There's no doubt that in this anti-Wall Street environment, Republicans think they have a winning issue with the collapse of the family bank of Illinois Democratic Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias. The conservative Chicago Tribune has been pushing the story hard, and this headline on the bank's collapse by two staff reporters (not opinion writers) betrays their lack of objectivity:
Bank failure a nail in Giannoulias’ campaign
Broadway’s seizure raises more questions about viability of U.S. Senate bid
Republican nominee Mark Kirk is certainly pushing hard:
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk said today the fate of his Democratic rival’s family bank should be an issue of concern for voters in November.
“I think there’s no question that Alexi Giannoulias bears direct personal responsibility for reckless loans that could bankrupt the Broadway Bank,” Kirk said of the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee. “I also worry that the possible collapse of the Broadway Bank will leave taxpayers left paying for Alexi’s reckless loans.”
Of course, no taxpayer money is involved in this matter. The FDIC is insurance paid for by the banks, and that insurance ensures that no regular folk will have suffered from the failure. Of course, that won't stop Kirk and the GOP from continuing to lie about it for the duration of this campaign. Furthermore, Kirk bemoaned the bank employees that would lose their jobs, even though 1) the banks will remain open, just under new ownership, and 2) this is the same Kirk who voted against an extension of unemployment insurance. His commitment to the unemployed is nil.
But as desperate as the Chicago Tribune might be to force Giannoulias from the race, Democrats aren't rushing to replace him. And Giannoulias himself isn't about to take the attacks sitting down. In fact, in a deft bit of political jujutsu, his latest ad turns the travails of his family bank into an indictment of Kirk and GOP policies:
Giannoulias: My father started this business 30 years ago.
It's helped thousands of people achieve the American dream, people who couldn't to the big banks. I was very proud to be part of it. And while I left over four years ago, it was in good shape. But no one could've foreseen these problems. Family businesses are dealing with challenges they never would've seen. We've seen family businesses go under on every block, on every corner.
Narrater: But Washington politician Mark Kirk doesn't get it. First he votes for the Bush policies that got us into this mess, including tax breaks for companies that ship jobs to China.
Then Kirk has the nerve to vote against extending unemployment benefits, saying unemployment isn't a big issue.
Giannoulias: If a business like my father's that he started 30 years ago could fail, it's happening everywhere. People want someone who is going to fight for them, someone who has been through tough times, someone who has seen, looked at those problems in the face, and continues to move on and continues to fight and to struggle for people.
And that's why I'm running for U.S. Senate.
This bank story has been literally in the news for years, yet Kirk has thus far been unable to gain much traction himself:
Despite all of Giannoulias' high-profile problems, Kirk is still unable to break 40 percent. Clearly, the latest bank revelations have taken their toll on Giannoulias, but have done nothing for Kirk. In fact, looking at that chart above, Kirk's numbers aren't just flatlining, but trendling slightly downward.
It looks like the Giannoulias camp has a good counterattack strategy. We'll obviously be watching the polls closely to see whether Giannoulias bounces back, and whether Kirk's single-minded obsession with the story finally gets him some traction, or eventually leads to a backlash.