* This is why the national Republicans and so many prominent Illinois GOPs love Mark Kirk…
The chants of protesters could be heard throughout U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk’s Monday morning announcement of his U.S. Senate campaign.
“Health care now,” they repeated over and over from the street, as Kirk spoke to supporters.
“Those are the left wing guys I think. We’ll have the right next,” Kirk joked shortly after the chanters began.
Later, when he answered questions from the media, he again referred to the protesters, saying “I can see from the crowd here that the Democratic Party seems to be very worried about me, which is why they’re here.”
Whether it’s reality or not, Kirk has gone out of his way to position himself right in the political middle - and made himself look courageous doing it. No mean feat.
My old buddy Paul Green used to say that a moderate Republican running statewide will always beat a Democrat in Illinois. Those days are gone, but Kirk gives the GOP more hope than it’s had in years, and for good reason.
* It looks like Kirk will probably sail through the primary. He will then have plenty of time between February and November to plant himself directly in the center and tout his good government ways…
“I will be a moderate on the divisive social issues but a fiscal conservative,” Kirk said of his political philosophy. “But at heart, (I am) a guy who would be totally dedicated to restoring the image of Illinois and ethics and integrity in government.”
“To really be effective and represent the entire state, you’ve got to have a broad appeal,” [former Gov. Jim Edgar] said. “Mark has a superb record of integrity and ethics, but he has a good record on the issues as well. We need to win in November and he can win.”
The party guys love “he can win” candidates. Independents will go for the integrity angle, which will only be helped by his military service (something Kirk has always used to its fullest extent in his campaigns).
* But what about the right wing and that cap and trade vote? A first class answer…
Kirk told me Monday he has been inundated with e-mails from Republicans unhappy with his cap-and-trade vote. So, why did he vote yes?
“We’ve sent three armies to the Middle East and I’ve fought in two of them. As combat veterans, we get to ask, ‘Are we going to still being doing this 20 years from now?’ So I’ve been in favor of anything that gets us to energy independence,” said Kirk, an intelligence commander in the Naval Reserve who was deployed in December to Afghanistan.
Energy independence and combat record all in one response. Not bad at all, even if it doesn’t completely quell the shouts.
Kirk divorced recently. When he was asked how that might affect the race, his ex-wife stepped forward to say she supports him completely.
“He’d make a great senator,” Kimberly Vertolli said.
It ain’t every day that a divorced man is so solidly supported by his ex wife. Don’t underestimate that appeal. But also notice how the ex stepping in completely quashed the line of questioning. Man, that was a good move. He can just quote her from now on.
The 48-year-old North Shore congressman chose to make the announcement outside the home where he lived as a teenager in Kenilworth, reportedly the wealthiest suburb in all of Illinois. Still, the Republican said he was not worried about being labeled the candidate for the privileged.
“This is where I grew up, and this is who I am,” said Kirk.
* It’s no wonder the national Democrats are already posting slick Internet ads whacking him…
June’s NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey found more Americans (46 percent) blaming Bush for the nation’s federal budget deficit than Congress and the Obama administration combined. But that may not still be the case a year from now, and the more time passes, the more likely that swing voters will shift the responsibility for the nation’s economic problems to current officeholders.
Ronald Reagan, after all, rode to the White House in 1980 on a wave of dissatisfaction with Carter’s presidency, but that didn’t stop voters from spanking Republicans at the polls two years later (costing Republicans 26 House seats just two years after they won 33 seats)
* We’ll see how he does Downstate, where abortion, coal-fired electric plants and guns are viewed much differently than in the northern suburbs. But if his tour is only half as good as his roll-out, he ought to impress.
