Kirk's Choice: Purity or Victory
Three Republican candidates hoping to replace Rep. Kirk in the Illinois 10th are distancing themselves from Kirk’s hard line position over the potential use of the Thompson Correctional facility to intern terrorists. Kirk, who is seeking the GOP nomination for Barack Obama’s Senate seat, previously told reporters that moving detainees to the Thompson facilities would make it "ground zero for jihadist terrorist plots.”
Kirk’s remarks sparked widespread criticism and opened him to charges of fear mongering and pandering to the base, and he has since moderated his comments. That three legitimate contenders to be the Republican candidate to replace Kirk, who has served five terms as congressman from the Illinois 10th, highlights the impact that the primary process may be having on the normally moderate Kirk. The “base” has expressed more than a little suspicion that Kirk may not be a “true believer” and as a consequence, organizations like the Club for Growth have been doing more than a little whispering that they might consider mobilizing their base behind a “real conservative” (in this case, the insurgent Patrick Hughes). If candidates for Kirk’s own seat are distancing themselves from his Gitmo statements, it means they think that hardline voters could scare off Illinois Republicans. Kirk of course knows the Illinois political landscape well, but with the Club and company hovering, he has a national audience to appease that won’t be voting. The risk of course is that in doing so, he will alienate the people that actually matter: the Illinois voters.
Its not entirely clear whether members of the base care more about purity or victory, but if its victory, it should back Kirk. Every day Kirk spends pandering to the national establishment is a day he spends pissing off Illinois voters.