Monday July 20th Congressman Mark Kirk (R IL-10) announced that he would seek the open United States Senate seat being vacated by Roland Burris. Right away allot of conservative voters let everyone know that Kirk was unacceptable to them. I know that Kirk is more “moderate” than some of my conservative brethren would like, but let’s look at the bright side.

Mark Kirk is a media favorite because he is their kind of Republican; he is Pro Choice, anti Second Amendment and gets conservatives angry. With him on the ticket, the other candidates will get a whole lot of free media. If a candidate were to beat Mark Kirk in the primary they would build name recognition that could very well help win the General election. A competitive primary will also help to bring out the base, a help to conservatives down the ticket. It sounds like a win- win scenario to me, and all because Mark Kirk is on the ballot.

For the Republicans who are beside themselves because Congressman Kirk is even running, I have to ask why?  The state party didn’t strong arm anyone to get them out of the race. Nobody from the state party is promising him millions to run. This is not a power grab from the party elites; as a matter of fact this is a way to finally show them, and the media, that “Moderates” are not what the Republican or the Independent voters want. And because he is in the race it could bring some conservatives in who wouldn’t have run otherwise.

Remember the last election cycle? The GOP had trouble finding a viable US Senate candidate to run against Dick Durbin. They ended up with an inexperienced candidate who almost lost the primary to the political gadfly Andy Martin. After the last twelve years of Dick Durbin’s, no candidate emerged with funding and a political organization to challenge one of the most dislikable Senators in Washington.

The Illinois Republican party needs to recruit more candidates; if Mark Kirk being a candidate brings out other candidates that’s a good thing. Remember my fellow Republicans this seat is winnable and every day that goes by the voters are seeing the country move farther and farther to the left and are not happy about it. Having the Democrats try to stand up for universal health care, the “Cap and Trade” legislation and huge budget deficits will only help who ever is the Republican standard bearer.

I thought, until recently, that it would be very difficult to beat Kirk. Even though I disagreed with him, I thought Kirk had a good grasp of politics, it seems I was wrong. After the beating he took from his “Cap and Trade” vote and the flip he had to do afterwards, he went back and voted to keep Planned Parenthood on the government dole. Kirk was one of only eight Republicans to do so. What was he thinking? That’s not a moderate vote! It’s liberal; his vote was on the far left of even the Democrat Party on that issue. That shows me that there isn’t someone close to him on his staff who understands the party’s base or this state. Either that or Mark Kirk doesn’t listen to anyone. Either way, it will be a huge problem that will continue to come back to haunt him not only in the primary but in the general election if he wins, he will need the base.

What if Mark Kirk does win the primary? Being a voter in the 10th District and being represented by Congressman Kirk, I have already had to work through this problem. While the GOP was the majority, Kirk was quiet and went with the party direction, for the most part. It was not until the GOP lost control of the house that he started leaving the reservation regularly. In my situation I’ve decided that it’s better to vote for a liberal Republican than to have a liberal Democrat as my Congressman. It’s not that hard a decision. I believe the GOP will win the majority back in the house and will close the huge 10 seat gap in the Senate. I think if Mark Kirk is elected he will go with the party on most issues that we all care about. As far as Planned Parenthood, Life and Family issues go; GOP leadership of the House and Senate will deliver a more family friendly, pro life government than we have now and would be 100% better than if the Democrats win this seat and stay with a veto proof majority. Illinois going Republican would be a huge blow to the Democrats and their agenda, even if Kirk agrees with a lot of it, his win would help to stop it.

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Jim Leahy is a regular columnist for the Chicago Daily Observer and Conservative Political Organizer.

image Lake Forest Academy Library Reading Room, Lake Forest IL.