Following Rep. Mark Kirk's GOP primary win tonight, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn said "the Republican Party has a real opportunity to pick up the President's former Senate seat in the blue state of Illinois."

Cornyn previewed what Republicans will be focusing on as Kirk faces state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, whose family-owned bank has come under scrutiny for practices he oversaw while working there and is closely linked with infamous Chicago politics.

Giannoulias, said Cornyn, "is a product of the ethically-tainted political machine in Chicago that was run by disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich. As the state's first term Treasurer, Giannoulias has eagerly endorsed his party's out-of-control spending agenda in Washington, and he has failed to reject the Obama Administration's plans to detain and try terrorists on American soil."

UPDATE: The NRSC comes out swinging hard against Giannoulias. Check out this Web video that includes Gov. Rod Blagojevich and talk of "mob ties."

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