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“The way I look at it is: Could Ted Cruz win a Senate race in Illinois? I don’t think so,” says Josh Holmes, a former senior adviser to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He notes that the state’s Republican senator, Mark Kirk, has “outperformed” the ticket in the past. […]
While waiting to figure out who will become their nominee, Law says that the most effective Senate GOP candidates, like Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, are “hugging the ground,” focusing on state issues like the heroin epidemic. That, and remembering the first rule of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
“The first habit is to focus your energy on your circle of influence versus your circle of concern, which basically means you focus your attention on things you can affect rather than the things you worry about,” said Law.
It appears the candidates agree.
“For me, you could drive yourself crazy, in a targeted race like mine, of what will happen,” Kirk told National Journal. “And I’m just focused on the people of Illinois.”
* Part of that local focus is pinning his probable Democratic opponent to Speaker Madigan, who has lower poll numbers than just about anybody in the country. It started when Duckworth visited Chicago State University this week and blasted Gov. Rauner…
“Because of the stubbornness of the governor, it’s a month away from shutting its doors to these kids,” Duckworth said, according to remarks released by her campaign. “We can’t punish kids like this.” […]
“By attacking Gov. Rauner, it is clear that Rep. Duckworth is siding with Speaker Michael Madigan and his agenda of higher taxes and no reform,” Kirk campaign manager Kevin Artl said in a statement. […]
“The problem is, Duckworth’s record on higher education is just as bad as Kirk’s,” a statement released by Zopp’s campaign manager Bryce Colquitt read. […]
In debating who supported federal efforts to make college more affordable, Duckworth compared Kirk to Rauner. Kirk compared Duckworth to Madigan. And Zopp compared Duckworth to Kirk.
Got all that?
* Meanwhile, Sen. Kirk just received an “A” grade from the Illinois Education Association…
Illinois’ junior Senator, Mark Kirk, like fellow Republican Rep. Rodney Davis, was a strong supporter of the “Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA),” which replaced the “No Child Left Behind Act.” In addition, though it was not included in the final bill, Kirk and Davis fought hard to get the NEA-backed “Accountability Dashboard” included in ESSA.
Shhhh. Don’t tell Rauner.
* Also, here’s some Kirk campaign oppo on Duckworth for your perusal…
In 2012, Tammy Duckworth Attended A Caterpillar Worker’s Strike Rally. “Tammy Duckworth and Bill Foster also joined the strikers, Democrats running for US Congress in two of the national battleground congressional races to regain a Democratic majority.” (John Bachtell, “Strikers blast Caterpillar greed, reject concessions,” People’s World, 5/14/12)
· “Among the guests and speakers at the rally were Tom Buffenbarger, International President; Robert Roach, Jr., General Secretary-Treasurer; Phil Gruber, Midwest Territory GVP; Tom Giarrante, Mayor, Joliet Illinois; Pat McGuire, Illinois State Senator 43rd Legislative District; Larry Walsh, Will County Executive; Tammy Duckworth, Candidate for Illinois’ 8th U.S. Congressional District; Bill Foster, Candidate for Illinois’ 11th U.S. Congressional District and Tim Drea, Secretary Treasurer, Illinois AFL-CIO.” (“Solidarity Rally for Machinists at Caterpillar,” International Association Of Machinists And Aerospace Workers, 5/15/12)
Duckworth Used The Rally To “Voice Her Disdain For Caterpillar the Company.” Back at the stage, Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth used the opportunity to voice her disdain for Caterpillar the company. (Pat Barcas, “Fighting Machinists,” IAM Leadership, 5/11/12)
At The Rally Duckworth Admitted She Was A Stockholder But That She Did Not Like What The Company Was Doing At The Time Of The Rally. “She explained how she and her husband had invested in Caterpillar stock years ago when she received a payment from the government over her military injuries. ‘I’m a stockholder. We believed in the company back then and what it stood for. Now, this is not OK. I don’t like this,’ she said.” (Pat Barcas, “Fighting Machinists,” IAM Leadership, 5/11/12)
A Couple Months After The Rally On July 26th 2012, Tammy Duckworth Purchased Between $1,001-$15,000 In Caterpillar Stock According To Her Personal Financial Disclosure. (Rep. Tammy Duckworth Financial Disclosure Report, Accessed 1/25/16)
Tammy Duckworth Still Owns 2 Sets Of Stocks In Caterpillar Inc. Both Worth Between $1,001 And $15,000 That Each Earned Her Dividends Worth Between $1 And $200 In 2013. (Rep. Tammy Duckworth Financial Disclosure Report, Accessed 7/22/15)
For a bit more context, click here.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 10:49 am
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There was a time, not too long ago that Republicans wanted, courted, and touted Teachers’ endorsements.
Now? Raunerites see this as a Greedy Union trying to own another career politician and having him beholden to them.
Good thing Rauner owes Kirk.
Remember, Rauner owes Kirk. That’s the rub here GOP GA.
Artl,
Fight the good fight.
OW
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 10:54 am
so kirk’s oppo is that a stockholder disagreed with the direction of the company? because i have a feeling there are a lot more people who own stocks who aren’t completely happy with the companies in which they own stocks than there are people who would otherwise have voted for duckworth but wouldn’t because she walked a picket line.
maybe someone should tell kirk, this is illinois!
Comment by bored now Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 10:55 am
So, someone should tell her about mutual funds and specific stock risk.
Comment by Pat C Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 11:01 am
i think the oppo speaks to Duckworth’s hypocrisy. bash companies, then ask them for contributions and then buy their stock.
Did she think no one would look?
Comment by DecaturGuy Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 11:05 am
Decatur - probably not. This is along the same lines with the Zopp stock dump stuff. Yes, it’s perfectly legal and plenty of wealthy people do it. But it doesn’t look good when you announce for Senate. It also says to me that Duckworth was more interested in making money on said stocks instead of taking a stand and proving a point. Imagine the waves she would’ve made if she had sold the stock and told people about it.
Comment by Team Sleep Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 11:07 am
I hope that Rauner is ready to farm some of his staff back out to Kirk. Kirk’s operation has lost a lot of experience and brainpower, and he’ll need all the help he can get.
Comment by Team Sleep Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 11:09 am
Or, people could just vote for James Marter in the GOP primary and send Kirk packing!
Comment by Anon Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 11:11 am
Seems to me that the hypocrisy is pretty clear here with Duckworth. She tried slamming Kirk for his supposed bad record on education, when he just received an “A” grade from the Illinois Education Association….
And protesting Caterpillar, yet owning up to $25,000 in stock of the company even AFTER attending the rally doesn’t look too good either… Yikes
Comment by Sharon Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 11:21 am
So Kirk is criticizing Duckworth for owning stock in Caterpillar even though she isn’t happy with management’s policies?
Shouldn’t he be complimenting her instead for investing in an Illinois based company? She is showing support for Illinois when she invests in Illinois companies.
Comment by A Jack Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 11:27 am
Classic Duckworth. Saying one thing and doing another. Just like when she fired a whistleblower while Director of the DVA. She learned these tricks from her old boss Blago.
Comment by Chairman McBroom Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 11:32 am
Mark Kirk meet Charles Percy.
Comment by Hedley Lamarr Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 12:08 pm
It doesn’t matter who the GOP presidential nominee is here in Illinois - Kirk is on his own in this state.
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 12:28 pm
Wow. That’s some weak sauce!
Comment by walker Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 12:34 pm
Kirk has been a leader on positions that Democrats should love, if they could turn off the partisan blinders. Tammy is an expert on following the party lines and avoiding anything that might be controversial.
Comment by NIU Grad Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 12:45 pm
Mark Kirk meet Charles Percy.
If so Kirk wins this time!!
Comment by Pat C Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 1:18 pm
Wow. Dividends of between $1 - $200. Don’t spend it all in one place, Tammy!
I should also add that people who feel the need to Capitalize Every Word have no credibility.
Comment by JoanP Friday, Jan 29, 16 @ 2:25 pm