Protesters in Illinois are gathering in front of Mark Kirk’s office today to protest his vote on cap and trade. The protest will take place at 707 Skokie Boulevard, Northbrook, IL. The protest takes place at noon.
* And he’s being ridiculed for this video…
The comments on that video are brutal and very profane, so don’t click here to read them if you are easily offended or could get yourself in trouble at work.
With Mark Kirk being one of the eight Republican U.S. House members to give Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi the votes they needed to pass the huge tax-increasing Cap and Trade energy bill last Friday night, most say Kirk is no different than the incumbent Roland Burris, and that without base support, Kirk’s a no-go for U.S. Senate.
Okay, Kirk’s done.
Heck, even Team America, a stalwart Kirk supporter, is wavering…
I’m still left wondering why, if Team Kirk anticipated the adverse reaction of many supporters, why they didn’t get out in front of this story earlier, as some of the speculation I read over the weekend even suggested that Kirk must have made some trade with Emanuel/Pelosi machine for his vote. If you don’t fill the vaccum with something, people are going to speculate. With even folks like Anne Leary at BackyardConservative calling for Kirk’s head, there’s a lot of damage control that needs to be done by Kirk.
That cap and trade vote, combined with his position on abortion and other liberal-leaning issues, would help him in a general election, of course. And he’s still the big gun for the GOP Senate primary, but he’s now called attention to his ideology in a major way. Stay tuned.
The “yes” vote on Friday likely would be of most help in a race for the U.S. Senate, where top Republicans have promised to clear the GOP-primary field for a Kirk race. It could be more problematic if he runs for the other job he’s considering — governor — because at least three more-conservative contenders already are in that race and Mr. Kirk would have to survive the primary to make it to the general election.
I disagree, and think that it’s more likely he now runs for re-election to the House in Illinois’ Democratic-leaning 10th District.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* Democrat Bill Foster voted against the cap and trade measure, but there’s been no major backlash heat from the Left as of yet. Debbie Halvorson voted for it after saying she was against it.
And a new blogger from the region reads the tea leaves and wonders whether Foster is running again, then concludes that he is…
[Foster spokesperson Shannon O’Brien] also confirmed that he was running, and helped me understand where the ambiguity I thought I saw in the Kane County Chronicle’s phrasing of things had come from. Her assurance to me that Foster was indeed running came as a separate part of the message from the text of the official statement itself. To quote what Shannon said to me directly: “while he is going to run for reelection, he is concentrating on governing right now, not campaigning.”
So that settles that. Foster is running again, as expected.
* Meanwhile, Bob Schillerstrom announced his GOP gubernatorial campaign yesterday…
Instead, he proposed rolling back health-care expansions conducted under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, using managed care for state-subsidized health care for the poor, moving more subsidized patients out of nursing homes and into home care, and a less-costly pension system for new state workers.
As I pointed out in my newspaper column this week, Republicans shouldn’t be allowed to get away with those sorts of “solutions.”
U.S. Rep. Danny Davis is edging closer to a run for Todd Stroger’s job. He’s set up an exploratory committee and he’s done some polling that shows he would have beaten Forrest Claypool — considered a Democratic favorite by some before he turned his back on the race — by 10% to 12%, according to a source.
More interesting is who in turn might run for Mr. Davis’ seat. I hear it will be Mr. Davis’ former chief of staff, D.C. lobbyist Richard Boykin.
Mr. Davis likely would give his blessing to Mr. Boykin, who has been a lobbyist for Cook County. And here’s a delicious fact: Mr. Boykin last year threw a fundraiser for Mr. Stroger, who got him the lobbyist job in the first place. Mr. Boykin says, “Should Rep. Davis run for Cook County Board president, I would seriously consider running for Congress in the 7th District.”
It looks like the Repubs are unrelenting on their litmus tests for candidates. Kirk is loking to the General election, not the primary. It is a risky strategy, but necessary in Illinois.
I haven’t read that Halvorson came out for cap and trade. Last week she was quoted as saying she was unsure of her position.
As I said on the previous post to me this raises an interesting point for the party. The gop desperately needs seats in the senate but they’ve been willing to shed speceters, question is, will they take a kirk who currently represents the 3rd most liberal district held by a gop in the house, for a guy that supported this, supports abortion, supported mccain feingold and thinks the nra is a 4 letter word inappropriate for use?
The dems won in 06 bc they were desperate enough to support pro lifers like casey in pa and shuler in nc. Will conservatives accept this from kirk as a price for getting closer to power?
The problem isn’ that the GOP is too narrow minded. The problem is that everyone sees Kirk’s vote for what it is - empty pandering. He will win no Democrats with this stupid vote. He will win no Republicans for it either.
The bill is going down to defeat in the US Senate. What Kirk did was simply stupid, and it is this that makes him so unappealing.
Where is the outrage about Foster voting no on the bill.
Its simple. Kirk needs to remain a moderate and Foster needs to pretend he is one. Thank goodness that Melissa Bean, that pro business Democrat voted for that job killing bill.
- lake county democrat - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:13 pm:
Typical GOP — they will nominate an abomination like Alan Keyes but would rather stay ideologically pure than win one of the few winnable senate seats in 2012. (Team America = a lawyer who doesn’t think waterboarding is torture so I’m not surprised, but the Dems in this district are odd and in the primaries they often put up candidates too liberal for the district, which is why Kirk has done well with his “stay under the radar” strategy.)
This vote is just another indication that Kirk will not be running statewide, where he would need some right-wing street-cred to make it through a primary. I Expect Kirk to run for re-election in left-of-center CD/10.
“Yes we expect our candidates to act like one once in a while.”Last I checked Kirk voted against Obama’s $1 trillion “stimulus” package that has yet to stimulate anything. He also looks to be opposed to the Democrats’ expensive and destructive healthcare reforms as well. But please, keep on insisting that your candidates toe the right wing line exactly, that’s worked out so well for Republicans in Illinois
I’ve seen him at a public function in the district and on Bruce Dumont’s show. On neither occasion was he impressive.
When I asked Danny Davis about Boykin’s presentation in the district Davis asked me why I assumed Boykin was speaking on Davis’ behalf. I don’t know Congressman. He was testifying before a public board in the Congressional district. He was identified as your chief of staff. And it was a matter of federal funding on a health issue being reduced. And Congressman Davis has held himself out as an expert on community health care.
So, Davis kinda tried to throw Boykin under the bus when I explained the flaws in what Boykin was saying in a column in the Forest Park Review.
But rather than making me want to blame Boykin, Davis’ immature way to avoid responsibility for his chief of staff just made me wish Danny Davis would retire already.
But let me analyze the palace intrigue of Davis making noise about running for President of the Cook County Board.
Todd Stroger hired Boykin to by the lobbyist for Cook County based on Boykin being recommended by Davis.
Davis is now making noise that he’s running against Stroger and recommending Boykin as his replacement.
Has Stroger fired Boykin?
If Stroger hasn’t fired Boykin, doesn’t this suggest Stroger isn’t mad at Davis?
Why wouldn’t Stroger be mad at Davis?
Is it b/c Davis is a phony candidate? While Davis is officially a potential candidate, is it harder for Toni Preckwinkle and Dorothy Brown to raise money?
Is it advantageous for Stroger for Davis to sound like a candidate at this point, if Davis ultimately declines to run?
Would this scenario explain why Boykin hasn’t been canned as the Cook County lobbyist?
- Ravenswood Right Winger - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:39 pm:
There’s a different kind of backlash from the left to Foster that will be seen down the road. Most of the Kirk backlash is a short lived talk radio temper tantrum coming from outside his district. The left will see how Foster acts over the next year and respond accordingly.
Ravenswood, that is an understatement. There is no way Kirk can run statewide now without getting a serious primary. And even if he runs for re-election he may well get a conservative challenger in the primary. He very much underestimated the damage that vote would do to his career.
Is there any way to validate the Schillerstrom camp’s claim that they had 3,000 people watch his announcement stream on his website? Seems like total BS if you consider how little press his announcement received and he has an almost non-existent social network on Facebook and Youtube. It was also a beautiful day throughout most of the state so I can’t imagine more than 10 people stayed inside to watch it.
>That cap and trade vote, combined with his position on abortion and other liberal-leaning issues, would help him in a general election, of course. And he’s still the big gun for the GOP Senate primary, but he’s now called attention to his ideology in a major way. Stay tuned.
No it would not. People aren’t going to vote for a Republican pretending to be a Democrat. People will vote for a REAL Democrat. That has been proven time and time and time and time again. People desire conservatives, not country club liberals…that’s why the state GOP is in the mess it has been because they keep alienating their base!
The comments about Kirk that You Tube page are so funny! Thank you Rich.
PlutoCrat- I am outraged about Foster’s no vote. I got a fund-raising email from him the day before. Friday night I deleted it. He won’t be getting $ from me or my friends anymore. The guy needed to step up and vote for that bill. Pathetic.
- Ravenswood Right Winger - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:21 pm:
LIbertyville-assuming Kirk runs for re-election in the 10th, how much will the Dems spend on this race? They spent a lot of money the last two times propping up the great Dan Seals. Frankly, the money would have been spent more wisely supporting Duckworth back in 2006.
Why is it that when democrats hold fast to their key issues they are called being principled but when the republicans do this it is self destructive?
Cap and Trade is part of the disintegrating “human caused” global climate change myth promulgated by those who would cause the collapse the US economy. Why should we destroy our way of life when China and India will be given a free pass on CO2 emissions?
Doesn’t matter to me if a person takes a position I don’t agree with as long as that person has a reason (tied to some sort of reality). Either Kirk doesn’t know what he is talking about or he is pandering.
Probably won’t run outside his district. Good thing - I won’t have to vote against him in the primary.
- lake county democrat - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:34 pm:
Unless the national GOP is stupid, they want Kirk, not just because he’s a winner but because he’s meek — allowing them to pretend they are a big tent and showing off a moderate side when convenient but not having to give him a lot of power. Alternatively, if Kirk isn’t the career pol/non-visionary I believe he is, he’d be very interesting in spearheading a GOP comeback of the “moderate” branch: given how few centrists there really are in Congress (thanks gerrymandering), it’s a growth area.
..and i am sure there are plenty of comments on the “blogosphere” regarding moderate D’s and their yes votes on the bill (ie: Halverson) - but this is the hightlight, ofcourse
Hi Ravenswood. These are my thoughts about the Kirk race. (and I agree with you about Duckworth though I think at the end she just faded..she didn’t lack for resources). State Senator Michael Bond is running for Congress in the 10th he is a pretty good candidate (better than Seals) and the Dems are likely to support him. A conservative challenge…a serious consevative challenge….would cost Kirk money and hurt him going into a general election. Either way, Kirk’s vote cost him a lot of heartache. I am betting he gets little to no kudos from the North Shore liberals he has been trying to court. Until now, he has always found a way to walk the line and fly under the radar. Now this is exposed his true nature and it is not a pretty picture.
You can read Kirk’s explanation for his vote at the Team America 10th blog. Agree or disagree with Kirk’s vote, it is pretty clear he definitely knows what he is talking about and isn’t pandering.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:49 pm:
The left will see how Foster acts over the next year and respond accordingly.
Foster’s vote was the result of:
1.) A detailed scientific algorithm that computed his possible 14th District political gains vs. losses on the issue. And it was perfect.
2.) Being the only one who actually read the bill, and knowing it was a “load of John Boehner’s favorite substance”.
1. Kirk’s vote isn’t a “sellout.” He’s been consistently left of center on the environment. He is sticking to his principles, whether some key GOP constituencies like it or not. That is not pandering. Changing your position to curry favor is pandering. There is no doubt this is a bad vote from the perspective of many Republicans, but it is entirely consistent for Kirk. HE’S A MODERATE. GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEADS HE ISN’T GOING TO CONVERT TO THE RIGHT WING!
2. The wing nuts claim this “guarantees” a primary for Kirk. Great! Which one of the towering political figures from Illinois’ right wing fringe will it be this time? BZZZZZZZ! Time’s up! That’s right! No one. The far right has no credible candidates. They may trot out a marginal hate-spewing operative or some poor putz that they can manipulate, but they can’t match Kirk’s fundraising, experience and knowledge.
3. The right wing mocks Kirk’s abiilty to read the cap and trade bill because they are jealous. It doesn’t have pictures. (Pure snark)
What’s with the Right Wing embracing the idea of reading entire bills anyways?
I expect that it long bills, most of the bill is pretty unexceptional. Only small part represent big changes to the status quo.
Members should apprehend the important details, not make a big show of reading the boring stuff that isn’t a big deal.
That’s why both individual members of Congress and their committees have staffs. The staff members should be able to summarize the changes of the bill and point to a few sections that might be problems.
Mark Kirk figures his district has a lot of inherited wealth. These trustfundtarians don’t care much about new jobs. That’s why his district has been trending towards the Democratic party. Kirk has looked at the polls, he’ll probably face no back lash.
The Repubs base positions, if supported by their candidate, result in a candidate getting around 40% of the vote in the general election.
But, is that preferable to winning? That question seems to be answered yes by many on this blog.
The base relies on having their own set of “facts” to create the tests candidates must bow to. DuPage Dan’s claim that human caused global climate change is a “disintegrating myth” when scientists who are independent unanimously agree that it is no myth, points out the unreasonableness of the requirements for one to support “the base.” This is akin to the Catholic Church requiring Copernicus to recant his discovery that the Earth obits the Sun and not the other way around.
Kirk voted for this bill on National Security grounds as much as anything else. He clearly preferred the Republican sponsored alternative energy bill because the “everything approach” would help reduce our energy on foreign oil thereby reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Unfortunately, the that bill did not pass. I think Kirk feels that to do nothing was worse than this bill because oil rich countries like Russia, Saudi and Venezuela are only getting more hostile and dangerous.
Mark Kirk never had any intention of running statewide.
The vote was brilliant and perfect for his district’s politics, if not for his district. No credible conservative will challenge him in the Republican primary in the 10th District, and the Democrats in the race will all be for this bill. It took away one negative ad for the Democrats to use in November against him. Expect more votes like this from Mark Kirk in advance of a nasty general election campaign in the 10th District.
If nothing else, Mark Kirk has proven he knows how to be re-elected in a Dem-leaning district. No further explanation of his vote is needed than that.
Mark Kirk will have a primary challenger…if he doesn’t run for Senate. And who votes for a 1,200 page bill where 300 pages were added at 3am without reading much of it? It was a reckless and irresponsible vote. Does anyone here actually know what the heck was in this thing? Were you prepared to be pay a ton more money for energy and have California building regulations imposed on all new construction in this state? Boy, it is remarkable how great the levels of pain people are willing to suffer before actually using their brains to actually learn how lethal the truth is about what the heck they’re supporting!
I said Mark Kirk won’t have a credible primary challenger in the 10th District. He won’t.
And, the House leadership in Washington may be unhappy with Kirk’s vote, but they need his leadership vote. They are not likely to throw him under the bus.
Even if they do, by flirting with running statewide, he has upped his fund-raising total. He has several million in the bank already, enough to fund his campaign against even the toughest candidate.
All politics is local, and Mark Kirk voted that way. By the way, I am not a Mark Kirk fan. But for a 10th District race, there was little downside to this vote.
The key question is what the price was to buy him on this vote.
Did Nancy promise him no House Dem funding for any opponent in the 10th?
Did Nancy promise to throw some of the “Combine” big money boys’contributions to Kirk?
Was it steering some money, jobs or contracts to friends and family members?
The Bill , even if he read it, clearly won’t do much to reduce emissions, since the pollution will just be “outsourced” to China and India when we become even less competitive after this job-killing, counter productive bill.
If he wanted to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuel power stations, he could have proposed a bill to give a tax credit to utilities and refineries to install best available technology, but he didn’t.
If he wanted to reduce carbon footprints the most practical solution is to expand nuclear power to Euro levels and build the infrastructure for fuel recycling. He could’ve introduced legislation to do it, but he didn’t.
As a Naval intelligence officer (oxymoron?), he knows that nuclear is the answer to environmental problems, but instead he votes for this horrible bill that will drill “dry holes” in wind and solar research.
In short, he chose the political payoff instead of doing what he knows is best for the country.
Halvorson, Jackson, Bean and Co don’t have a clue about the energy solutions (or the bill) or environmental science so they can be excused for making an ignorant decision.
Kirk knew better and still did what he knows is wrong for the country. That makes him far worse.
PS Foster is the only Rep in Illinois with enough knowledge to judge the bill on its economic and technical merits, and he voted against the bill despite tremendous pressure.
That shows me he has a lot more character than Kirk.
Wordslinger says, “…Where can a guy like him raise money for a statewide general election. The national GOP? He’s not their kind of guy.”
Actually, Sen. John Cornyn (current head of the NRSC) infuriated the Illinois right-wing a few weeks back by saying Kirk was about the only GOP fellow who could win the Illinois seat back from the Dems.
So, he’d have national party’s backing … problem there is that the GOP Senate committee doesn’t have much money (relatively) to begin with and will be defending a horrible map full of retirees and embattled incumbents in 2010.
–
Nyberg asks, “What’s with the Right Wing embracing the idea of reading entire bills anyways?”
Segatori asks the same thing from the opposite perspective, “And who votes for a 1,200 page bill where 300 pages were added at 3am without reading much of it? It was a reckless and irresponsible vote.”
…According to Cong. Kirk’s apparently hard-to-obtain statement published on Team America’s blog, Mark Kirk does claim to have read the entire bill.
Kirk doesn’t specify whether or not that includes the amendment, but to be perfectly honest 300 pages can’t physically be typed up that fast (”done” at 3am and presented later that day)…
Just because the amendment was quote-unquote “done” at 3am or whenever doesn’t mean the language or at the very least the outline of the amendment wasn’t floating around being discussed for weeks or even months.
Same goes for the Stimulus Bill pass earlier in the year. The knee-jerk conservative talking point complaint was that nobody had time to read it … yet somehow they all knew about the bill including funding for flu preparedness, arts programs, alternative energy, etc that they simultaneously complained about ad nauseum.
You can’t logically both claim that you despise legislation and that you never had time to read it. What are you complaining about if you haven’t read it?
Clearly, since liberal bloggers are themselves complaining that the Cap and Trade bill (aka, ACES) was “watered down” then some major concessions went through before the vote that somehow made it “less” liberal (ie, more conservative).
And, finally, for all those complaining about what they fear will be “huge” back-door tax increases we already have been paying those costs indirectly as it is by way of everything from increased rates of asthma to increased security and defense costs and including unstable and unpredictable fuel and energy markets, etc.
Think about all the costs related to literally dumping garbage into our air for “free”…
Mark Kirk has just sealed his fate as to where his political career is going (at least within the Illinois GOP). Kirk has outraged most of the GOP conservatives and many of it’s moderates. Much like in the old television series “To Tell The Truth”, will the real Mark Kirk please stand up? Whoops, I guess he just did. Kirk is now reliant on taking handouts and charity from his Democrat friends in his district. If the Republicans can get any type of decent GOP candidate to step forth to challenge Kirk, Mark Kirk will be “toast” in the GOP Primary.
Foster is actually well-liked by many of the Republicans in the 14th District. He has shown that he is willing to vote against his Democrat Party’s dictates which wins him the respect of many of the GOP voters in his district. Foster has got a lock on the 14th District. I am a Republican but I can’t say that I blame Republicans over there for liking Foster. Denny Hastert slit the throat of the Illinois GOP when he meddled in the Oberweis versus Lauzen primary last election. He should have stayed out of it. It is now lost to the GOP.
Debbie Halvorson was “against it” and then “she was for it”. (Ha-ha)It is the same old Debbie. Debbie has always been an order taker for her Party leadership if she is assured that it will advance her political career. She did the same thing for Blagojevich and Emil Jones when she was in the Illinois senate. She was Rod’s and Emil’s waitress and took their orders for them. Even members of her own Democrat Party quietly referred to her as “Step-N-Fetch It” Halvorson. If the Illinois Republican Party can get their act together and all pull in the same direction on their political rope, somebody like young Adam Kinzinger will have a decent chance of unseating her this time. Andy McKenna needs to back a winning horse for a change. Republican voters won’t vote for retreads or recycled candidates like Oberweis and Birkett. They want a fresh face who is passionate in his beliefs and can be an original thinker for a change. The idea of an original thinker is too scary of a concept for Andy McKenna, I am afraid. He and Big Jim are still looking for slightly used “puppets on a string” to throw their Republican money and support behind. Somebody running on the GOP ticket like a Dan Proft scares the bejeebers out of them. Too much passion, too many original thoughts, too much integrity, so little control. Yep, pretty scary concept.
My wife and I live in Canada where I retired after 25 years as president of a company. Grandkids are keeping us here - however - we still vote in every election through the 10th District.
It has been years since we have voted for the office of US House. We refuse to vote Democrat and will NOT vote for a RINO. The 10th has been represented by failed Republicans since the day John Porter stepped up to the trough.
Mark Kirk is/was simply a lateral arabasque.
Until there is a Republican running for that office, and let me say if Kirk does somehow confuse the RNC and Illinois voters, and become the Republican candidate for governor of senate, we will NOT vote for that office either.
Would we rather be RIGHT than elected? Yes we feel and smell better the next day.
>You can’t logically both claim that you despise legislation and that you never had time to read it. What are you complaining about if you haven’t read it?
Because others are reading it and putting out the dirty details in summary - which is how they try to sneak things through that would never pass if they stood on their own. We do not trust these people, they’ve completely nuked their promises to air out these bills before voting on them. THEY LIED. They throw so much poisoned pills into a bill then try to get it passed the same day hoping no one would notice them until it’s too late.
I live in Rep. Kirk’s district, and I think that he’ll run, statewide. On June 13, I attended a meeting of the Republican Organization of Wheeling Township, and Rep. Kirk was the guest speaker. Someone asked whether he’ll run for the U.S. Senate. Kirk said that he hasn’t decided. He said, “The White House chose someone they think is the perfect candidate for the U.S. Senate or governor. That person can’t run for both offices. A few days after that person makes an announcement, I’ll announce the race in which I’ll run.” I think that Kirk was referring to Attorney General Madigan. He knows that she’ll run for the U.S. Senate or governor, and he’ll probably run for the race for which she doesn’t run. Since he probably won’t run for re-election, I hope that a Republican is planning on running for his House seat. I read that State Rep. Coulson might run.
Kirk is voting his district, that’s all.His vote tells me he’s not running statewide, however. The right-wing zealots in his district are few, and they rarely do anything except complain. They would rather lose with 33-40% of the vote than win. That’s why they are zealots!
- Tom Joad - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 11:38 am:
It looks like the Repubs are unrelenting on their litmus tests for candidates. Kirk is loking to the General election, not the primary. It is a risky strategy, but necessary in Illinois.
I haven’t read that Halvorson came out for cap and trade. Last week she was quoted as saying she was unsure of her position.
- shore - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 11:40 am:
As I said on the previous post to me this raises an interesting point for the party. The gop desperately needs seats in the senate but they’ve been willing to shed speceters, question is, will they take a kirk who currently represents the 3rd most liberal district held by a gop in the house, for a guy that supported this, supports abortion, supported mccain feingold and thinks the nra is a 4 letter word inappropriate for use?
The dems won in 06 bc they were desperate enough to support pro lifers like casey in pa and shuler in nc. Will conservatives accept this from kirk as a price for getting closer to power?
- VanillaMan - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 11:46 am:
The problem isn’ that the GOP is too narrow minded. The problem is that everyone sees Kirk’s vote for what it is - empty pandering. He will win no Democrats with this stupid vote. He will win no Republicans for it either.
The bill is going down to defeat in the US Senate. What Kirk did was simply stupid, and it is this that makes him so unappealing.
- Niles Township - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 11:54 am:
He is staying out in the 10th. Hence, this vote makes sense.
- Plutocrat03 - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 11:56 am:
Where is the outrage about Foster voting no on the bill.
Its simple. Kirk needs to remain a moderate and Foster needs to pretend he is one. Thank goodness that Melissa Bean, that pro business Democrat voted for that job killing bill.
- lake county democrat - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:13 pm:
Typical GOP — they will nominate an abomination like Alan Keyes but would rather stay ideologically pure than win one of the few winnable senate seats in 2012. (Team America = a lawyer who doesn’t think waterboarding is torture so I’m not surprised, but the Dems in this district are odd and in the primaries they often put up candidates too liberal for the district, which is why Kirk has done well with his “stay under the radar” strategy.)
- DnSttsAnon - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:24 pm:
“It looks like the Repubs are unrelenting on their litmus tests for candidates.”
Yes we expect our candidates to act like one once in a while.
- Ela Observer - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:24 pm:
This vote is just another indication that Kirk will not be running statewide, where he would need some right-wing street-cred to make it through a primary. I Expect Kirk to run for re-election in left-of-center CD/10.
- wordslinger - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:29 pm:
I think he’s staying put. Where can a guy like him raise money for a statewide general election. The national GOP? He’s not their kind of guy.
- R_K - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:31 pm:
“Yes we expect our candidates to act like one once in a while.”Last I checked Kirk voted against Obama’s $1 trillion “stimulus” package that has yet to stimulate anything. He also looks to be opposed to the Democrats’ expensive and destructive healthcare reforms as well. But please, keep on insisting that your candidates toe the right wing line exactly, that’s worked out so well for Republicans in Illinois
- Carl Nyberg - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:37 pm:
What makes Boykin an impressive campaigner?
I’ve seen him at a public function in the district and on Bruce Dumont’s show. On neither occasion was he impressive.
When I asked Danny Davis about Boykin’s presentation in the district Davis asked me why I assumed Boykin was speaking on Davis’ behalf. I don’t know Congressman. He was testifying before a public board in the Congressional district. He was identified as your chief of staff. And it was a matter of federal funding on a health issue being reduced. And Congressman Davis has held himself out as an expert on community health care.
So, Davis kinda tried to throw Boykin under the bus when I explained the flaws in what Boykin was saying in a column in the Forest Park Review.
But rather than making me want to blame Boykin, Davis’ immature way to avoid responsibility for his chief of staff just made me wish Danny Davis would retire already.
But let me analyze the palace intrigue of Davis making noise about running for President of the Cook County Board.
Todd Stroger hired Boykin to by the lobbyist for Cook County based on Boykin being recommended by Davis.
Davis is now making noise that he’s running against Stroger and recommending Boykin as his replacement.
Has Stroger fired Boykin?
If Stroger hasn’t fired Boykin, doesn’t this suggest Stroger isn’t mad at Davis?
Why wouldn’t Stroger be mad at Davis?
Is it b/c Davis is a phony candidate? While Davis is officially a potential candidate, is it harder for Toni Preckwinkle and Dorothy Brown to raise money?
Is it advantageous for Stroger for Davis to sound like a candidate at this point, if Davis ultimately declines to run?
Would this scenario explain why Boykin hasn’t been canned as the Cook County lobbyist?
- Ravenswood Right Winger - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:39 pm:
Maybe this is a sign Kirk is staying put.
- Sango Dem - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:41 pm:
There’s a different kind of backlash from the left to Foster that will be seen down the road. Most of the Kirk backlash is a short lived talk radio temper tantrum coming from outside his district. The left will see how Foster acts over the next year and respond accordingly.
- Libertyville - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:43 pm:
Maybe this is a sign Kirk is staying put.
Ravenswood, that is an understatement. There is no way Kirk can run statewide now without getting a serious primary. And even if he runs for re-election he may well get a conservative challenger in the primary. He very much underestimated the damage that vote would do to his career.
- Curious - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:46 pm:
Is there any way to validate the Schillerstrom camp’s claim that they had 3,000 people watch his announcement stream on his website? Seems like total BS if you consider how little press his announcement received and he has an almost non-existent social network on Facebook and Youtube. It was also a beautiful day throughout most of the state so I can’t imagine more than 10 people stayed inside to watch it.
- Segatari - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 12:53 pm:
>That cap and trade vote, combined with his position on abortion and other liberal-leaning issues, would help him in a general election, of course. And he’s still the big gun for the GOP Senate primary, but he’s now called attention to his ideology in a major way. Stay tuned.
No it would not. People aren’t going to vote for a Republican pretending to be a Democrat. People will vote for a REAL Democrat. That has been proven time and time and time and time again. People desire conservatives, not country club liberals…that’s why the state GOP is in the mess it has been because they keep alienating their base!
- siriusly - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:06 pm:
The comments about Kirk that You Tube page are so funny! Thank you Rich.
PlutoCrat- I am outraged about Foster’s no vote. I got a fund-raising email from him the day before. Friday night I deleted it. He won’t be getting $ from me or my friends anymore. The guy needed to step up and vote for that bill. Pathetic.
- Ravenswood Right Winger - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:21 pm:
LIbertyville-assuming Kirk runs for re-election in the 10th, how much will the Dems spend on this race? They spent a lot of money the last two times propping up the great Dan Seals. Frankly, the money would have been spent more wisely supporting Duckworth back in 2006.
- DuPage Dan - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:33 pm:
Why is it that when democrats hold fast to their key issues they are called being principled but when the republicans do this it is self destructive?
Cap and Trade is part of the disintegrating “human caused” global climate change myth promulgated by those who would cause the collapse the US economy. Why should we destroy our way of life when China and India will be given a free pass on CO2 emissions?
Doesn’t matter to me if a person takes a position I don’t agree with as long as that person has a reason (tied to some sort of reality). Either Kirk doesn’t know what he is talking about or he is pandering.
Probably won’t run outside his district. Good thing - I won’t have to vote against him in the primary.
- lake county democrat - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:34 pm:
Unless the national GOP is stupid, they want Kirk, not just because he’s a winner but because he’s meek — allowing them to pretend they are a big tent and showing off a moderate side when convenient but not having to give him a lot of power. Alternatively, if Kirk isn’t the career pol/non-visionary I believe he is, he’d be very interesting in spearheading a GOP comeback of the “moderate” branch: given how few centrists there really are in Congress (thanks gerrymandering), it’s a growth area.
- anon - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:35 pm:
..and i am sure there are plenty of comments on the “blogosphere” regarding moderate D’s and their yes votes on the bill (ie: Halverson) - but this is the hightlight, ofcourse
- Libertyville - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:35 pm:
Hi Ravenswood. These are my thoughts about the Kirk race. (and I agree with you about Duckworth though I think at the end she just faded..she didn’t lack for resources). State Senator Michael Bond is running for Congress in the 10th he is a pretty good candidate (better than Seals) and the Dems are likely to support him. A conservative challenge…a serious consevative challenge….would cost Kirk money and hurt him going into a general election. Either way, Kirk’s vote cost him a lot of heartache. I am betting he gets little to no kudos from the North Shore liberals he has been trying to court. Until now, he has always found a way to walk the line and fly under the radar. Now this is exposed his true nature and it is not a pretty picture.
- jstew - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:38 pm:
You can read Kirk’s explanation for his vote at the Team America 10th blog. Agree or disagree with Kirk’s vote, it is pretty clear he definitely knows what he is talking about and isn’t pandering.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:49 pm:
The left will see how Foster acts over the next year and respond accordingly.
Foster’s vote was the result of:
1.) A detailed scientific algorithm that computed his possible 14th District political gains vs. losses on the issue. And it was perfect.
2.) Being the only one who actually read the bill, and knowing it was a “load of John Boehner’s favorite substance”.
3.) A scientific wild arse guess.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 1:49 pm:
anon, why don’t you check teh Google first? There aren’t many, if any. Open mouth, insert foot.
- E Pluribus - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 2:04 pm:
A few points-
1. Kirk’s vote isn’t a “sellout.” He’s been consistently left of center on the environment. He is sticking to his principles, whether some key GOP constituencies like it or not. That is not pandering. Changing your position to curry favor is pandering. There is no doubt this is a bad vote from the perspective of many Republicans, but it is entirely consistent for Kirk. HE’S A MODERATE. GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEADS HE ISN’T GOING TO CONVERT TO THE RIGHT WING!
2. The wing nuts claim this “guarantees” a primary for Kirk. Great! Which one of the towering political figures from Illinois’ right wing fringe will it be this time? BZZZZZZZ! Time’s up! That’s right! No one. The far right has no credible candidates. They may trot out a marginal hate-spewing operative or some poor putz that they can manipulate, but they can’t match Kirk’s fundraising, experience and knowledge.
3. The right wing mocks Kirk’s abiilty to read the cap and trade bill because they are jealous. It doesn’t have pictures. (Pure snark)
- Carl Nyberg - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 2:33 pm:
What’s with the Right Wing embracing the idea of reading entire bills anyways?
I expect that it long bills, most of the bill is pretty unexceptional. Only small part represent big changes to the status quo.
Members should apprehend the important details, not make a big show of reading the boring stuff that isn’t a big deal.
That’s why both individual members of Congress and their committees have staffs. The staff members should be able to summarize the changes of the bill and point to a few sections that might be problems.
- Steve - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 2:49 pm:
Mark Kirk figures his district has a lot of inherited wealth. These trustfundtarians don’t care much about new jobs. That’s why his district has been trending towards the Democratic party. Kirk has looked at the polls, he’ll probably face no back lash.
- vole - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 3:11 pm:
“Kirk Infuriates the Right”
All right! That is all this independent needed to give the guy a closer look.
And thank you for the “yes” vote, Rep. Kirk!
- Bill - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 3:23 pm:
Thanks Cong. Kirk for doing the right thing for Illinois and the world. I guess you really do know what you are talking about. At least on this issue.
- Tom Joad - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 3:48 pm:
The Repubs base positions, if supported by their candidate, result in a candidate getting around 40% of the vote in the general election.
But, is that preferable to winning? That question seems to be answered yes by many on this blog.
The base relies on having their own set of “facts” to create the tests candidates must bow to. DuPage Dan’s claim that human caused global climate change is a “disintegrating myth” when scientists who are independent unanimously agree that it is no myth, points out the unreasonableness of the requirements for one to support “the base.” This is akin to the Catholic Church requiring Copernicus to recant his discovery that the Earth obits the Sun and not the other way around.
- jstew - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 4:14 pm:
Kirk voted for this bill on National Security grounds as much as anything else. He clearly preferred the Republican sponsored alternative energy bill because the “everything approach” would help reduce our energy on foreign oil thereby reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Unfortunately, the that bill did not pass. I think Kirk feels that to do nothing was worse than this bill because oil rich countries like Russia, Saudi and Venezuela are only getting more hostile and dangerous.
- Segatari - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 4:16 pm:
E Pluribus - Mark Kirk should quit pretending to be a Republican and switch parties already. Here’s one guarntee…I’m not voting for Kirk.
- James Rockford - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 4:23 pm:
Mark Kirk never had any intention of running statewide.
The vote was brilliant and perfect for his district’s politics, if not for his district. No credible conservative will challenge him in the Republican primary in the 10th District, and the Democrats in the race will all be for this bill. It took away one negative ad for the Democrats to use in November against him. Expect more votes like this from Mark Kirk in advance of a nasty general election campaign in the 10th District.
If nothing else, Mark Kirk has proven he knows how to be re-elected in a Dem-leaning district. No further explanation of his vote is needed than that.
- True Observer - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 4:33 pm:
“The vote was brilliant and perfect for his district’s politics, if not for his district.”
Just one problem.
It puts him in the doghouse with the Republicans in the House.
His future there is shot.
That’s why odds are he was going to go statewide for the office Madigan didn’t run for.
With this vote, he can kiss the nomination goodbye.
- Segatari - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 4:51 pm:
Mark Kirk will have a primary challenger…if he doesn’t run for Senate. And who votes for a 1,200 page bill where 300 pages were added at 3am without reading much of it? It was a reckless and irresponsible vote. Does anyone here actually know what the heck was in this thing? Were you prepared to be pay a ton more money for energy and have California building regulations imposed on all new construction in this state? Boy, it is remarkable how great the levels of pain people are willing to suffer before actually using their brains to actually learn how lethal the truth is about what the heck they’re supporting!
http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_178181615.html?keyword=topstory
- James Rockford - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 5:03 pm:
I said Mark Kirk won’t have a credible primary challenger in the 10th District. He won’t.
And, the House leadership in Washington may be unhappy with Kirk’s vote, but they need his leadership vote. They are not likely to throw him under the bus.
Even if they do, by flirting with running statewide, he has upped his fund-raising total. He has several million in the bank already, enough to fund his campaign against even the toughest candidate.
All politics is local, and Mark Kirk voted that way. By the way, I am not a Mark Kirk fan. But for a 10th District race, there was little downside to this vote.
- PalosParkBob - Monday, Jun 29, 09 @ 10:13 pm:
The key question is what the price was to buy him on this vote.
Did Nancy promise him no House Dem funding for any opponent in the 10th?
Did Nancy promise to throw some of the “Combine” big money boys’contributions to Kirk?
Was it steering some money, jobs or contracts to friends and family members?
The Bill , even if he read it, clearly won’t do much to reduce emissions, since the pollution will just be “outsourced” to China and India when we become even less competitive after this job-killing, counter productive bill.
If he wanted to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuel power stations, he could have proposed a bill to give a tax credit to utilities and refineries to install best available technology, but he didn’t.
If he wanted to reduce carbon footprints the most practical solution is to expand nuclear power to Euro levels and build the infrastructure for fuel recycling. He could’ve introduced legislation to do it, but he didn’t.
As a Naval intelligence officer (oxymoron?), he knows that nuclear is the answer to environmental problems, but instead he votes for this horrible bill that will drill “dry holes” in wind and solar research.
In short, he chose the political payoff instead of doing what he knows is best for the country.
Halvorson, Jackson, Bean and Co don’t have a clue about the energy solutions (or the bill) or environmental science so they can be excused for making an ignorant decision.
Kirk knew better and still did what he knows is wrong for the country. That makes him far worse.
PS Foster is the only Rep in Illinois with enough knowledge to judge the bill on its economic and technical merits, and he voted against the bill despite tremendous pressure.
That shows me he has a lot more character than Kirk.
- Rob_N - Tuesday, Jun 30, 09 @ 12:56 am:
Wordslinger says, “…Where can a guy like him raise money for a statewide general election. The national GOP? He’s not their kind of guy.”
Actually, Sen. John Cornyn (current head of the NRSC) infuriated the Illinois right-wing a few weeks back by saying Kirk was about the only GOP fellow who could win the Illinois seat back from the Dems.
So, he’d have national party’s backing … problem there is that the GOP Senate committee doesn’t have much money (relatively) to begin with and will be defending a horrible map full of retirees and embattled incumbents in 2010.
–
Nyberg asks, “What’s with the Right Wing embracing the idea of reading entire bills anyways?”
Segatori asks the same thing from the opposite perspective, “And who votes for a 1,200 page bill where 300 pages were added at 3am without reading much of it? It was a reckless and irresponsible vote.”
…According to Cong. Kirk’s apparently hard-to-obtain statement published on Team America’s blog, Mark Kirk does claim to have read the entire bill.
Kirk doesn’t specify whether or not that includes the amendment, but to be perfectly honest 300 pages can’t physically be typed up that fast (”done” at 3am and presented later that day)…
Just because the amendment was quote-unquote “done” at 3am or whenever doesn’t mean the language or at the very least the outline of the amendment wasn’t floating around being discussed for weeks or even months.
Same goes for the Stimulus Bill pass earlier in the year. The knee-jerk conservative talking point complaint was that nobody had time to read it … yet somehow they all knew about the bill including funding for flu preparedness, arts programs, alternative energy, etc that they simultaneously complained about ad nauseum.
You can’t logically both claim that you despise legislation and that you never had time to read it. What are you complaining about if you haven’t read it?
Clearly, since liberal bloggers are themselves complaining that the Cap and Trade bill (aka, ACES) was “watered down” then some major concessions went through before the vote that somehow made it “less” liberal (ie, more conservative).
And, finally, for all those complaining about what they fear will be “huge” back-door tax increases we already have been paying those costs indirectly as it is by way of everything from increased rates of asthma to increased security and defense costs and including unstable and unpredictable fuel and energy markets, etc.
Think about all the costs related to literally dumping garbage into our air for “free”…
- John Doe - Tuesday, Jun 30, 09 @ 7:10 am:
Mark Kirk has just sealed his fate as to where his political career is going (at least within the Illinois GOP). Kirk has outraged most of the GOP conservatives and many of it’s moderates. Much like in the old television series “To Tell The Truth”, will the real Mark Kirk please stand up? Whoops, I guess he just did. Kirk is now reliant on taking handouts and charity from his Democrat friends in his district. If the Republicans can get any type of decent GOP candidate to step forth to challenge Kirk, Mark Kirk will be “toast” in the GOP Primary.
Foster is actually well-liked by many of the Republicans in the 14th District. He has shown that he is willing to vote against his Democrat Party’s dictates which wins him the respect of many of the GOP voters in his district. Foster has got a lock on the 14th District. I am a Republican but I can’t say that I blame Republicans over there for liking Foster. Denny Hastert slit the throat of the Illinois GOP when he meddled in the Oberweis versus Lauzen primary last election. He should have stayed out of it. It is now lost to the GOP.
Debbie Halvorson was “against it” and then “she was for it”. (Ha-ha)It is the same old Debbie. Debbie has always been an order taker for her Party leadership if she is assured that it will advance her political career. She did the same thing for Blagojevich and Emil Jones when she was in the Illinois senate. She was Rod’s and Emil’s waitress and took their orders for them. Even members of her own Democrat Party quietly referred to her as “Step-N-Fetch It” Halvorson. If the Illinois Republican Party can get their act together and all pull in the same direction on their political rope, somebody like young Adam Kinzinger will have a decent chance of unseating her this time. Andy McKenna needs to back a winning horse for a change. Republican voters won’t vote for retreads or recycled candidates like Oberweis and Birkett. They want a fresh face who is passionate in his beliefs and can be an original thinker for a change. The idea of an original thinker is too scary of a concept for Andy McKenna, I am afraid. He and Big Jim are still looking for slightly used “puppets on a string” to throw their Republican money and support behind. Somebody running on the GOP ticket like a Dan Proft scares the bejeebers out of them. Too much passion, too many original thoughts, too much integrity, so little control. Yep, pretty scary concept.
- John Currey - Tuesday, Jun 30, 09 @ 7:21 am:
My wife and I live in Canada where I retired after 25 years as president of a company. Grandkids are keeping us here - however - we still vote in every election through the 10th District.
It has been years since we have voted for the office of US House. We refuse to vote Democrat and will NOT vote for a RINO. The 10th has been represented by failed Republicans since the day John Porter stepped up to the trough.
Mark Kirk is/was simply a lateral arabasque.
Until there is a Republican running for that office, and let me say if Kirk does somehow confuse the RNC and Illinois voters, and become the Republican candidate for governor of senate, we will NOT vote for that office either.
Would we rather be RIGHT than elected? Yes we feel and smell better the next day.
John and Kathy Currey
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 30, 09 @ 7:25 am:
–My wife and I live in Canada…. Mark Kirk is/was simply a lateral arabasque.–
In one fell swoop, Kirk lost the Canadian and ballet vote. Devastating.
- Segatari - Tuesday, Jun 30, 09 @ 10:21 am:
>You can’t logically both claim that you despise legislation and that you never had time to read it. What are you complaining about if you haven’t read it?
Because others are reading it and putting out the dirty details in summary - which is how they try to sneak things through that would never pass if they stood on their own. We do not trust these people, they’ve completely nuked their promises to air out these bills before voting on them. THEY LIED. They throw so much poisoned pills into a bill then try to get it passed the same day hoping no one would notice them until it’s too late.
- Conservative Veteran - Tuesday, Jun 30, 09 @ 10:22 am:
I live in Rep. Kirk’s district, and I think that he’ll run, statewide. On June 13, I attended a meeting of the Republican Organization of Wheeling Township, and Rep. Kirk was the guest speaker. Someone asked whether he’ll run for the U.S. Senate. Kirk said that he hasn’t decided. He said, “The White House chose someone they think is the perfect candidate for the U.S. Senate or governor. That person can’t run for both offices. A few days after that person makes an announcement, I’ll announce the race in which I’ll run.” I think that Kirk was referring to Attorney General Madigan. He knows that she’ll run for the U.S. Senate or governor, and he’ll probably run for the race for which she doesn’t run. Since he probably won’t run for re-election, I hope that a Republican is planning on running for his House seat. I read that State Rep. Coulson might run.
- Legaleagle - Tuesday, Jun 30, 09 @ 10:39 am:
Kirk is voting his district, that’s all.His vote tells me he’s not running statewide, however. The right-wing zealots in his district are few, and they rarely do anything except complain. They would rather lose with 33-40% of the vote than win. That’s why they are zealots!
- JonShibleyFan - Tuesday, Jun 30, 09 @ 11:07 am:
==In one fell swoop, Kirk lost the Canadian and ballet vote. Devastating.==
LOL!