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U.S. Senate
Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
3:37pm
Wed Jun 9, 2010

DOD Memo Triggers More Questions For Kirk

The blog Nitpicker has been at the forefront of the ongoing controversy over Mark Kirk's misstatements about his military record and today they published an interesting follow-up.  In a leaked memo dated December 18, 2009 and pertaining to Kirk's scheduled tour of duty that month, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Gail H. McGinn apparently cited "concerns arising from [Kirk's] partisan political activities during his last two tours of active duty":

What "political activities" was McGinn referring to?  The memo doesn't offer any specifics, but one obvious possibility is that he got in trouble for tweeting about his activities while on duty last July.  This story is yet to hit any mainstream outlets, but you can be sure we'll be getting more details in the next 24 hours.

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
12:54pm
Wed Jun 9, 2010

Memo To Mark Kirk: Giannoulias Has Not "Been Silent" On State Budget Crisis

In response to Moody's downgrade of Illinois' bond rating yesterday, GOP U.S. Senate nominee Mark Kirk blasted Democratic rival Alexi Giannoulias this morning for his purported silence on Illinois' fiscal crisis.  In fact, in his capacity as state treasurer, Giannoulias has been consistent and vocal in his support of an income tax increase (which he would like to see coupled with some form of property tax relief).  It's hard to imagine that Kirk could have forgotten this, considering that, back in March, his campaign posted video to their YouTube channel of Giannoulias expressing that very opinion:

Considering that the Moody's news triggered Kirk's latest broadside, it should be noted that they believe new revenue -- such as that generated by an income tax increase -- would bring the bond rating back up:

[I]n its analysis of Illinois’ financial problems, Moody’s suggested that the state could improve its bond rating with some kind of revenue increase that would bring stability and money to the cash-strapped state.

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
9:47am
Tue Jun 8, 2010

Maddow: Kirk "Has An Incredible Imagination"

Pivoting off Abdon Pallasch's Sunday Sun-Times article, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow devoted a segment to GOP U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk's lengthy record of misstatements last night.  It serves as a great recap of the whole controversy:

Those audio clips from Kirk's WLS interviews? You heard them here first.

(H/T Ellen of the Tenth)

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
1:00pm
Mon Jun 7, 2010

Grossman: Kirk's Claims Weren't "Mistakes," They Were "Exaggerations"

Last week, we  spent some time cataloging the barrage of media criticism GOP Senate nominee Mark Kirk received after making excuses for needlessly mischaracterizing his own military record. The Sun-Times' Kate Grossman gave her two-cents on WTTW's Chicago Tonight last Friday, questioning why Kirk keeps suggesting his embellishments were accidental. "The part that [the Sun-Times editorial board] was disappointed with is that he just calls these mistakes," she said. "These are not mistakes. These are exaggerations." Watch it (full video of the panel discussion is available here):

Alexi Giannoulias' campaign has also been tracking the various pundit reactions on their YouTube channel.

PI Original
by Josh Kalven
10:56am
Mon Jun 7, 2010

Kirk's Radio Comments Come Back To Haunt Him

Thanks to the recent flare-up over his embellishment of his own military record, GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk's history of making false claims on local radio is finally getting some attention.