* Republican Congressman Mark Kirk is taking major heat on the Right side of blogosphere and on Twitter for his vote on “cap and trade.” A protest is also being touted…

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.

A representative blog piece…

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.

*** UPDATE *** Greg Hinz throws in his two cents…

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.

But Gordy isn’t convinced…

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.”

* Does Danny Davis already have a replacement in mind?

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.”

* Related…

* ADDED: Dan Proft’s Announcement Speech - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

* Schock defends ‘hypocrisy ‘

* Another GOP primary candidate for the 14th?

* Illinois Republican Party Meeting: With the exception of Joe Birkett, all the gubernatorial candidates were present.

* Schillerstrom makes governor run official at Naperville rally