Hoffman Launches First IL SEN Ad
By Reid Wilson
Former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman (D) is up with the first television spot in the race for Pres. Obama's old Senate seat, running a 30-second broadside against insiders from City Hall to K Street.
Hoffman, who entered the race late but who has been raising good money, has cast himself as the ultimate outsider, fighting corruption both as Chicago's top public watchdog and as a federal prosecutor.
Now, Hoffman is playing the role of outsider that party strategists may want to bring in the fold. Polls show he is an underdog to Treas. Alexi Giannoulias (D), who has been running for months. But the WH is not convinced Giannoulias is their guy; both he and Hoffman have stopped by the WH for meetings with top Obama admin officials.
"You see, I've always been independent of the politicians and insiders who protect each other, and I've never backed down from what I knew was right," Hoffman says in the ad. "The bankers, the lobbyists, the powerbrokers -- they've owned Washington for too long. Send me to the Senate and I'll work for you."
But casting himself as too much of an outsider could be dangerous. Hoffman does not have the best relationship with powerful Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (D), and though each major candidate in the race professes not to be affiliated with Daley's Chicago machine, it is best if candidates do not run afoul of him.
Hoffman has lent himself $500K and has said he must raise millions more by the Feb. 2 primary to compete effectively. With just 8 weeks to go before the primary, don't expect Hoffman to be on TV alone for very long. Through the end of Sept., Giannoulias had $2.4M in the bank, and he is likely to begin spending shortly.
Love the ad. Really suits his honest style.