Kirk can do what Scott Brown did

I had the privilege to witness one of the greatest political upsets in recent history. On that Tuesday night, a Republican, Scott Brown, won Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. Just think about that for a minute. If someone had told you that a Republican would win in Massachusetts, and claim a seat held by the Kennedy family for over 50 years, you would have looked at him as if he had told you the sky was green. But it happened.

And Illinois Republicans can make it happen here by supporting Congressman Mark Kirk.

The similarities between Mark Kirk and Scott Brown are striking. Both currently serve in the military, Brown is a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army National Guard. Kirk is a Commander in the Naval Reserve, and just returned from his second deployment to Afghanistan. Both Brown and Kirk are socially moderate. They have both made fiscal responsibility a priority, opposing the wasteful, ineffective stimulus bill and warning against record deficits. And both are strong on national security.

They believe that Guantanamo should stay open, and terrorists should be tried by the military. There is one final similarity; both are running in states being run into the ground by an inefficient, and in Illinois' case corrupt, one-party apparatus. Republicans have been long locked out of power in both Massachusetts and Illinois, and both states are poorer for it. Voters in Massachusetts sent a message. Illinois voters should do the same. Vote Mark Kirk for Senate.

Janet Cohen

Northbrook