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The young and handsome Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who is running for Obama’s former senate seat, is fighting for his political life.
He bought a $26,000 Ford hybrid with money from a college investment fund that he oversees, a fund that lost $85 million last year. Giannoulias claims the car was a marketing expense.
“This is a vehicle that is used for Bright Star marketers to travel the state, to talk about the program,” Giannoulias told the press.
Uh-huh, sure they do. Just like my friend “works” during his vacations (ahem, tax write off).
But that’s not the point of this post.
Giannoulias is pals with President Obama; they play basketball together. If you watch Giannoulias answer questions about the college fund scandal, he sounds and acts exactly like his buddy, Barack Obama.
The timing, mannerisms, phraseology—all of it—mirrors the president.
If his political career doesn’t work out—and let’s be honest, it’s Illinois, of course he’ll get out of this one, (he’s already squirmed out of one scandal involving organized crime), but just in case—he could replace Fred Armisen, another Chicagoan, as Saturday Night Live’s resident Obama impersonator.
Here’s the video of the Obama impersonator, sorry, I mean Giannoulias. He starts his Obama impersonation—sorry, he starts talking—at the 35 second mark, then the 56 second mark and finally at 1:35 into the video.
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Good list, tho a bit US-centric. The world is full of unmitigated PR gaffes; Renault's F1 race fixing; UK PM Gordon Brow...
Comments (8)
Considering the direction this story is going and the problems Illinois politicians have been having with ethics issues in recent months--excuse me--for decades, this guy should just pack his bags and take his schtick to Hollywood.
Posted by Jeff | May 7, 2009 12:31 PM
Posted on May 7, 2009 12:31
Anonymous (10:02), Not really sure about the particulars of the actual deal. I just think he sounds a lot like Obama.
Anonymous (9:45), This is a local Fox affiliate, so I'm not sure if the "fair and balanced" slogan still applies. But again, let me stress that I'm just taken by his impersonation of the president. Uncanny.
Posted by Michael Sebastian | May 7, 2009 10:08 AM
Posted on May 7, 2009 10:08
Completely fail to see the parallels. Just sounds like a guy who replaced an aging van with a smarter car. Should we have the vehicle leased and charge those costs? Should we have folks use their own cars and charge mileage and maintainance back to the fund? Should we have no promotion of the fund in person whatsoever? What am I missing?
Posted by Anonymous | May 7, 2009 10:02 AM
Posted on May 7, 2009 10:02
Oh, Fox News reporting. That explains it all.
Posted by Anonymous | May 7, 2009 9:45 AM
Posted on May 7, 2009 09:45
Well, this should make all the reactionaries who canceled their subscriptions happy. If they still have their subscriptions, that is. ;-)
Posted by Anonymous | May 7, 2009 9:42 AM
Posted on May 7, 2009 09:42
He is too white and does not say "Uh" enough to imitate Obama.
Posted by Dawn Deason | May 6, 2009 1:47 PM
Posted on May 6, 2009 13:47
Thanks, Laura! That was a spell check gaffe.
Posted by Michael Sebastian | May 6, 2009 10:28 AM
Posted on May 6, 2009 10:28
It's actually Fred Armisen, not Armistice.
Posted by Laura Hunter | May 6, 2009 9:35 AM
Posted on May 6, 2009 09:35