It has been revealed that Rep. Mark Kirk (IL-10) will be officially announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senate Monday. Observers will surely note that Congressman Kirk has finally decided that the competition he feared is definitely going to sit this election cycle out, so it is time to take the bold plunge.
Kirk is going to be the Republican front-runner and will likely receive support from the NRSC, assuming they believe less liberal will beat more liberal in the fall of 2010. Supporting Mark Kirk for Senate is apparently the "pragmatic" thing to do, at least according to CQ Politics' Bob Benenson (and some who comment on Illinois Review.)
Benenson's recent post on his blog, Jigsaw Politics, is titled "Will GOP Wax Pragmatic? Watch Illinois Senate Race for a Clue"
But even with Monday's decision by state GOP Chairman Andy McKenna to step aside, it may be a while before it's clear whether Kirk will be able to completely avoid serious primary competition -- from a candidate backed by conservatives who are not thrilled with Kirk's record as one of the more centrist Republicans in the House.
The Senate contest in Illinois, which has the earliest 2010 primary of any state, will in fact be an indicator of how "pragmatic" the party's conservative base is willing to be in an effort to regain some of the massive amount of ground the party lost in the past two election cycles -- particularly in states such as Illinois, that have been trending strongly Democratic.
I must say that the idea of being labeled as not pragmatic is bothersome. As is the thought of irritating those who believe that only by following the example of John McCain's presidential campaign model, can we achieve Republican victory. I must point out that there is a major difference between Mark Kirk and John McCain. Perhaps this difference is the key to the pragmatic approach that will assure a victory in 2010. John McCain was pro-life and Mark Kirk does not have that annoying respect for innocent life to drag him down with voters of the NARAL stripe.
I have decided that as a citizen of Illinois, it may be my duty to support Mark Kirk in his bid for victory. The challenge is to do so while maintaining some sense of integrity. I think I may have found a way to help the campaign and still be able to look in a mirror. I humbly offer the Kirk campaign the following slogans that offer honesty in campaigning.
- Mark Kirk Supports Manufacturing... in China and India
- Mark Kirk: Less Liberal
- Mark Kirk: Because Aborted Babies Don't Vote
- Vote For Mark Kirk: Show Congress Cap and Trade Doesn't Bother You
- Mark Kirk: A NARAL Republican
- Vote For Mark Kirk, Ignore His Fear of Lisa Madigan
- Vote Kirk: He Is Not Technically a Democrat
- Support Mark Kirk: Follow the McCain Model
- Politics First, Support Mark Kirk
- Conservative, Conshmervative, Vote For Kirk
- Mess With A RINO, Get The Horn
- Donate to Mark Kirk's Campaign... Before The Cost of Everything Goes Up Thanks to Cap and Trade
- Vote For Kirk: Come On This Is Illinois, What Do You Expect?
- Mark Kirk: At Least He Wasn't Appointed By Blagojevich
I do hope that at least some of these suggestions can assist the Republican effort to achieve victory, albeit a hollow one in 2010. I wonder if I'll be asked to handle PR for the campaign?
