As reported by Illinois Review over the weekend, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Alexi Giannoulias appeared at the leftist "Netroots Nation" blogger conference in Las Vegas (Alexi Giannoulias visits with lefties in Las Vegas). The Kirk for U.S. Senate campaign issued this statement today:
The Kirk for Senate campaign today called on Alexi Giannoulias to explain his decision to participate in a far left-wing conference that featured panels with Van Jones, marijuana legalization advocates and J-Street.
Last week, Giannoulias announced on his Facebook page that he would be “leading the Illinois Caucus” at the Netroots Nation convention in Las Vegas. The Netroots website showed Giannoulias confirmed to attend the conference’s candidate event as well.
“Alexi Giannoulias’ decision to root his campaign in the far-left should be a troubling signal to independent voters,” Kirk spokesperson Kirsten Kukowski said. “Alexi Giannoulias claims to be mainstream but has no problem associating with 9/11 truthers like Van Jones and other left-wing radicals. Alexi Giannoulias claims to stand with Israel but has no problem aligning his campaign with J-Street and its supporters. The people of Illinois deserve a thoughtful, centrist leader not someone who panders to left-wing fringe groups.”
The conference agenda included a “conversation” with 9/11 “truther” Van Jones who resigned his post as “Green Jobs Czar” last year after news reports revealed he had signed a petition accusing former President Bush of allowing September 11th to occur. Columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote, “You can't sign a petition demanding not one but four investigations of the charge that the Bush administration deliberately allowed Sept. 11, 2001 -- i.e., collaborated in the worst massacre ever perpetrated on American soil -- and be permitted in polite society, let alone have a high-level job in the White House.”
Another panel, “Israel Palestine Caucus,” was scheduled to be presented by J-Street staff members Isaac Luria and Amy Spitalnick. J-Street is a controversial group known for its harsh criticism of Israel. Earlier this year, Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz said, “I reject J Street because it spends more time criticizing Israel than supporting it. They shouldn't call themselves pro-Israel.”
A third panel, “Marijuana Policy and Politics,” was scheduled to discuss how the left-wing can make marijuana legalization a mainstream political issue.
Congressman Mark Kirk is an established leader on the U.S.-Israel relationship and does not support the J-Street agenda. He is opposed to the legalization of marijuana and rejects 9/11 truthers as kooks. For 2009, the non-partisan Congressional Quarterly rated Kirk in the exact center of the House on presidential support.
