Posted on 07/23/2010 8:36:02 AM PDT by Hawk720
In a move that could burnish his credentials as a “moderate” Republican, Senate candidate Mark Kirk announced Friday that he supports President Obama’s choice of Elena Kagan for the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Under the Constitution, only the President can make this nomination and Solicitor General Kagan is one of the more careful nominees he could have picked,” Kirk said.
Only two Republican senators have publicly declared so far that they are voting for Kagan. The vote will be over by the time Kirk would take his senate seat. But his announcement that he would support her makes it harder for Kirk’s Democratic opponent Alexi Giannoulias to paint Kirk as a lock-step conservative.
In 10 years as a congressman, Kirk fashioned an image for himself as a budget and military hawk, but as a social moderate or even liberal, getting high ratings from pro-choice and environmental groups.
Those groups have largely abandoned him for Giannoulias in the senate race, saying that Kirk is running to the right now. He switched his vote on the “Cap and Trade” bill which restricted carbon emissions of U.S. corporations. He explained his switch by saying that his early support for the bill as a congressman reflected the “narrow interests of his district.”
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
It's a move that is likely going to sink any chance he has of becoming a Senator.
-—sigh-—
What a mental midget.
Kirk is and has been a super RINO, being one of the eight republicans who voted for cap and tax. What a disgrace—yet how typical—that this is the best the republican party could do in Illinois.
I didn’t vote for this knucklehead in the Republican primary because of his cap-and-trade vote last year. And he caught hell for that. But no way am I voting for Giannoulias. I guess I’ll just hold my nose and pull the lever for this guy, even though I would get tremendous glee in having a Republican take Barry’s old seat.
What heck is the matter with these people? If you want to be a “moderate” (liberal) just switch parties.
As an Illinois Republican I’ll take Alexi over this idiot. I’m leaving that spot on the ballot empty.
Not in Illinois.
The Republicans could have used this opportunity to put a real conservative in office but...
Anyway, Kirk claims to be a real Republican so he probably wont pull a Jumpin' Jim Jeffords on us. He's probably going to be sort of like Brown is turning out.
Anyway, it'll be another R in the senate.
he supported Crap and trade what do you expect. He’s a RINO. He’ll be Leslie Graham’s butt buddy.
Conservatives have been elected to the Senate in Illinois. Being a liberal Republican doesn't help since Illinois is divide state between hardcore leftists in Chicago and very conservative types in most of the rest of the state.
Can’t wait for Castle’s answer!
He is all on board with Kirk. He will probably announce to his Delaware constituents tonight the same thing. I have a feeling we are in deep trouble next year. We won’t be able to pass a thing. I have heard people say that we will just force them to toe the line.....ROTFLMAO. Please we are in the minority and can’t even control Brown who is our newest member. Sometimes they live in fantasy land...I swear. No doubt we are adding five RINOs next year and with our current five or so they can do A LOT of damage. Some folks here are Living with their head in the grown and it must be a wonderful thing though sometimes!!!
He will only see the senate if he actually admits that he is a dim and runs on their ticket.
LLS
Not so much in IL.
Which is helpful only to the liberals that can claim "bipartisanship" when they ram through the liberal agenda with help from these "Republicans". I would rather have a Democrat liberal in the position so it is easier for the uninformed voter to understand who is screwing them. With help from Riberals like this guy, the people will continue to get screwed in a bipartisan fashion.
Guess he wants to eat lunch in Chicago again.
Hey, if I had to chose something for Kirk to do that would help him in the General election without actually hurting the conservative cause, SAYING what he WOULD HAVE DONE if he WERE in the Senate, is the least destructive.
I have long ago stopped believing what Politicians say, and started concentrating on what they DO (vote for). 90% of the time they turned out to be more leftist than how they ran in the election (that’s natural since their personal incentive is to increase their power, and that usually entails increasing the size of government). A notable exception has been Chris Christie in NJ. I never thought he was such a small government warrior!
That being said, Kirk’s voting record as a Congressman does make him a RINO. Even that “fiscal conservative” title isn’t deserved by anyone who voted for the Cap and Tax scheme... For now, I and every conservative in Illinois, will hopefully vote for him and give him a chance now that he would represent an entire state instead of a district dominated by Democrats. If he pulls a Lindsey Graham, I agree with the poster that we’d rather have a real Democrat instead of a RINO who is used to put a sheen of “bipartisanship” on leftist legislation. There’s plenty of time to defeat him in the next election.
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