IL-SEN

Mark Kirk Internal Poll Claims Lead In Illinois Senate Race

Eric Kleefeld | February 3, 2010, 2:29PM

Illinois Senate candidates Mark Kirk (R) and Alexi Giannoulias (D)

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), the newly-nominated Republican candidate for President Obama's former Senate seat in Illinois, is out with a new internal poll claiming that he already has a strong lead over the Democratic nominee, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.

The numbers: Kirk 47%, Giannoulias 35%. The poll was conducted February 1 and 2, before the primary. Independent polling has generally shown Giannoulias ahead of Kirk.

As David Freddosso points out: "This poll is an outlier, and it's Kirk's poll, so take it with a grain of salt. But it should put a fresh scare into the White House."

Alex Castellanos

CNN Keeps Castellanos, Dems Hit Back

Brian Beutler | November 24, 2009, 1:53PM

RNC Communications Director Alex Castellanos

CNN will retain the services of Alex Castellanos, despite his new role as unpaid flack for the RNC (his official title will be Senior Communications Adviser).

"CNN has political strategists that provide unpaid advice to both sides of the aisle, and Alex will remain as a CNN contributor," a CNN spokesperson emails. "CNN will continue to be vigilant in disclosing contributor affiliations and their profiles."

Castellanos' consulting firms have produced ads for the Chamber of Commerce and America's Health Insurance Plans as part of the groups' ongoing efforts to defeat key Obama agenda items like climate change legislation and health care reform.

And now, Democrats have latched on to the development both to criticize CNN for allowing such a partisan figure to appear on the network as a news analyst, and to attack the Republican party for its closeness to industry.

"By bringing on a senior strategist for the Chamber and AHIP, the Republican Party can no longer pretend that they aren't in the pocket of big business and the insurance industry lobby and it made it crystal clear who Republicans are fighting for -- and it's not our families and small businesses," DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan emails. "When Castellanos is on CNN as a top strategist for the GOP, the insurance industry, and the Chamber of Commerce, he certainly won't be offering any 'independent analysis.'"

Alex Castellanos

In Quest To Reform Steele's Image, RNC Hires Republican Attack Dog Castellanos

Brian Beutler | November 24, 2009, 11:28AM

RNC Communications Director Alex Castellanos

Pretend for a moment that you're Michael Steele. You won the RNC chairmanship earlier this year, and have been at the helm of the GOP for months as it has waged a fierce internal battle over the future of the party. You also have a reputation for being a bit of a buffoon. So the off-year elections roll around, and things go OK. Dede gets Scozzafav'd, but for the most part the media trains its eyes on gubernatorial pick ups in New Jersey and Virginia and declares victory for the GOP.

You might think that's a pretty good outcome. But Steele apparently wanted more credit for the Christie and McDonnell wins. So what's a political chief to do?

According to Politico the answer he arrived at was 'fire my communications director and fill the void with CNN's celebrity GOP talking head Alex Castellanos."

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