GOP Must Rally Behind Kirk
With the February 2nd primary rapidly approaching, the Chicago Sun-Times offers a solid CST-NWS-sweet15.article" target="_blank">breakdown of the Republican and Democratic frontrunners to fill Barack Obama’s old Senate seat. The Club for Growthers should take a hard look at the facts and figures presented in this story before supporting a primary challenge, for they show Congressman Mark Kirk, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, to probably be in the best position of any candidate, Republican or Democrat, to win the seat. As the article points out, Kirk has an enormous money advantage over all other Republicans and is running essentially even with the probable Democratic nominee, Alexi Giannoulias (Kirk has raised $2.3 million vs. Giannoulias’ $2.4). The article also notes that Kirk has name recognition, the support of the Washington and Illinois establishments (which will provide a steady and reliable source of revenue) and is popular with the local editorial boards (good press = free advertising). The article’s last line highlights why pressure from the Club for Growthers would hurt Kirk AND the GOP’s chances for taking the President’s old seat: “For Kirk, running to the right, a plus for the primary and a minus -- maybe -- in the general election.”
After the Blago fiasco and Roland Burris’ unpopular tenure as the thoroughly unelected temporary holder of Barack Obama’s old Senate seat, a moderate Republican candidate like Kirk seems ideally placed to win over the support of all of the “well, the Democrats certainly did a horrible job after I voted for them last time” voters…and in doing so, winning the election. A primary challenge that would force Kirk to run to the right to secure the nomination could lead these voters to think twice about voting for the GOP in the general election and jeopardize what could be an enormous coup d’état for Republicans.