Durbin will get away with it because in his state the only castratos are the people running the Illinois GOP. Until the grass roots mounts a successful coup Durbin could openly encourage Osama to take down the Sears and John Hancock towers and still win re-election against whomever the current GOP surrendership would let on the ballot.
Sadly, I'm afaid you are correct. Every state needs a "Swift Boat Vets" to get the message out, to stand toe to toe with the SOBs and expose them for who and what they really are.