I watch all 100 senators’ voting records very closely, and I’ve been surprised at just how obstinately conservative Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois has been despite that fact that he’s incredibly vulnerable. On vote after vote where I expected him to break with the lunatics, he has gone right along with them. I figured he was first and foremost concerned with avoiding a primary loss. I guess I was wrong.
Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., is ruling out campaigning for longshot GOP Illinois U.S. Senate nominee Jim Oberweis, saying Monday he would rather “protect” his relationship with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and not launch a “partisan jihad.”
Kirk and Durbin are a very rare couple in Washington. They get along, even when they disagree. They grew closer after Kirk suffered a severe stroke, keeping him away from the Capitol for almost a year.
As a result, the two have forged for now an informal, unspoken, non-aggression pact.
Kirk’s more-than-kind words for Durbin will be very useful to Durbin in his race against Oberweis — where Durbin is the front-runner. A mutual disarming is potentially vastly more beneficial to Kirk, who already has said he will run for another term in 2016 and could potentially face a Democrat with some juice.
Durbin aside, it helps Kirk, a social moderate, who supports gay marriage, abortion rights and comprehensive immigration reform, to disassociate himself from Oberweis, who is opposite him on the very issues that may appeal to the swing independent suburban voters, especially suburban women who Kirk has cultivated throughout his congressional career.
Kirk commented after I asked him and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas — they were together in Chicago on Monday — if they would be seeing or campaigning for Oberweis.
“I’m going to be protecting my relationship with Dick and not launching into a partisan jihad that hurts our partnership to both pull together for Illinois,” Kirk replied.
Cornyn, a former chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee — the Senate Republican political operation — sidestepped a question about helping raise money for Oberweis.
“The reason I am here is for my own re-election, so I’m not getting involved in the Illinois Senate race at this time,” Cornyn said.
Buddying up to Durbin might help Kirk win reelection in a general election, but it assures that the Republican base will treat him like we treated Lieberman. So, all those lunatic votes were for nothing.
Did you divide the votes into pre-stroke and post-stroke votes. Clearly seeing one’s mortality often changes one’s perspective.
Or maybe he’s contemplating a retirement announcement in 2015.
He made some post-stroke comments that were more sympathetic about the availability of health care, but I haven’t seen it translated into much in terms of his voting record.
Kirk is the worst type of opportunistic political whore, who rode into his seat on the 2010 Teahadi wave even though his prior record was anything but Teahadi. Bad enough to get in that way, but to “represent” Illinois as if it were Tennessee is maddening. Almost makes me wish Blogojevich had succeeded in selling the seat to a viable Dem.
Muthafucka had a STROKE.
and had the NERVE to vote against Obamacare.
Can’t wait until we can make ad upon ad about his Tea Party voting.
Durbin aside, it helps Kirk, a social moderate, who supports gay marriage, abortion rights and comprehensive immigration reform, to disassociate himself from Oberweis, who is opposite him on the very issues that may appeal to the swing independent suburban voters, especially suburban women who Kirk has cultivated throughout his congressional career.
Has Kirk actually voted this way? Has he voted with the Democrats for anything besides naming post offices and whatever pre-arranged debt celling bills(or similar type stuff)? Also, too, is Durbin going to protect Kirk in ’16? Because this is one seat we should have no problem picking up in a Presidential year, provided we don’t run a bum like Quinn.
Yes, I believe Blue Dog Durbin will protect Kirk.
He’s just another lunatic.
See that was easy to understand.
I’m from Illinois. I loath Mark Kirk and cannot wait for the opportunity to vote for someone else.
What a terrible replacement for Barack Obama.
Oberweis is hated by most Illinois Republicans. Not because he is too conservative. That would be impossible, see Adam Kinzinger. But because he is not part of the “old boy” network. Don’t know why his millions didn’t buy him a place, maybe because he’s too big an asshole for even them to associate with. OK, probably because, like Rauner, he wants to jump in at the top instead of “making his bones” at the township and county level.