Alexi Giannoulias | Democrat for U.S. Senate

CHICAGO - In light of the false, reckless attacks from Republicans and Mark Kirk against Alexi Giannoulias and his role at Broadway Bank, the Alexi for Illinois campaign announced that Alexi will be answering every question posed to him by the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune editorial boards today. The campaign also launched a new Web site called TruthAboutAlexi.com, to fight the lies being circulated by Republicans and their surrogates.

"Over the next eight months, Republicans will continue to imply, mislead and smear Alexi's record so that they can to distract from the fact that Mark Kirk's votes for Bush economic policies helped get us into this financial mess in Illinois and that he is completely out of touch with the needs of working families," said campaign spokeswoman Kathleen Strand. "This website will provide a place for supporters and media to get the truth about Alexi and the false attacks against him."

CHICAGO - Congressman Mark Kirk today made two inaccurate claims in his negative, false attacks against Alexi Giannoulias.

"Congressman Mark Kirk wants to distract from the fact that he is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street, bought and paid for by the corporate special interests he voted to bail out while leaving struggling Illinois families behind. While Alexi hasn't been at the bank for four years, Mark Kirk has been in Washington for a decade supporting the failed and reckless Bush policies that got us into this economic mess," said Kathleen Strand, spokeswoman for the Alexi for Illinois campaign.

Yesterday, an independent poll showed Alexi beating incumbent Republican Congressman Mark Kirk by seven points. Today, our campaign outlined seven reasons why Alexi's support continues to grow throughout Illinois.

"Thirty-one days ago, Mark Kirk voted to allow Guantanamo detainees to come to U.S. soil for trial after a risk assessment, yet today, he's engaging in dangerous fear-mongering and scare tactics instead of working with the U.S. military, the Department of Justice, or the residents of Thomson to come to the best decision for our state. Voters demand responsible, principled leadership, and Mark Kirk has failed that test yet again. I pledge to work with all the parties involved to find a resolution that protects our national security and maximizes job creation."

I expected my first state of the race to be on a different topic, but I just can't help myself when I see reporters cutting and pasting memos from Mark Kirk without any context.

Yesterday, the Kirk campaign released a memo claiming that he has a lead in the U.S. Senate race. 

Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies are pleased to present the topline results of a 772N autodial survey of likely 2010 general election voters in Illinois.  The interviews were conducted November 3rd, 2009.

But there's more to the story.

In the same week he begged Sarah Palin for an endorsement, Mark Kirk voted Palin's way on an amendment to the health care bill which prohibits private insurance in the proposed insurance exchange from covering reproductive health care for women.

In the same week he begged Sarah Palin for an endorsement, Mark Kirk voted Palin's way on an amendment to the health care bill which prohibits private insurance in the proposed insurance exchange from covering reproductive health care for women.

 "Mark Kirk begging for Sarah Palin's endorsement makes it clear that he'll seek any endorsement, take up any policy position, and attempt any political maneuver that he thinks will get him more votes. At the very best, this is shameless political pandering. At worst, it's further proof that Mark Kirk lacks the political courage to make the tough decisions to move our nation forward."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/eye-on-2012/il-sen-kirk-seeks-pa...

IL-Sen: Kirk Seeks Palin Endorsement

Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk penned a memo to Republican poobah Fred Malek hoping to secure an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his Senate candidacy, according to a copy of the memo obtained by the Fix.

Democratic Alexi Giannoulias leads Republican Mark Kirk in the race for U.S. Senate in Illinois, 46 - 43 percent. In addition, voters approve of the job Giannoulias is doing as state Treasurer by more than a 2:1 margin.