufacturing, agriculture and coal state."  Watch it:

KIRK: Bottom line: When I worked with Midwest Generation -- by the way, just about everybody in here, you get your electrons from Midwest Generation in Waukegan -- it [cap-and-trade] costs $14 per year, per household.  But when you look beyond the 10th Congressional District to the wider Illinois economy, we are overwhelmingly a manufacturing, agriculture and coal state.  If I'm to be a senator, I need to be a strong advocate for all Illinois family incomes.  And so I've announced, as senator, I would not support that legislation.

We've repeatedly noted why Kirk's current position contradicts his explanation back in July of his support for cap-and-trade.  But beyond that, here's the question that reporters need to ask Kirk at this juncture: What other positions do you plan to abandon over the course of your U.S. Senate campaign in order to appeal to statewide Republican interests? 

We'll have more health care-related coverage from Kirk's town hall tomorrow morning.

This morning, U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk and fellow Republican Rep. Peter Roskam will hold a press conference in downtown Chicago that aims to directly tie SEIU Illinois (which sponsors this website) to the embattled Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).  In particular, they're pushing the U.S. Census Bureau to sever ties with SEIU because of the affiliation.  Here's an excerpt from Kirk and Roskam's press release:

One SEIU local union, the Illinois Homecare Workers and Home Childcare Providers, sprouted from ACORN's organizing efforts and pays rent to ACORN.  SEIU national president Andy Stern serves on ACORN’s advisory council.  According to his own Web site, ACORN Founder Wade Rathke is the “Founder and Chief Organizer” of SEIU Local 100.

In Illinois, SEIU Local 880 rents office space from the “Chicago Organizing and Support Center”, an ACORN affiliate, and both Local 880 and ACORN have offices at 209 W. Jackson Blvd in Chicago.

Putting aside the ridiculousness of the right wing's recent campaign against ACORN, Kirk and Roskam really should have done more research -- and perhaps watched less Glenn Beck. 

Just last week, CBS 2 Chicago investigated the relationship between SEIU and ACORN here in the Land of Lincoln.  Reporter Mike Flannery noted that the group known as ACORN Illinois actually "collapsed in 2007" after local leaders Denise Dixon and Madeline Talbott "complained that ACORN's then-national leader, Wade Rathke, put his brother in charge of finances, was concealing key money moves and was, in short, a scandal waiting to explode."  "We just felt things were not right at the top," Talbott told Flannery.  She and Dixon went on to start the organization Action Now.

Before going after ACORN, Kirk should have thoroughly researched his own voting record as well.  From Abdon Pallasch's Friday Sun-Times article:

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At today's endorsement event at SEIU Illinois State Council headquarters, Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias and union president Tom Balanoff both called out GOP frontrunner Mark Kirk for missing this week's congressional vote to extend unemployment benefits.  Watch it:

As we noted, Kirk has previously voted for certain measures to extend jobless benefits while opposing others. In an article published late yesterday, the Tribune quoted Kirk spokesman Eric Elk saying that the congressman had been "unavoidably detained" but would have voted for the bill if present.