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The Kirk question

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* I keep hearing this over and over about Sen. Mark Kirk…

He hasn’t had much of a filter on what he says in recent years. Whether that has anything to do with the stroke he suffered in 2012, I don’t know. It seems he was once more cautious. Now words just pop out of there.

Um, wait.

This is the guy who repeatedly embellished his military record. He even apparently exaggerated a near drowning experience.

Kirk has always had a mouth problem. That didn’t stop him from thumping his opponent five years ago. Underestimate him at your own risk.

I’m not making any excuses for his “bro with no ho” remarks. There are no excuses. But he’s apologized, so let’s move on to the question of whether he can hold his own against whomever the Democrats nominate.

* Take a look at Kirk’s recent speech and Q&A at the City Club…

Now, you may not agree with everything he said, but you have to admit that he was quite sharp and handled himself very well.

He has trouble giving long speeches (which don’t happen much in politics these days anyway), but he appears to have no trouble at all with answering questions.

* And here he is being interviewed at length not long ago by Bruce Dold at Elmhurst College…

Again, you may not agree with some of his statements, but he doesn’t look weak or ineffectual to me.

Kirk obviously needs to hold his tongue more often, but I think he’ll hold his own in the coming campaign, particularly with a potential opponent like this…

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Andrea Zopp was one of 19 character witnesses listed to testify Friday in Springfield for her friend Quinshaunta Golden, who is facing a decade or more in prison for her role in a multimillion-dollar theft and bribery scheme involving government grants and contracts awarded by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

But Zopp — who’s seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois — said Wednesday, “I’m not going to be able to testify.

“The sentencing’s been moved countless times,” Zopp said. “I couldn’t make it work to go to Springfield. It’s an all-day trip. I couldn’t rearrange my schedule to make that happen.”

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 12:49 pm

Comments

Good points, Rich. Well-said. And regarding his blunder, that was overheard and not intended for general consumption. Most politicians have made that mistake “we begin bombing in five minutes”, etc to infinity).

Comment by The obvious Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 12:55 pm
Kirk’s political mind is working just fine. He’s set him self up as defender of VA whistle blowers just as Duckworth is getting hauled into court by the two whistle blowers from the Anna Vets Home. He’s positioning himself for next year in a potential race against a combat disabled Vet nicely.

Comment by Bill Baar Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 12:57 pm
would it be tough to attack Zopp for “being on the list?”

Comment by zonz Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 12:58 pm
The fact that this overheard comment keeps rolling on in the press shows just how severed the media and consiltants have become from real issues. ISIS, shootings, and the list goes on, but let’s talk about this comment as if its the most concerning thing that can blow up in our faces. Just how cut off from reality are you?

Comment by The Hovering Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 12:59 pm
There’s a fair amount that Senator Kirk says with which I disagree — not the least of which include the military record with which he took, shall we say, some poetic license — but there’s also a fair amount he says where I find myself nodding in agreement.

He’s also a smart and capable politician, one against whom any candidate is facing a formidable opponent. I agree with Rich’s remark: ” Underestimate him at your own risk.”

Comment by thunderspirit Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:03 pm
===Kirk has always had a mouth problem.===

Agreed, but the fake “Intelligence Officer of the Year” and the near-drowning incidents were just simple lies told to make him look good. Some of the more recent comments and flip-flops make him appear unbalanced. The DHS funding stuff from February comes to mind.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/sen-mark-kirk-softens-on-coffins-115127.html

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:08 pm
I think Duckworth will be a tough opponent for Kirk, but here is Russ Stewart’s take on the primary (omitting the material on Andrea Zopp):

U.S. Senate. The clear frontrunner for the Democratic nomination is U.S. Representative Tammy Duckworth (D-8), the daughter of a Vietnam War veteran and a Thai mother, who was born in Thailand. Duckworth is an Iraq war veteran who lost both her legs when the helicopter she was piloting was shot down. Duckworth is a knee-jerk, pro-Obama liberal who had jobs in the Blagojevich Administration and the Obama Administration, but she’s Teflon-coated. To criticize her, either personally or on policy issues, is to appear mean-spirited, almost misogynistic.

Duckworth floated her way from job to job, milking her “life story” for all it’s worth and basking in the glow of being a “war hero.” In 2006, when she had a really tough campaign in the DuPage County 6th U.S. House District, she lost to Republican Peter Roskam 91,382-86,572, getting 48.7 percent of the vote. However, the Springfield Democrats created a safe west suburban (Elgin-Schaumburg) district for her, which she won in 2012. The consensus is that she’s a lightweight, but when was that an impediment? Through March 31 she had raised $3,421,320 and had $1,052,287 on hand. Duckworth has been endorsed by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin.

Kirk is going to have to bring his “A” game in 2016.

Comment by Under Further Review Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:09 pm
He is running for reelection, and he needs to tell us what he has done to earn it. I don’t want to hear him talking about Duckworth. I can form my own opinion without any help from him. I need to know what he was able to get done in spite of his physical challenge.

Same with Duckworth. She needs to tell me what she has done in office to earn this election.

If both candidates can tell us why we should choose them, without giving us reasons why we should NOT choose the other - it would result in a respectful and intelligent campaign for both.

Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:20 pm
I have no ties to Tammy Duckworth, but come on — it takes some guts to become a combat pilot, and it takes more to come back from a horrific injury. She just finished her PhD, and she had a baby at the age of 48, which is no walk in the park. And she’s a lightweight? Gosh, what does a gal have to do to get some respect around here?

Comment by Soccermom Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:20 pm
If you don’t support your friends when they are in trouble and have done wrong, what kind of friend are you? At least Andrea Zopp is demonstrating she has the fortitude and principles to make difficult decisions, despite a campaign and the potential consequences.

Zopp “said she doesn’t think her decision to support Golden will hurt her campaign.

“I don’t think that will turn voters off,” Zopp said. “I think people can understand and respect someone who speaks up for a friend who’s in trouble. Quin did something wrong. She’s admitted that, she’s pleaded guilty, she agreed to cooperate, and she did that. I know the other side of her.”

Comment by Older and trying for wiser Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:20 pm
===Gosh, what does a gal have to do to get some respect around here?===

Hmmm, maybe if it was a natural child birth with no epidural, and delivered in a war zone under enemy fire while defending her dissertation, then I’d be impressed.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:30 pm
If Kirk is going to rely on the “stroke” defense, he will lose.

Comment by All the answers Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:30 pm
The man is a master manipulator and a crass political operator. He’ll torch Zopp with things like this.

- Soccermom - Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:20 pm:

Magically change into a white man?

Comment by Precinct Captain Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:31 pm
This will be a stand-alone race with unprecedented ( even after Rauner’s $60 million) financial influxes to Kirk and to Kirk’s opponent, no matter who it may be.

This race also will have enough to worry about without worrying about a state Rep race linking itself to this run, no matter the side.

All that said,

Mark Kirk will face the obstacle of his mouth, like he did before the stroke. The challenge for Kirk’s Crew is the marrying of Kirk’s remarks to his capacity to be a senator after his illness by Kirk’s detractors.

That’s the challenge.

Do you say the stroke is a factor? Do you say its not a factor and admit Kirk is just prone to saying things that “backfire”?

Yikes.

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:34 pm
@Soccermom:

I am reading the column excerpt differently than you are. I interpret that to mean legislative “lightweight.” I do not know of any bills or laws that Duckworth has sponsored or championed and that is on her and her staff to get the word out. In the current political climate, I am not comfortable with someone who is a consistent party line vote. Kirk is more flexible in terms of his voting. This makes him anathema to some GOP conservatives, but maybe it is more representative of Illinoisans.

Comment by Under Further Review Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:35 pm
=== Magically change into a white man? ===

That would certainly help with a lot of people, I’m sure. As would not having a D after her name.

Duckworth’s *political* chops are a bit light. The rest of her life, which I really don’t consider “basking in the glow of being a ‘war hero’”, for whatever my opinion is worth, should merit her plenty of respect.

Comment by thunderspirit Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 1:42 pm
He did not get the handle CommandoMakeItUp for nothin’. And now his brain trust ( the nucleus of TeamBungle) is guidin’ IL. It might be hard for them to whether the storm. There are plenty of current questions to be asked, but let hold them for awhile and make folks nervous. TeeHee.

Comment by Anonin' Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 2:06 pm
“A mouth problem”? Nice subtle homophobic slur there.

Comment by Really, Rich? Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 2:17 pm
Rich, thank you for pointing this out. I’ve had some people say to me that they don’t think Senator Kirk is all there. But, when I have met with him I thought he was on point. I’ve been irritated with the insinuations about his stroke affecting his mind. I had a relative who was confined to a wheelchair because of a stroke. She could not walk and her speech was severely affected. Many people who did not know her assumed that her mind was gone too. But, nothing could be more wrong. She was mentally on top of everything. Just because someone has physical limitations, do not assume they also have mental limitations. Until someone has some proof about Kirk not being mentally fit, they should stop implying so.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 2:22 pm
===Nice subtle homophobic slur there.===

LOL

Are you off your meds or something?

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 2:23 pm
==That didn’t stop him from thumping his opponent five years ago.==

1.5% is a thumpin’?

Kirk’s problem is that, as the #1 national target in a Presidential year in a state that reliably votes against his party’s Presidential nominee, he has to play error-free ball. He’s not so far.

Comment by Arsenal Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 2:41 pm
“This is the guy who repeatedly embellished his military record. He even apparently exaggerated a near drowning experience”

Been saying that ever since the first “he had a stroke” excuse came out.

Kirk has always had a tendency to say stoopid things.

Remember right after he got elected to the Senate: the GOP just scored some cheap victory in that Chamber and he leaned over to McCain and bragged “We won right?!” …and McCain shot him a ’shut up’ evil eye.

Comment by Ghostbusters Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 2:41 pm
Arsenal is right. Add to that the likelihood of a woman at the top of the ticket, and a woman as his opponent, and he’s in trouble even with A-game/error-free ball.

Comment by hold on Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 2:51 pm
There’s nothing wrong with Kirk’s mind; he’s stumbled many times before the stroke. But, he needs to respond faster to misspoken remarks, not let them hang in the air (and the media) for days.

Comment by Wensicia Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 2:54 pm
But whoever the Dems run, he or she should be able to count on George Takei campaigning against Kirk.

Comment by Joe Spivey Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 3:22 pm
People who know Kirk, know that he has said foolish things before.

Why, if they know better, do some commenters point out Kirk’s stroke as explaining misstatements?

Comment by walker Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 3:23 pm
I was at that City Club event and, without watching the posted video, I can say that Kirk was quite erratic in answering the questions. There were several cases where his answers were hardly even marginally related to the questions, and not in the usual sense of a politician steering the conversation in the way he wants it to go. No, I had the distinct impression that he was just not “tracking” all of the time.

Comment by Lulu de la Nausée Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 3:37 pm
Is it true that Brian Williams is leaving NBC to join Kirk’s staff. Something about the two really being in sync with each other. (/s)

Comment by Norseman Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 3:56 pm
Kirk’s always been loony with his public comments. The stroke has nothing to do with it.

Kass, also known for loony comments, tipped the play last week. The same marginal right-wing knuckle-draggers who gay-baited Kirk six years ago without success are now playing the crazy-mouth stroke card.

(Seriously, all my life in Illinois, going back to tne 70s, any statewide GOP candidate for a major office who didn’t howl at the moon got the gay-baiting treatment from the perennial losers).

Kirk will have his hands full with Duckworth. Since Bill Daley is involved, I dont yet believe that Zopp is for real.

Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Jun 19, 15 @ 4:30 pm
For those of us who have reported on Kirk regularly since his stroke, we may not agree that the stroke concerns can be so easily written off.

While his mind is sharp, it doesn’t always appear that way. When he is asked a question that he may not want to answer, it’s hard to tell the difference between an artful political dodge and him rambling, thanks to how his speech sounds now.

Reporters don’t press him like we do other politicians. Why? Because I’m a human being and I’m not going to badger a guy in a wheelchair.

But with how tough this campaign may be, he will get pressed, especially in debates. How he handles that added pressure remains to be seen.

Comment by Mark Saturday, Jun 20, 15 @ 1:39 am