Rep. Mark Kirk will not run for Obama’s old senate seat after all.
llinois Rep. Mark Kirk (R) will not run for the open seat of Sen. Roland Burris (D) in 2010, a stunning reversal from just 48 hours ago when Kirk signaled to National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) that he would make the race.
My guess is that after his cap and trade vote he was going to have a tougher time in the primary, and with Madigan passing on both the Senate and Governor’s races, perhaps Kirk feels a bid for governor is a better fit.
Update, 4:17 p.m.: Although Kirk has already told several national Republicans today that he will not run for the Senate, there is an ongoing effort now to convince him to re-think that decision, according to several sources close to the discussions. Pressure is now being brought to bear on Andy McKenna, who, according to knowledgeable sources, had told Republicans insiders that he would not run if Kirk got into the race. Once Kirk signaled he was indeed running, however, McKenna reconsidered and made clear he would in fact stay in. Sources close to McKenna say he has no plans to drop out of the race.
The plot thickens…
2nd Update:
Kirk Not Withdrawing From Race For Burris Seat
Illinois Rep. Mark Steven Kirk spent his Friday shooting down a story that said he was pulling out of the 2010 Senate race to succeed retiring Democrat Sen. Roland W. Burris.
After the Washington Post reported Friday afternoon — shortly after Burris announced that he would not seek election in 2010 — that Kirk would not run, the congressman told allies that the story was not true.
Kathy Lydon, the chief of staff to Illinois Rep. Judy Biggert, said that Biggert called Kirk after the Post item appeared and that Kirk told her it was incorrect. Biggert is backing Kirk for the Senate.
Lee Roupas, the Republican chairman in Cook County, said that Kirk sounded like a Senate candidate in a conference call Thursday night with county GOP chairmen. “He more than strongly indicated that he was going to be entering the primary for the U.S. Senate race,” Roupas said.
According to an Illinois GOP source sympathetic to Kirk, the congressman was hammered on the call for his vote last month for a climate change bill that most Republicans believe will result in unbearable costs for working and middle class families.
“It was a brutal call,” the source said. “He kind of shot himself in the head not the foot” with the climate change vote.
But an Illinois Republican operative who spoke with some county chairmen about that call disagreed with that assessment. “They want to win, and I think that’s the message that was said last night,” the operative said. “My understanding is that it was even folks from southern Illinois who were saying that, and that’s a very conservative part of the state.”
Roupas said that the conference call included a “lively discussion” but he declined to give details, though he did say that Kirk addressed his vote on the climate change bill.
Kirk could still face opposition in the February 2010 primary from state Republican chairman Andy McKenna, though several Republican sources said they thought it unlikely that the two men would run against one another.
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July 10th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
So are we just going to let the Dems have this open seat for free, or do we have another candidate who can fight for it?
July 10th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Roskam? Biggert?
July 10th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Between far-left Democrats and moderate Republicans, the majority of the conservative base prefers the far-left Democrats
July 10th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Democrat Alexi Giannoulias would likely win this seat. I highly doubt this seat will flip with any Republican. If it does, it will be razor tight and a lot of resources would have to be spent.
July 10th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Dems targeting Bachmann
http://legal-ledger.com/item.cfm?recID=11993
July 10th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Kris, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The GOP’s two most divisive dames might band together and take care of business outside the political arena by collaborating on a Republican red meat TV program. They could call the show BPO — Bachmann-Palin Overdrive.
July 10th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
As an Illinoisan, I can tell you the Republican party here absolutely sucks. Suburban Republicans- who pretty much run the party- are only slightly less liberal than Democrats. And they still can’t get elected.
Machinery runs BOTH parties in this state. So we generally wind up with stupid, uninspiring party hacks as nominees that only care about controlling no-bid contracts and doling out pork. We are easily one of the three most corrupt states in the country, if not the top.
July 10th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
To put it in perspective:
The Republican party here sucks so bad, I WOULD VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY FOR GOVERNOR.
Yeah, it’s THAT bad.
July 10th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Cough. Alan Keyes.
You know – maybe if the IL GOP actually had their shit together they could have spared us the loser of a president we currently have.
July 10th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
if you’re going to run for Senate, you don’t do it like this…
July 10th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Adam,
“Alan Keyes.”
That’s cause they literally could not find anyone else after Ryan had to drop out (post nomination). It was a guaranteed suicide mission.
Now, explain Judy Baar Topinka getting the nod in 2006. Only the machine can nominate a woman that incompetent.
July 10th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
MWS,
No disagreement there. She lost by 11 points. Pitiful.
July 10th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Wait wait wait.
Kirk NOT withdrawing from senate race.
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2009/07/kirk-not-withdrawing-from-race.html
July 10th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Adam,
“She lost by 11 points. Pitiful.”
To a governor everyone ALREADY KNEW was corrupt and under investigation.
July 10th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Rep. Bachmann: “Second Stimulus Would Be Insane”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/07/10/rep_bachmann_second_stimulus_would_be_insane.html
July 10th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Aron,
Put up that pic with you and Bachmann again.
July 10th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Republicans Test 2010 Message: Cancel the Stimulus
http://washingtonindependent.com/50309/republicans-test-2010-message-cancel-the-stimulus
July 10th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Yes, Hatch and Kyl are spearheading it.
July 10th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Kirk had a 48 rating for the ACU last year. 40 the year before, and 56 lifetime.
Based on his voting record, he has never met an abortion he doesn’t like. He is 100% across the board pro-abortioin- anywhere, anytime, anyhow.
And oh, yeah, he voted for the Climate Tax.
I am so sick of these liberal Republicans getting crammed down from the Bosses in Illinois. I will not be voting for Mark Kirk under any circumstances.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
To let you guys know how stupid our party is here, Andy McKenna, the state chairman, and possibly only opponent to Kirk, was routinely giving big money to DEMOCRATS earlier this decade, including Dick Durbin.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Republicans need to start running candidates who can win in liberal states. Mark Kirk will be much better than any of the super liberals that the Dems will find…i mean if you dont support Kirk (and others like Ayotte, Castle, Crist) Just leave the GOP. They are 4 candidates who can win in OBAMA STATES….thats huge! If you dont like these candidates I heard the libertarians had a nice party for you!
July 10th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! But didn’t you just bemoan the fact that IL voters elected a corrupt Democrat – and everyone knew he was corrupt – by ten points?
There is no one else. How can you expect anyone better in IL?
And for the record, I hate his stance on the climate bill too.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Ted,
I don’t know how much you know about politics in Illinois, but pretty much the only difference with the parties when it comes to statewide races is whose contributors get the no-bid contracts.
That’s pretty much what they fight for here.
If I reward the GOP with my vote for giving me Mark Kirk, then they will be left to conclude that I want more people like Mark Kirk. No. And I don’t give a damn what you call me.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
But WHY do you think that? Mark Kirk couldn’t get nominated by the national party in SC or OH or even FL. And he sure as hell couldn’t get nominated for the presidency. Even McCain was viewed as too liberal. There is no way Kirk could ever be any more than a squishy Republican from a state that favors the other party. What’s wrong with running squishes in navy blue territory?
July 10th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
MWS, what do you think of Dan Rutherford?
July 10th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Are there any third parties in Illinois (excluding the nutcase Chicago communists)?
July 10th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Nothing significant that I know of Doug.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Louisiana approves game-industry tax breaks
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6213222.html
Good, perhaps they should have made it more of a tax break. The gaming industry is growing rapidly. If they could get Louisiana to be the new hub of the industry, it would be HUGE for the state.
July 10th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Illinois,
“what do you think of Dan Rutherford?”
I think he’s all right. I don’t know a ton about him (Dan Brady is my rep.) but I’ve been around him a few times. Seems competent, friendly, and ambitious (in a good or bad way I’m not sure).
July 10th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Doug,
“Are there any third parties in Illinois (excluding the nutcase Chicago communists)?”
Not really. The Constitution Party has shown up on the ballot some, and I’ve cast protest votes with them. In the Republican primary, sometimes a downstate conservative will challenge the Machine candidate and get maybe 30-40%.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Adam,
“But WHY do you think that?”
That’s the way life work. If you reward behavior A, you get more behavior A, if you punish it, you get less of it. As long as downstate conservatives just vote for the Republican no matter what, the suburban liberals will keep sending us their cronies and make them as liberal as they can get away with.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Our only real hope is if Peter Roskam runs. Unlike Kirk, he’s actually to the right of the Democratic Party.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Adam,
I think MWS is arguing as an Illinois Republican. It’s well enough for Republicans from other states to say about the Crist’s and Kirk’s of the world “yes, but they couldn’t be a threat to anything nationally, so why not just let them in, so they can cast a handful of good votes?” It’s another thing entirely if you’re a Republican in those states, who’s not just interested in the state of the National GOP, but also wants representation that actually comes close to reflecting your views and priorities. I mean, sure a Senator Kirk isn’t going anywhere beyond Illinois but…if you’re in Illinois…well, that’s far enough and then some.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Obama beats Romney in Presidential poll in Texas
http://realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com/2009/07/09/tx-gov-poll-is-the-senate-weighing-hutchison-down/
Obama is 2 points ahead, but it doesn’t mean anything really.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
#33
Exactly.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Matthew,
So whose home state do you think is more corrupt, yours or mine? My Big 3 when it comes to corruption is IL, NJ, and LA.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Here’s an amen from the south suburbs. Everybody knew that Blagojevich was a corrupt hack, so what do we do? We run a corrupt hack (Topinka) against him.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Rhode Island often makes most-corrupt lists.
I’ve never experienced anything like Illinois — this place amazes me. What is most amazing is the way people accept it: “That’s just the way it’s done here.”
July 10th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Bob H.
Where do you rank Obama on the corruption rankings?
July 10th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Medvedev reveals new ‘world currency’ coin
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aeFVNYQpByU4
World currency? Have these people ever taken a economics class?
July 10th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians” for 2007
http://www.judicialwatch.org/judicial-watch-announces-list-washington-s-ten-most-wanted-corrupt-politicians-2007
8. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL): A “Dishonorable Mention” last year, Senator Obama moves onto the “ten most wanted” list in 2007. In 2006, it was discovered that Obama was involved in a suspicious real estate deal with an indicted political fundraiser, Antoin “Tony” Rezko. In 2007, more reports surfaced of deeper and suspicious business and political connections It was reported that just two months after he joined the Senate, Obama purchased $50,000 worth of stock in speculative companies whose major investors were his biggest campaign contributors. One of the companies was a biotech concern that benefited from legislation Obama pushed just two weeks after the senator purchased $5,000 of the company’s shares. Obama was also nabbed conducting campaign business in his Senate office, a violation of federal law.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Bob,
“I’ve never experienced anything like Illinois — this place amazes me. What is most amazing is the way people accept it: “That’s just the way it’s done here.”
Oh, absolutely. It seems like every week news comes out of Chicago about sweet heart deals, kickbacks, and no-show jobs, but the people just shrug as long as the snow gets cleared.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:04 am
Tommy,
“Where do you rank Obama on the corruption rankings?”
This was one of the most frustrating things for me in ‘08. Ayers and Wright aside, real journalists would have asked themselves, “how does a nobody, with no money, and no family connections get fast-tracked through the Daley machine? Who does he owe?” All of his primary opponents for state senate were kicked off the ballot with the help of the bosses. Did the most corrupt machine in America help Obama with no expectation for a return on their investment? Real journalists would ask this question. But the MSM was so love struck it apparently never occurred to them.
To me, the Daley machine in Obama’s life is a bigger question than Ayers or Wright. Those guys will do quite well over the next 4 years.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:11 am
MWS,
Obama made it on to the Judicial Watch’s 2008 list and its 2006 dishonorable mention list.
Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians” for 2008
http://www.judicialwatch.org/news/2008/dec/judicial-watch-announces-list-washingtons-ten-most-wanted-corrupt-politicians-2008
President-Elect Barack Obama (D-IL): As Barack Obama assumes the presidency he already brings to the White House a large amount of ethical baggage. Obama’s presidential campaign had some of the ethical trimmings of a Chicago ward election. It was marked with enormous corruption issues, ranging from its alliance with the sleazy ACORN operation’s “voter registration” and “get out the vote” efforts to its acceptance of untraceable, and in too many cases, illegal online contributions. There are also Obama’s corrupt dealings with convicted felon Tony Rezko and unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, his below-market rate mortgage loans, his stock dealings and related “earmark” votes in the U.S. Senate, and his missing or non-existent official papers from his years in the Illinois State Senate. His ongoing cover up of his and his team’s role in the Blagojevich “pay-to-play” scandal is ruining his presidency even before he takes the oath of office.
July 11th, 2009 at 6:27 am
MWS,
I dunno. NJ’s corruption isn’t so centralized I think. I mean, sure we re-elected a guy under federal criminal investigation, over the son of the most popular NJ Governor in history, but there are a lot of folks who reach the top who are just awful politicians in the ordinary way (boring, calculating, unimaginative, etc).
July 11th, 2009 at 10:45 am
“Where do you rank Obama on the corruption rankings?”
I was hoping (and said here several times) that McCain would try to tie Obama to the Machine — I think painting him as a classic Chicago pol was a missed opportunity.
If you were a “community organizer” in Chicago, genuinely trying to help the poor who live on the Southside so near your pleasant Hyde Park enclave, wouldn’t one of the best things you could do be to organize the community to bring down the Machine that keeps them poor?
But that of course is not what Obama did. Instead he became part of the Machine. When he went to Springfield, did he speak out against Ryan’s corruption? Yes. When Ryan was sent to jail did Obama speak out against Blagojevich? Er, no.
There are indicators of personal corruption, as noted above (nissing from the list is the earmark to UofC Hospital that coincided with a large raise for hospital VP Michelle Obama), but little is proven because there has been little investigation. But mostly he just seems to have been a loyal functionary of the Machine.
As an added note, his handling of the Inspector General / Kevin Johnson case is classic Chicago Way — you don’t investigate the boss’s pals.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
#6 that’s hilarious. i’d watch that show!
September 29th, 2009 at 1:21 am
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