mark kirk who really has been a washington insider for almost 20 years. >> thank you so much, david hoffman speaking of mark kirk, the republican candidate. he'll be joining us in the next hour. thank you, mr. hoffman. and we warn you now, this video is disturbing. let's go off to the green room to see what the guys are up to. >> we're talking about that video, gretchen. a high school student says he was just trying to pull his sister from a fight. instead, he got tased. did the officers go too far in this case? >> small businesses hoping to get a boost from the president's new lending plan. he'll unveil details today in new hampshire. that's coming up. small business owners and they'll tell us what they want to hear. and -- >> ♪ happy birthday to shakira she's 33 today. happy birthday. [ woman ] ring ring. progresso. i reached my weight goal thanks to you so i am ready to get back out there. alright. that's great. i want to personally thank you for 100 calorie hearty chicken rotini. well, it'not just me. you're so funny. i like you. [ male annncer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. a

president obama, those candidates include state treasurer alexi giannnoulis, former prosecutor david hoffman and chicago urban league shed cherlye jackson. on the republican side the frontrunner congressman mark kirk, a suburban moderate described as the gop's strongest candidate in decades. democrats hope to avoid a repeat of the stunning loss they received in massachusetts' senate race. republican scott brown's wining in a traditionally blue state. joining us now, bruce dold, editorial page editor for the chicago tribune. we should remind everybody that it is primary day, we're not going to be picking one party over the other, but is it possible that president obama's septemberat seat could eventually go to a republican here? >> i think if we were holding a general election today, the republicans would probably take the senate seat, almost certainly take president obama's senate seat and probably take the governorship in his own state, too. there's a lot of anger here, we have a $12 billion state decifit and $80 billion hole in the pension funds, and we've got a rod blagojevich who is goin

the race tightened up in these last few days, a lot of negative campaigning going on, mainly by david hoffman city hall inspector general, who had enough money to go on tv. the negative ads were continuing up through this afternoon in both the governor and senate races on both sides. >> hang on there. >> very good for people out there. >> hang on there. we're going to go back and talk about the president as a candidate again. he's out there acting like a candidate again. i wonder what it's all about, we're going to find out on msnbc. best 3g phones. carl passes the time searching for apps on his samsung moment with google. candice mixes business with pleasure on the newest blackberry curve, america's favorite smartphone, now even smarter. and rose is getting updated on her sleek and slim palm pixi. once again, bringing you the nation's best lineup of phones and its first and only wireless 4g network. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities, access www.sprintrelay.com. vegetables are naturally low in calories.4g network. v8 juice gives you 3 of your 5 daily servings. it's a t

the race tightened up in these last few days, a lot of negative campaigning going on, mainly by david hoffman who is the former city hall inspector general who had enough money to go on tv. the negative ads were continuing up through this afternoon in both the governor and senate races on both sides. >> hang on there. john heilman, we'll come back and talk about the president as a candidate again. he's out there acting like a candidate again. i wonder what it's all about, we're going to find out on msnbc. (announcer) sinus pressure. you can blow your nose but nothing comes out! because the real problem isn't always mucus. it's often swelling from inflammation. advil cold & sinus relieves swelling and sinus pressure. the right medicine for the real problem. advil cold & sinus brr! it's another cold one out there, so you'll want to cover up those hands before you hit the sink. um, i said "cover up." or your hands will be in for a long dry spell. [ male announcer ] when the forecast calls for winter hands, reach for dawn hand renewal with olay beauty. it goes beyond dishwashing to help your hand

the two frontrunners on the democratic side, former federal prosecutor david hoffman, and state treasurer alexi giannnoulis. i think i got that right. the two were locked in a tough fight for the party's nomination and tonight's winner will face congressman mark kirk, possibly the strongest republican candidate in that state in decades. steve brown, at a polling station north of chicago, are the family troubles going to hurt the democratic frontrunner? how does that stand? >> it doesn't look like it's hurt giannnoulis' campaign and here's why, the polls have been in the low 30s and it's been there quite some time and leaves him out front but he really hasn't moved and there really hasn't been any other issue that's emerged other than that one to possibly attribute his lack of upward mobility in the polls. normally you do start adding points as you get closer toward the end, particularly frontrunners of people they think are likely to win and still he's in that category but there are some folks who believe the entire chatter about broadway bank is overblown. >> broadway bank sounds like a

and with late momentum, a squ k squeaky clean, anti-corruption candidate, david hoffman, whose campaign it comes to the general election, many political watchers here believe it will be the republicans' seat to lose. >> the a bottbomination of pres obama are disillusioned right now, so a lot of people say i'm going to go republican just as a protest. >> in an interview with cnn, that leading republican, congressman mark kirk, five times referred to himself as independent. not republican, independent. so while not being a democrat might be helpful in illinois, it's clear neither party has a particularly winning brand right now. wolf? >> jessica yellin in chicago for us. thanks, jessica. remember, the polls close about 15 minutes or so, right at the top of the hour. cnn will follow the results throughout the night. >>> the u.s. supreme court's decision reducing limits of capital spending by corporations, big corporations, union, special interest groups did not sit well with a lot of congressional leaders. so they're taking action right now to try to reverse at least part of the ruling. le