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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It's a little under three months until the February 2 primary, but the Democratic gubernatorial battle has already been chock full of negative attacks.  The most recent round started late last week.  Check out our play-by-play below:

Friday, October 30
Comptroller Dan Hynes released yet another ad whacking Quinn for the income tax hikes included in his original budget proposal:

For the second time, the Hynes team uses a clip from Quinn's April interview with the Rockford Register-Star editorial board.  One important aside: Quinn clearly stated elsewhere in the discussion that he "thinks we should have a graduated income tax" -- the type of structure now being proposed by Hynes -- but also pointed out that such a policy would require amending the constitution.  Due to those limitations, he told the board that he would instead attempt "to find a progressive way to raise revenue."  An examination of Quinn's actions during the budget process shows that this is exactly what he attempted to do while also trying to reach some form of compromise with the tax-wary General Assembly.

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November 4 of last year.  What a day it was.  Here's a flashback to the scene that morning in Chicago:

For those who haven't been following it closely, here's the latest news on the Democratic primary candidates for Cook County board president. As you'll soon learn, it's a messy, messy affair at the moment. 

Danny Davis
For months now, the 7th District congressman has insisted that he is "in" for county board president, despite simultaneously circulating petitions for reelection to Congress.  During the third quarter, Davis transferred $130,000 from his federal campaign account to his state coffers -- indicating a certain degree of seriousness.  Last Monday, he officially filed for the board president race.  But doubts about his candidacy persist, and for good reason.  As the Tribune's John Byrne reported, he also filed petitions for Congress yesterday. 

So what's the next move?  As Cook County Clerk David Orr told WTTW last week, Davis has until November 9 to drop out of one of the two races.  For the slew of candidates preparing to run for his House seat -- State Rep. Annazette Collins, Chicago Alds. Robert Fioretti and Sharon Dixon, Jim Ascot, Clarence Clemons, and Joyce Washington -- that decision couldn't come soon enough.

Todd Stroger
The incumbent board president created some suspense yesterday afternoon, waiting until an hour before the filing deadline to present his 22,000 petitions to the county clerk.  Not surprisingly, he had a tough time finding folks to circulate on his behalf.  From the Sun-Times:

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Since entering the U.S. Senate race, former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman has repeatedly suggested that fellow Democrat Alexi Giannoulias can't beat GOP frontrunner Mark Kirk in the general election.  Today, the Giannoulias campaign released a poll that indicates, if the election were held today, their candidate would fare better against Kirk than Hoffman.  Here is the pair of head-to-head results (the only data made available by the Giannoulias camp):

Giannoulias: 46%
Kirk: 43%

Hoffman: 39%
Kirk: 48%

*Results based on a sample of 805 likely general election voters conducted October 25th – 28th.  Margin of error: +/- 3.5%

A Rasmussen poll conducted in mid-September found somewhat similar results: Giannoulias and Kirk tied at 41 percent and Kirk leading Hoffman by 10 percentage points. Rasmussen also had Kirk leading Democrat Cheryle Jackson by four points.

Speaking of Jackson, she filed her nominating petitions just an hour before the deadline today.

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Last week at this time, thousands of outraged taxpayers and activists were taking to the streets to protest the banking industry's destruction of the economy and obstruction of much-needed financial regulatory reform.  Whether you missed the action or were in the thick of it, be sure to check out this great video recapping the Showdown in Chicago (produced by Heather Stone for the SEIU Illinois State Council, which sponsors this website):

Those interested in learning more about the Showdown should check out this wrap-up of our three days of coverage.

As some may have noticed, our campaign coverage has taken a back-seat to some other issues in the past month.  Expect it to ramp back up at the beginning of next week.

In the meantime, those interested in the intersection of social media and political campaigns should check out a feature on U.S. Senate David Hoffman's newly-redesigned website.  First some background: From a technological standpoint, one of the notable aspects of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign was the large user community that sprung up around its website, my.barackobama.com.  Millions of users regularly flocked there because the campaign allowed them to actually publish blog posts and interact with each other on the site.  Now, in the wake of his victory, lower-level campaigns are wondering how they can build similar engagement online.  Most don't have the resources to moderate the type of community built by Obama's new media team.  Moreover, there just isn't the same degree of interest in congressional or statewide races as you see during a presidential campaign. 

So what other options are out there?

Many campaigns are actively using Twitter to keep followers up-to-speed on the latest developments (see Alexi Giannoulias, Cheryle Jackson, and Dan Hynes as prime examples on the Democratic side).  Now, with his new website, Hoffman is trying to up the ante by encouraging and exposing the interaction that happens on Twitter. 

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Today marks the final day of the Showdown in Chicago and it began with a huge march across the Chicago River to the downtown Sheraton, home to the American Bankers Association's annual conference.  As of 11 a.m., thousands of participants were streaming up to the hotel, where they will hear from a variety of speakers, including AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka and Change to Win chair Anna Burger. 

We'll have photos, video, and more updates from the event as the day goes on.   

11:35 a.m.: Here's the view of the Sheraton rally from above:

11:45 p.m.: Chicago laborer Marcus Moore tells us why he's taking part in today's march, saying that the economic problems facing his community "started at the top and it trickles down.  And it's affecting us pretty hard.  And I think the banks are to blame."  Watch it:

12:00 p.m: Before the marchers took off for the Sheraton, SEIU International President Andy Stern addressed the crowd, saying "If anyone is confused about why we're here, let me tell you: It's because we love our country."  Watch it:

Here are some more images from the march:

The Showdown in Chicago continues ... Via SEIU and National People's Action, here's some great video of a surprise rally that followed the Goldman Sachs protest we highlighted earlier.  Many of those same demonstrators headed over to Wells Fargo's office building and gathered in the lobby, chanting: "Bailouts? No thanks! Bust up big banks!."  When security finally escorted them from the premises, the crowd yelled in unison, "We'll be back!  We'll be back!" Watch it:

During the subprime mortgage boom that led to the financial crisis, Wells Fargo was easily one of the worst actors.  In recent months, several lawsuits filed across the country (including here in Illinois) have alleged that the bank targeted minority homeowners for high-interest mortgages while offering cheaper deals to white customers. Moreover, local unions have spent much of this year fighting Wells Fargo's efforts to cut off credit to companies like Hartmarx and Quad City Die Casting.  In fact, the United Electrical Workers (who represent the Quad City employees) were on hand in Chicago today and can be seen briefly in the video above.

In other Showdown news, be sure to read the Nation's Esther Kaplan on the first evening of action.

This morning marked the second day of the Showdown in Chicago.  It started with a speech by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) chair Sheila Bair, who strongly expressed her support for the formation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (she is also scheduled to address the American Bankers Association conference today).   "I don't know how anyone can say we've done a good job protecting consumers in financial services," Bair said.  "So we need this new agency."  Watch some clips from her appearance, in which she also declared, "No more bailouts!":

Later in the morning, hundreds of protestors headed over to 71 S. Wacker, the Chicago headquarters of Goldman Sachs -- by far the most powerful bank in the country.  Below is some video from that racuous action:

Also, here's the fiery conclusion of Rev. Tony Pierce's speech at yesterday's event (Pierce is the vice president of the Central Illinois Organizing Project):

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