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Sen. Kirk says Trump a “net benefit” to the party

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Kirk is trying to walk a narrow path. He is distancing himself himself from Trump’s policies and rhetoric, but also has said he will back Trump if he was the nominee and suggested Trump could even help the Republican Party.

Asked in an interview with CNN last week if he’d support Trump for president, Kirk said: “Certainly, if he’s the nominee.” Given the opportunity to revise his comments after Trump’s win in Indiana, Kirk’s campaign declined.

Kirk said in that interview that even as he runs against many of Trump’s positions, specifically citing an “isolationist” foreign policy debuted last week, he is comfortable sharing a ticket with the mogul. He even said Trump might help the GOP brand down the line.

“Donald Trump is kind of a riverboat gamble,” Kirk said. “He won the Illinois primary, in this case we have seen the Republican vote up and the Democratic vote down, so it looks like it’s a net benefit.”

* Duckworth campaign response…

“Republican stalwarts Bruce Rauner and Paul Ryan — not exactly a pair of liberals — are refusing to support Donald Trump, while Mark Kirk has happily fallen into line. Kirk even suggested there’s a ’net benefit’ to having Trump on the ticket. Trump has shown himself to be dangerously unserious and unprepared for the office of the Presidency, but apparently the ‘R’ after his name is all Kirk needs to see. Kirk has shown bad judgment before, but his reflexive support for Trump may top it all.” — Matt McGrath, campaign spokesman

Discuss.

…Adding… WBEZ’s Marc Garber…

I talked with Illinois State Rep. Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove) Thursday, who supported Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Sandack said he’s not really sure he can come around to Trump.

He’s going to try, but it’s not a given. Trump is going to have to really change his tone - and some of his policies - to win Sandack over. When asked if the Illinois Republican Party could become more fractured this year, Sandack said that is a risk of Trump’s candidacy.

“I mean heck, to be completely blunt, the Republican Party in Illinois has barely been a blip on the radar,” he said. “We’ve had our own problems getting our message out, making ourselves far more attractive to taxpayers and constituents from a policy perspective.”

Sandack suggested the Illinois Republicans pick a small handful of core principles to unite the state party. And if Trump doesn’t come around to where he is and change his tone, then Sandack may end up focusing on his own re-election campaign this fall.

“I want to see some effective Republican policies displayed by our Republican candidate or I may just focus singularly on me and in my local race,” Sandack said.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, May 6, 16 @ 11:40 am

Comments

Is Duckworth gonna ask Rahm Emanuel and the Cook County Dems to give the money back that Trump gave to them?

Comment by Jeff Trigg Friday, May 6, 16 @ 11:45 am
Kevin,

You have Kirk meeting with the Obama SCOTUS Nominee, you had Kirk say early he’s not going to Cleveland, you had Kirk make the reason be “it’s about Illinois” and that kept things at arms length…

… Bud, keep a lid on the “crazy”.

Explaining away rationale when policy can dictate independence, why even go “net gain”?

These unforced errors, they won’t be a “net gain”, they’ll lead to a “total loss”

Do better. Please.

OW

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, May 6, 16 @ 11:46 am
Kirk is Duckworth’s best campaigner.

Comment by JackD Friday, May 6, 16 @ 11:47 am
The Republican party has been telling their supporters that the two most important issues facing America are Immigration and ISIS. Donald Trump gave voice to those two issues in very concrete ways. That’s why he won.

Republican insiders, seeing Trump was on his way to victory, suddenly wanted to start talking about social issues as being the prism by which to view Trump. At that point it was too late.

Comment by Downstate Friday, May 6, 16 @ 11:50 am
No, he isn’t and he isn’t a net benefit to you…

Comment by OneMan Friday, May 6, 16 @ 11:54 am
What?

Democratic down, Republican up — ergo: a win?

What does that even mean?

Comment by Formerly Known as Frenchie M Friday, May 6, 16 @ 11:55 am
I get a headache imagining six more years of reading statements from the Duckworth communications team…

Comment by NIU Grad Friday, May 6, 16 @ 11:55 am
“riverboat gamble” is an apt analogy. Particularly from the view of the average life of a riverboat was only about 4 years and that many of them and their passengers ended up on the bottom of the river after their steam engines exploded by the reckless hands of their captains pushing the limits.

Kirk has abandoned the interests of the country with such a terrible assessment of party gain.

Comment by Vole Friday, May 6, 16 @ 11:58 am
===or I may just focus singularly on me and in my local race===

As if he’s ever done anything but.

Comment by PublicServant Friday, May 6, 16 @ 12:00 pm
As Ulysses Everett McGill would say: “We’re in a tight spot.”

Comment by wordslinger Friday, May 6, 16 @ 12:08 pm
A better question for Republicans at this point isn’t endorsement, it is “Will you be voting for Donald Trump?” show us your ballot, that is your true endorsement.

Comment by 360 Degree TurnAround Friday, May 6, 16 @ 12:21 pm
How in the world does Kirk expect to maintain his claim to be a moderate if he supports an openly misogynistic and xenophobic man like Trump?

The dynamics for Kirk were poor to begin with. Adding Trump to the top of the ticket significantly worsened things. Failing to openly repudiate Trump’s candidacy and offering to support it? That’s the nail in the coffin.

Comment by sow down Friday, May 6, 16 @ 12:24 pm
Wow CommandoMakeItUp free wheelin’ on Trump. Is he tryin’ to make BigBrain look bad —Too late
Meanwhile SlickHeadSandy is lookin’ for a new bag of core principles. Did he not get his BigBrain decoder ring? The core principle(s) is do only what stuffs more $ into the wallets of the 1%ers or damages those filthy unions.

Comment by Annonin' Friday, May 6, 16 @ 1:02 pm
===SlickHeadSandy===

Cruel.

Funny. I woulda spit out my coffee if I had any.

But cruel.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 6, 16 @ 1:03 pm
Mr. McGrath, your candidate sure doesn’t speak like you do.

Comment by A guy Friday, May 6, 16 @ 1:22 pm
“May you live in interesting times.”

Comment by Ghost Friday, May 6, 16 @ 1:31 pm
You know if Kirk doesn’t want to be Senator anymore he could just resign now and not have to wait around to lose in November.

Comment by Cheryl44 Friday, May 6, 16 @ 2:30 pm
I was ready to vote for Kirk, the only major Republican I was going to support this year. Not now. No tolerance for Trump nor his supporters–especially today after Trump’s comments about the national debt. No way. Hillary is Lincoln compared to this destructive clown.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, May 6, 16 @ 3:08 pm
I guess Trump represents a net benefit for the party the same way a tornado does home construction.

Comment by Wensicia Friday, May 6, 16 @ 3:12 pm
It’s astute moves like this that will keep Artl’s streak going.

Comment by anon Friday, May 6, 16 @ 4:29 pm
Slickheadsandy is probably waiting for Trump to come out with a “Turnaround America” agenda that starves social service agencies and brings all colleges and universities to the brink of shut down. Then and only then he’ll endorse.

Comment by Michael Westen Friday, May 6, 16 @ 4:38 pm
Kirk must think Trump can help him win the election.

Comment by Mama Friday, May 6, 16 @ 4:42 pm
=== Hillary is Lincoln ====

This is a case when being “Anonymous” makes a lot of sense.

Comment by A guy Friday, May 6, 16 @ 4:51 pm