Chicago, Chicago...

This from AP.

Dem. Ill. lt. gov. candidate exits race amid furor
(Karen Hawkins, AP via Breitbart)

"CHICAGO (AP) - The Democratic nominee for Illinois lieutenant governor has dropped out of the race less than a week after winning the nomination amid a political uproar about his past.

"Scott Lee Cohen announced his decision Sunday night at a Chicago bar.

"The pawn broker and owner of a cleaning supplies company won the nomination Tuesday. Since then, it has become widely know that he was accused of abusing his ex-wife and holding a knife to the throat of an ex-girlfriend.

"The girlfriend herself had been charged with prostitution. He also admits using steroids in the past." [The article continues.]

Illinois' Democratic candidate for the Senate seat vacated by Obama also has a colorful past and present, according to Rolfe Winkler writing for naked capitalism on 2/7/2010:

"Alexi Giannoulias — the whippersnapper IL State Treasurer and basketball buddy of the President — won the Democratic primary for Senate Tuesday night. Given Giannoulias’ troubling background, including ties to a bank that received a rebuke from FDIC just a week ago, how much political capital will Obama now want to spend defending his old Senate seat?

"The Giannoulias story is classic Chicago. He was elected Treasurer at 29 with no substantial experience that would qualify him for the job. All he’d ever done was work as a loan officer and VP at Giannoulias family-owned Broadway Bank of Chicago.

"How did he get elected Treasurer? Because Obama endorsed him. Why did Obama endorse him? Because the Giannoulias family had been big financial supporters for Obama’s Senate campaign (Alexi continued his financial support for presidential candidate Obama).

"Broadway Bank has long been under the microscope, in particular for lending to known mafiosos. The bank also lent to convicted influence-peddler Tony Rezko….points emphasized by Giannoulias’ opponent in the Democratic primary, David Hoffman.

"The latest twist in the story came a week ago, when FDIC issued a consent order to Broadway Bank instructing it to raise capital and cease unsafe and unsound lending practices." [The article continues.]

Classic. Just classic.

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