53 Comments - A guy - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:19 pm: The only thing at his right flank is his shadow. Looking at stuff like this, maybe Tammy needs to worry about her left flank. /s - Huh? - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:22 pm: Obviously, these were meant to be snarky tweets. Senator Kirk just forget to add the /s to let us know. - illinois bob - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:22 pm: Nothing to worry about. It’s gone and it’s never coming back…. If I were going to vote for him, I’d have no confidence that he wouldn’t switch to Dem if it would give them control of the Senate, so the argument for electing him to keep the Senate safely out of Schumer’s hands disappears pretty quickly. Moot point, though. I can’t see a way he wins. - Moe Berg - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:23 pm: No. He’s going to lose in November, even if they are all with him. He needs to be thinking about what he’s going to do to earn a living next year, and trying to please the RWNJs will only compound his challenge of landing sweet corporate and civic gigs. - Honeybear - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:23 pm: What so the right won’t vote for him? I don’t think the right is getting that ideologically pure. He’s probably going to get clobbered anyway with Trump at the top of the ticket. I think he’s pursuing the only way he thinks he can get votes. - Quizzical - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:25 pm: He seems to have made a choice to lose some conservative votes in order to appeal as a centrist or ‘Rockefeller Republican’. Given his history, I expect some puzzling wavering between right wing and moderate positions before the election is over. - Lester Holt's Mustache - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:28 pm: Voted yes. Liberals aren’t going to vote for the guy, and promoting this type of stuff will mean conservatives aren’t going to vote for him either. A former senator that lost his re-election race 53-47 can angle for another run. A former senator who lost 68-32 probably can’t. Although who knows, Bruce might be willing to prop him up in a future campaign regardless of outcome. - Norseman - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:30 pm: Yes. Extremist demand adherence no matter the practical politics. - Put the Fun in unfunded - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:31 pm: Voted yes - in a wave non-Presidential year he barely won so he needs a united and energized base, which he will not have. In 10th CD he got support from conservatives who wanted to hold the seat, but he has moved farther left since then other than on Israel. However, it does not matter; Duckworth may not be the most dynamic candidate but is much stronger than Alexi, so Kirk is done. - @MisterJayEm - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:31 pm: “Do you think Sen. Kirk should worry about his right flank?” And down-ballot candidates should worry as well. If GOP voters decide that their party’s 2016 nominees are a bigoted tire-fire for President and a RINØ for Senate, they may decide to just sit-out this election. – MrJM - Put the Fun in unfunded - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:32 pm: ’stache - he is not going to run for anything else when he loses. Maybe they can put him in Tammy’s old job at Veteran’s Affairs. - AlabamaShake - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:34 pm: **I’d have no confidence that he wouldn’t switch to Dem if it would give them control of the Senate** Huh? - IllinoisBoi - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:36 pm: Illinois will soon have two Dem Senators. Even if Kirk wins, in effect. - Winnin' - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:37 pm: Voted no. As Kirk knows, there is a significant segment of Republicans who would vote for a three-legged giraffe before they’d ever vote for a Democrat. Those voters get it. They know Kirk is really a right wing conservative who is against gay marriage, for second amendment rights, trickle down economics, and all of the other positions of right-wing lore. Well, maybe those conservatives aren’t sure about Kirk’s positions after all, but they sure enough know that Tammy Duckworth will win the “liberal” litmus test against Kirk. Hence, Kirk may as well be a three-legged giraffe. - Chungas revenge - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:37 pm: Voted no. Even the most extreme right-wingers knows how to count to 9. They want the Supreme Court 5-4 their favor. They will fall in line no matter who is at the top of the Republican ticket and not vote Democratic for a Senate candidate - Mongo - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:38 pm: Yes. The Republican Party seems to, at times, be best at eating its own. Kirk is playing to the voters he needs, at the expense of the voters he had in the past. - Dance Band on the Titanic - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:38 pm: No. Illinois Review and their ilk will not endorse Duckworth as an alternative. - LeftyLarry - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:38 pm: Given the choice between two Democrats, I’ll just go ahead and vote for the actual Democrat. Kirk is a man without a country. - Illinois bob - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:39 pm: @Norseman =Yes. Extremist demand adherence no matter the practical politics.= That’s right. Just look at anyone on the pro-abortion, denying gun ownership for upstanding citizens, and open borders crowd. Gosh, just look at the Dem party. If you believe in immigration control, gun rights, and are pro-life you’ll be run out on a rail. - Norseman - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:40 pm: Chungas revenge, read some of the comments and tell me again that wingnuts will think about SCOTUS judges. - Ahoy! - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:44 pm: No, he should do what is right. Besides, the only options he has to appease the right is to: 1. Advocate for 1950’s style healthcare system for women. 2. Work to deny equal rights 3. Advocate for terrorists and criminals having easy access to guns. Those options don’t seem morally right, he should not worry about the ultra-conservatives, they won’t win anyone a general election in Illinois anyway. - Norseman - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:49 pm: Gee Bob, did I step on your extremist toes. Or did you think you were going to goad me into defending left-wing extremists. Why don’t you to try sticking to the questions and issues instead of sticking people. - frisbee - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:50 pm: Voted No, he has always been a moderate GOP and needs to stay in that lane - Me too - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:51 pm: Bob, why don’t you look up congressman Lipinski’s positions on those issues. I’ll wait. - here we go - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:52 pm: Kudos to Senator Kirk. I think he is trying, and he obviously understands the state he represents. However, his gaffes speak volumes of his true self. Either way, at the end of the day - he is going to vote to give Republicans the majority and most of the non-”social issues.” - A guy - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 3:59 pm: His seat might be the one that determines the Majority. It’s always too close to call in the Senate. If you want Sessions, Hatch, Cornyn, etc. in the Majority…in Illinois, the Conservatives plug their nose and vote for Kirk. And then complain about it for his full term. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:00 pm: No. At this point he should say what he believes. Illinois voters will get what we deserve. A vote for Tammy is a vote for an unchecked Hilary. We have done so well at the state level, let’s take it national. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:01 pm: I voted YES. But it does look like political suicide in an election filed name-calling and even hate. If he really means this, and will stick to it, I can respect him for taking positions unpopular with the right wing of his base. - Wensicia - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:01 pm: No, if you’re talking about the same Republicans that voted for Rauner. - Demoralized - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:04 pm: I voted no. If he tries to appease the ultra-right wing of the party he’ll alienate independents, which he’ll need to win the election. You aren’t going to please absolutists so why try. Those absolutists have demonstrated time and again that they would rather lose an election to uphold their principles 100%. - walker - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:05 pm: No. Kirk knows how to ride the moderate track home. And first things first. If he wins, his challenge from the right is 5 years away. - Big Mouth - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:06 pm: I actually feel sorry for Sen. Kirk. His confusion and poor judgement suggests he is not up for the job. I wish him good health and a wonderful life when he leaves DC in January 2017. - Saluki - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:10 pm: I’m Mark Kirk. I am a democrat. - illini - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:22 pm: Norseman - thank you for putting Bobs comments in the proper perspective. Glad you did not take the bait. - Amalia - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:27 pm: what, are they going to vote for Tammy and help hand a Senate seat to the Dems? as for insulting and demeaning, all those things Kirk tweets about are legal and the will of the court. jeez. - Tatler - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:30 pm: I continue to hate the fact that Anonymous voted No at 4:00 and Yes at 4:01. Pick a moniker people. - Last Bull Moose - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:37 pm: Anonymous at 4:00 was me. Switched computers and my handle was dropped. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 4:51 pm: I voted no. He needs the right,but can’t win without moderates. The repubs would vote for anyone over Hillary/Duckworth. - Tequila Mockingbird - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 5:01 pm: He’s already abandoned the right and vice versa. He has nothing more to lose… but the election. - Harry - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 5:06 pm: I voted Yes. Not a primary challenge from the right, but simply alienating potential voters. But this isn’t really new, Kirk has always been a North Shore liberal Republican and this isn’t really a change. Hard to see what he thinks it accomplishes for him, though. His whole campaign seems pointless, as in “without a point.” - wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 5:11 pm: No. He should worry that Illinois voters will catch on to his grift, as Guy so helpfully explained. –If you want Sessions, Hatch, Cornyn, etc. in the Majority…in Illinois, the Conservatives plug their nose and vote for Kirk.– Because who wouldn’t want Jefferson Beaurgard Sessions III, the man who called the NAACP “un-American communists” who “shoved civil rights down the nations throat” in the majority of the United States Senate? Sen. Dirksen beat racist clowns like Sessions like a rented mule in passing civil rights legislation. That’s what Illinois Republicans used to be all about. - Enviro - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 5:30 pm: Voted No. This is Illinois not Indiana or Texas. - Federalist - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 5:35 pm: Yes. Many of the social conservatives will not vote for him. And in this Blue state he needs all the votes he can get from his supposed base. - illini - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 5:36 pm: “Sen. Dirksen beat racist clowns like Sessions like a rented mule in passing civil rights legislation. That’s what Illinois Republicans used to be all about.” Thank you Wordslinger - exactly correct. And I am old enough to have voted for Dirksen! - Emily Booth - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 5:40 pm: No. I’m a Dem & I may vote for him. - Pawn - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 6:04 pm: Emily Booth, how as a Dem can you even think of it? He’s unprincipled and said horrible racist and misogynistic things. He had to be GOADED into withdrawing his support for Trump, for crying out loud. Sheesh. - PENSIONS ARE OFF LIMITS - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 6:14 pm: No. Democrats don’t want him either. Except for 5:40. - Expletivedeleted - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 6:42 pm: I voted no. I just don’t see any way Kirk wins, period. Left flank, right flank, this guy is toast. Nobody on the mid-to-far right trusts him and nobody left of center is going to be swayed when there’s a Democrat with name recognition. Pandering to the other side of the spectrum may be his last, best option but that doesn’t make it a good one. - South Illinoisian - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 7:10 pm: Yes. If Sen. Kirk is going to talk like a Democrat and go to Congress and vote for a Democrat, why not just put a real Democrat in office. - South Illinoisian - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 7:12 pm: That was supposed to be “go to Congress and vote like a Democrat”. - Lomez - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 7:50 pm: Agreed that it doesn’t matter because he will lose either way. I really don’t care much about a general election between two Democrats and will be more than happy to see him leave office despite the awful alternative. Hopefully Rs run a legitimate candidate in the future who can articulate positions beyond Democrat Lite. - Triple fat - Tuesday, Jun 28, 16 @ 8:08 pm: I voted no because after this election the far right will be banished to the wilderness. Especially if Ted Cruz emerges from Cleveland as the nominee. - Keyrock - Wednesday, Jun 29, 16 @ 12:16 am: No, he should be worried about a frontal assault. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.