Hey, taking money from mobbed-up a financier is fine if you are a Democrat -- especially if you helped get him a high political appointments despite his shady past.

A man who has long been dogged by charges that the bank his family owns helped finance a Chicago crime figure will host a Windy City fund-raiser tonight for Sen. Barack Obama.

Alexi Giannoulias, who became Illinois state treasurer last year after Obama vouched for him, has pledged to raise $100,000 for the senator's Oval Office bid.

Before he promised to raise funds for Obama, Giannoulias bankrolled Michael "Jaws" Giorango, a Chicagoan twice convicted of bookmaking and promoting prostitution.

Giannoulias is so tainted by reputed mob links that several top Illinois Dems, including the state's speaker of the House and party chairman, refused to endorse him even after he won the Democratic nomination with Obama's help.

Of course, that is how the game is played by Chicago Democrats -- make sure that the mob and the corrupt unions are behind you so they can help turn out the dead and the non-existent vote for you on election day. And if they can fill your coffers with dirty money, so much the better!

Obama isn't a candidate of change -- he's the candidate of the Chicago status quo!

H/T Captain Ed