Alexi Giannoulias Quotes
I never took that stuff personally when people said I was too young, too inexperienced. I get politics. I get attack ads. But they said 'mobbed up family.' That we were criminals. That kills me.
Bernstein, David. "Alexi in Exile." Chicago Magazine, 24 July 2012.
At the time political parties and some candidates had their own newspapers and attacked their opponents through those rather than directly themselves which would have been seen as gross and undignified, Slander and attacks have been a part of American politics since its inception. The degree and extent reached its pinnacle in the early 21st century.
In this dirty technique some people who knew the candidate at one point in his/her life “organize” and “independent” organization with funding from a partisan individual or organization. They then create attack TV and web ads against the candidate that include serious untruths as well as misleading accuracies. When the candidate is asked about the lies and exaggerations, he/she refuses to comment and only says that he/she cannot be held responsible for anything that anyone says against his/her opponent or anyone else. The candidate adopts a policy of not commenting on any political ads other than the ones he/she is responsible. This produces viscious false attacks on an opponent with the candidate completely shielded from responsibility.
His older brother was running for Consul—the highest elected office of the Roman Empire. The Handbook, was his advice to his brother as to how to conduct his campaign.
Alexander Giannoulias is an American financier and politician who served as Illinois Treasurer from 2007 to 2011. A Democrat, Giannoulias defeated Republican candidate State Senator Christine Radogno in November 2006 with 54 percent of the vote, becoming the first Democrat to hold the office in 12 years and, at the age of 30, the youngest state treasurer in the nation.
