Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) Signed A Letter Requesting Stimulus Funds For Illinois Community Colleges. According to a release from the Illinois Community College Trustees Association, every member of the Illinois congressional delegation signed a letter urging Gov. Pat Quinn to provide "Recovery Act (ARRA) funding to expand the Illinois Community College Sustainability Network." (ICCSN, 4/14/09)
-Congressman Kirk Voted Against The Recovery Package Twice (Roll Call Vote #46; Roll Call Vote #70)
(a topic i'll be watching over the next six months... - promoted by bored now)
I hate to write the obvious but the conservative talk-radio crowd has a habit of sticking to their talking points in the face of reality. And the corporate press has a habit of adopting their narratives.
In the US Senate primary, Patrick Hughes was the darling of conservatives and the reactionary tea-bagger crowd. He ran against Mark Kirk, who became a talk-radio target after voting for Obama's climate change bill. Limbaugh and Beck commanded their forces to flood Kirk's office with angry calls after the cap-and-trade vote.
Their poutrage didn't amount to much in the Republican primary. Hughes' campaign never gained momentum and Kirk won resoundingly with 57% of the vote against five challengers.
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Illinois finds Alexi Giannoulias leading Mark Kirk in Illinois' Senate race, 42% to 34%. Kirk bests the other two candidates, topping Cheryle Jackson, 38% to 36%, and edging David Hoffman, 37% to 36%.
Mark Kirk (IL-10) has a 100 rating from Planned Parenthood. And he has a zero (0) rating from the National Right to Life Committee. Kirk appears to be the only Republican to earn the 100 rating from Planned Parenthood.
As reported by the Washington Post's The Fix by Chris Cillizza, Mark Kirk is seeking an endorsement from ex-governor Sarah Palin. Of course, what he really wants is an under-the-radar endorsement, a promise to not get his nuts teabagged. He wants just enough endorsement for a loud and clear dog-whistle to the wing-nuts in Illinois to back off.
Cause if it's too loud that will tarnish is long and carefully crafted "moderate Republican patina". So if it's really a patina then surely he can show that to his hard authoritarian buddies here in Illinois and get Palin's blessing. But if it's real, his "moderation", then he will actially have to fight to get past the primary. If he makes it past the primary without Palin's blessing, then the question becomes does that lack of Palin blessing really help him in the end?
First the authoritarian noise machine went after ACORN, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. In a classic "first they came after Xes and I wasn't an X" paradigm Democratic leaders caved rather than standing their ground. Well, now they are coming after SEIU. But hey, I'm not a member of SEIU.
Here's a story in MyDD about a key player in the authoritarian campaign against progressives.
The Congressional Democrats' stampede to join Republican efforts to defund ACORN was stupid on many levels, as Paul Rosenberg explained in this post. Among other things, Rosenberg argued, Democrats empowered and validated the GOP's strategy of demonization. They may have thought cutting off ACORN's funding would cause Republicans to stop exploiting the issue, but of course, the opposite is true.
Congressman Steve King (IA-05) has been one of the leading warriors against ACORN for at least a year, and lately I've been getting anti-ACORN links regularly from his Twitter feed. I saw on Iowa Independent today that David Weigel of the Washington Independent cornered King at the How to Take Back America Conference on Friday. Weigel asked King about the "next natural target" in the campaign to "defund the left." King mentioned "ACORN and all of their other affiliates--SEIU's another one. I mean, their connection there is so tight, they're part of the operational arm, and they're part of the funding."
(Because this is the topic de jour, and this diary was comprehensive. - promoted by BobB)
Here are my notes from the Town Hall yesterday starring Judy Biggert IL-13 and Mark Kirk who thinks he's going to win the senate seat Obama used to sit in.
The venue was great, the Arista Hotel in Naperville is a beautiful place and put on a very nice lunch spread paid for by the Chamber and donations. The Naperville Chamber of Commerce was an excellent host and John Schmidt their CEO did a fine job of moderating the session. I hope they'll continue to host open town halls with our representatives in the future.
Judging by the response of the crowd in the ballroom Kirk and Biggert's presentation went over like a lead balloon.
Mark Kirk's been caught tweeting while on duty in the Naval Reserves. Capitol Fax has this:
Kirk is a Naval Reservist, and he appeared to be on duty when those posts were made, and his Twitter site is clearly a campaign site...
Be sure to check out our Senate campaign splash page at www.kirkforsenate.com
11:36 AM Jul 23rd
But the other question I had was whether this violated some sort of anti-campaigning rule.
I had asked the Kirk campaign for comment around the same time, and eventually received this e-mail, which I then forwarded to the Pentagon...
"Congressman Kirk did not post while on duty. In situations when he is unable to use Twitter, (i.e. while on reserve duty) a staff member posts a preapproved tweet."
But, notes Rich Miller:
4.3.3. Any member on active duty who is permitted to be, or otherwise not prohibited from being, a nominee or candidate for office as described in subparagraph 4.2.1. may NOT participate in any campaign activities. This includes open and active campaigning and all behind-the-scene activities. For example, such members described in this paragraph who are candidates or nominees may not:
4.3.3.1. Direct, control, manage, or otherwise participate in their campaign, including behind-the-scene activities.
Despite his office being bombarded with calls from rabid, out-of-state Rush Limbaugh listeners, Mark Kirk did a good job of representing his district when he became one of eight Republicans who voted for the Waxman-Markey energy and jobs bill.
Now that he's running for US Senate, his district is a top target for Democrats. Announced candidates are already appealing to eco-voters in the 10th Congressional.
I'm pretty far from the district, but I know about the strong environmental record of Julie Hamos, who declared her candidacy today. She has been particularly outspoken on the Clean Car Act and energy efficiency, which are both mentioned on her issues page.
U.S. Representative Mark Kirk (R-IL10) announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Roland Burris at 522 Melrose Ave., Kenilworth, Monday, July 20, 2009, in a late morning rally attended by the media and some Kirk critics. The traditional media (aka “corporate media”) covered the event.
The people that attended seemed to be a broad coalition of Kirk supporters and the Republican Party. The Kenilworth Police Department provided partisan law enforcement for the candidate. Kirk critics from HCAN (Health Care for America Now) were denied First Amendment rights and Kirk supporters were allowed to engage in low level physical intimidation.
Greg Hinz, Lynn Sweet, Rich Miller and others are reporting that Kirk is deciding on a U.S. Senate run. Tip of the hat to Eric Zorn on FB for collecting links.
We heard across the board -- in private -- substantial, continuing and rising concern," Representative Mark Kirk said after a trip to China that included talks with government officials and central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan.
It's clear that China would like to diversify from its dollar investments, the lawmaker said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank.
Isn't this contrary to what Sec Geithner said, who represented our government in China last week? Geithner told "the Chinese leaders had expressed justifiable confidence on the future of the recession-hit US economy."
Mark Kirk. U. S. Rep. Mark Kirk, preferred by GOP ticket-planners to run for either governor or senator, will decline both jobs in order to seek reelection to his House seat, I have been told on what I believe is excellent authority.
The DCCC has launched a radio ad program on families first in 28 districts held by Republicans.
The interesting thing is that in Illinois the only district targeted is Manzullo. He is also a top choice to get the short end of the stick for redistricting in 2010.
The two most notably absent in my mind are Kirk and Roskam. Both of them are in competitive districts and it would seem to me that they would be much better targets.
Mark Kirk likes to pretend that he's a moderate. But the fact is, he's no moderate -- he's voted with George Bush 90% of the time. By comparison, the ultra conservative Peter Roskam has voted with George Bush 90% of the time.
At least Roskam is honest. Mark Kirk doesn't have Roskam's integrity. Despite being the chosen candidate for the Club for Growth, Kirk has long pretended that he was "independent" and a political moderate. Kirk obviously thinks that his constituents are stupid.
So it came as no surprise when the Neo-Con independent group, Freedom's Watch, invaded the IL-10's airwaves in support of Mark Kirk. While Kirk may try to represent himself as an independent or political moderate, inside the Beltway, his friends know that they can count on him. Just as they can count on ultra-conservative Peter Roskam.
So what's the difference between Mark Kirk and Peter Roskam?
Image, of course. In politics, image is everything. Voters are supposed to ignore the wizard behind the curtain.
Mark Kirk says that he's a moderate, but he has the same voting record (in this regard) as Peter Roskam. Mark Kirk says that he's independent, but he has the same loyalty towards the president and his party as Peter Roskam.
Peter Roskam will tell you that he's a conservative. At least he's honest about it. But that's probably because Roskam has stronger ties to his district than Mark Kirk. Roskam represents what he believes his district wants. Kirk pretends to.
Just received this in my email box from the Seals campaign:
SurveyUSA, an automated polling firm, conducted the surveys for Roll Call on Saturday and Sunday (WHAS-TV in Louisville was a partner on the poll in Indiana's 9th district). Each poll tested more than 600 voters and had an error margin of roughly 4 points (for complete details, see chart at right).
In Illinois' 10th district, marketing consultant Dan Seals (D) led Rep. Mark Kirk (R) 52 percent to 44 percent.
Rest of the Roll Call story on IL-10 after the fold.
Yesterday we were all amused by brownsox' Kos post about Mark Kirk's admitted inclusion of the sexist song Baby Got Back in his iPod list particularly in light of his recent votes against gender pay equity. However, today it's not all that funny in light of an email he sent to constituents this morning defending his vote against the Paycheck Fairness Act.
