Problem is, Durkin isn’t running, and unless you can get EVERY primary candidate out of the race for him, I doubt he could win (even one on one with Kirk), and he scarcely did very well in the general the last time he ran (and his name confuses the voters — too close to “Durbin.”).
Nope, the Combine that controls the state party (which is nothing but an adjunct of the Democrats) is going to ram that trash Kirk right down our throats. The Combine must be smashed into a million pieces, they are the single biggest impediment to change in IL.
You’d also better hope the wave hasn’t crested by ‘12, because if we have a blowback against the GOP, Zero gets a second term, and that’s the last thing we want.
I agree that in the Durbin/Durkin race, the similarity didn't help Durkin. But in a Giannoulas/Durkin race, the similarity will help Durkin. There are a lot of brain-dead Dims from the South Side and West Side of the city, who might vote for Durkin because they think they're voting for Durbin.
The Democratic Party leadership is aware of this, and they'll expend money and other resources trying to educate their voters: "Hey, this isn't Dick Durbin." They may even get a TV commercial from Dick Durbin himself, saying, "That isn't me." This could create a backlash among other voting blocs, who will be insulted by the notion that they can't figure it out for themselves.
As you can see, nominating Durkin in this particular race causes problems for the Democrats. They'll have to handle it very carefully. And any time we cause problems for them, it makes it easier for us to win.
The argument you've made against Durkin in the primary (that he can't beat Mark Kirk, even if it's a one-on-one contest) is far more powerful when used against a guy like Eric Wallace, who has never held an elected office before. Durkin has a long history of service in the state senate, and he has won the nomination before. I believe the only reason Roskam and Shimkus are running robocalls for Kirk is that Jim Durkin hasn't announced that he's running.
If Durkin announces that he's running, I think Roskam and Shimkus (and the rest of the Illinois conservatives) will support him. And Mark Kirk will look like the Combine RINO that he is.