He was slated by the Democrats, and he is on record as opposing abortion rights. ... When Topinka decided to move up, a flock of ambitious Democrats eyed the job,... But none announced, and all deferred to Alexi Giannoulias, a 29-year-old Chicago investment banker who was an early supporter of Obama in his 2004 Senate race, whose father owns Broadway Bank, and whose family helped bankroll the Obama campaign.
Giannoulias has said that he will campaign as a 'progressive,' and he has promised to put more than $1 million in family funds into the race," Stewart wrote.[5] "The bottom line," Stewart said: "Obama is the potential king maker.
Expect Obama to publicly endorse Giannoulias, cut television ads for him, and go heavy for him on black radio stations. Of course, there's a downside. If Obama endorses Giannoulias and he loses, that would indicate that Obama's clout is not transferable," Stewart wrote.[5] In March 2006, Giannoulias said that "his 'good friend and mentor, Barack Obama,' inspired him to run."[6] In fact, Giannoulias' "endorsers" were "essentially the base of the Obama coalition: white north side progressives and south side blacks."[7] "My prediction: The stars are aligning for Giannoulias, another silver spooner.
Every politician in the Chicago area, Daleyites and anti-Daleyites, eager to collect campaign funds from Greek Americans in the future, will back Giannoulias. Obama's early endorsement will be critical. Giannoulias will blanket the Chicago airwaves with ads proclaiming himself to be a reformer and a nonpolitician, and mail pieces will target liberal and feminist voters, ripping Mangieri's anti-abortion stance. Mangieri won't get more than 40 percent of the vote in the primary," _Giannoulias 
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barack_Obama_and_campaign_contributor_Alexi