Better to go out on principle than elect a liberal Republican who'll backstab you.
When was the last time a Libertarian candidate won anything?
These are unprecedented times. Who gave Miller and Christine a chance against more established Republicans?
The time for this argument about Kirk was earlier this year.
Kirk only won because the IL primary was very early in February. The establishment backed him the moment he declared. It was not a fair primary at all.
Why give up the 51st seat for Senate control as if his opponent would somehow be so much better for the conservative cause?
And you think Kirk will vote with us on issues like cap and trade? He'll be part of the Lugar/Maine twins caucus that'll defeat all of our agendas because they're "too extreme."
Never said he will. But I don't think his vote will matter on that issue anyway. The Dems are going to either lose their majority or have it severely parred back. They couldn't pass cap and trade with 59-60 seats because of opposition by coal state Republican and Democratic Senators. They'll have even less chance of passing it after this election with a severely trimmed back majority--or even losing the majority in which case the GOP leadership need not even allow cap and trade a vote.
What about all the times Kirk's vote will matter and that we could probably count on him for, like rolling back some of Obamacare's provisions as he said he would vote to do or extending ALL the Bush tax cuts as he indicated he would vote to do?
As for the February primary, fair or not, it's over. Where was all this unfairness to stop Tea Party candidates elsewhere like in the races with the candidates you named? They managed to win their races despite what "the establishment" wanted. And Miller and O'Donnell won their primaries as Republicans, not as Libertarians. That was a primary race with a more narrow universe of voters than you have in a general election and thus upsets have more potential. I don't see a comparison to their races indicating a Libertarian can win a statewide Senate race in a blue state like Illinois when a Libertarian's never won such a race in more Republican states. For Labno to win, EVERYONE currently voting for Mark Kirk would have to race over to Labno's side instead. Not likely.