Today, Senator John Kerry joined Alexi in calling out the shadowy groups that are trying to buy this election. Here's what Senator Kerry had to say:
Turn on your television set and you will see advertisements that are spent by some of the money contributed from what we can tell are some of the same
people who are engaged in the Swiftboat efforts of 2004. Some of the money coming from out-of-state people, many of whom are not yet identified even though we know some of the contributors to some of these funds.
But the Citizens United decision that the Supreme Court has unleashed a torrent of money and in state after state, we’re being outspent. We Democrats are being outspent by these funds. Now when you see a negative advertisement, that characterizes Alexi Giannoulias in a negative way, just look at the name and description of that fund and you will see that it’s either Karl Rove’s fund or one of the other well-known, right-wing funds in the country that are engaged in races around the country, literally to do the dirty work -- to attack, to distort, to put out whatever negative message they can while the candidates themselves merrily go along pretending that they have nothing to do with it.
Mark Kirk should say he doesn’t want one dime of that independent money spent in this state on his behalf. He’ll stand on his own two feet and if he doesn’t, that we all understand the game.
I just think the secret funding of these campaigns that we’re witnessing today is disgraceful, it’s anti-democratic, it robs the American people of the accountability and transparency that our democracy ought to have.
Corporate special interests are trying to buy elections across the country, but Alexi's race for the U.S. Senate is ground zero for the fight against shadowy groups.
Over $9 million dollars alone in third-party money is blanketing the state and is being used to attack Alexi. That doesn't even include the millions Mark Kirk himself is using to air debunked attack ads.
There's a big reason why Illinois is the top field for the battle between corporate and right-wing interests and ordinary Americans. Alexi is the only Senate candidate in a competitive race that doesn't take a dime from corporate PACs or federal lobbyists. The last thing these shadow groups want is someone to give life to the idea that candidates can win without
corporate cash.
Think about it: if Alexi wins, other candidates will know that they can make the same pledge and still win. They'll know that we can change the system, one race at a time.
In other words, the biggest threat these groups face is a true reformer getting to the Senate.
In just over an hour, Alexi will be debating Mark Kirk in a debate moderated by George Stephanopoulos. You can watch the debate live online at
7 PM CST:
http://cspan.org
In the meantime, help us send Mark Kirk and his corporate-funded friends a message: this Senate seat isn't for sale to the highest bidder.
Thanks.