Illinois Republican Party

Gibbs downplays Giannoulias visit to White House
3/9/2010

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today downplayed a White House visit by Democrat Illinois Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias saying he did not know whether the candidate would even meet with the White House Political Director to discuss his race.

Gibbs said Giannoulias would probably meet with White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod but explained that was because the two have a prior relationship.

“[Giannoulias] knows David from Chicago,” Gibbs said. “I don’t know if he will meet with [White House Political Director] Patrick Gaspard.”

With Giannoulias under fire for pushing risky loans that could bring down his family bank and recent reports that the Giannoulias family could profit from their bank’s collapse, Gibbs’ comments underscore the difficult balance the White House must find between distancing the President from Giannoulias’ banking and ethics problems without appearing to walk away from their party’s nominee.

Earlier today, NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd echoed the White House's predicament on his Twitter account: “Alexi G. in IL SEN puts Dems in impossible box.”

Gibbs did not address how the White House squares its support for Giannoulias with comments the President made in January while campaigning for Martha Coakley. In his speech, the President blasted “fat cats who are getting rewarded for their failure” and said that “bankers don’t need another vote in the U.S. Senate.”

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