Look closely at what Kirk hasn't done while in office

The recent revelations about the circumstances of Mark Kirk's 1976 Lake Michigan rescue cemented his credentials as a serial "misrememberer." And we're all familiar now with the top 10 fibs about his military career.

But it's Kirk's record, or lack thereof, that should be addressed. Kirk is the five-term congressman from the 10th Congressional District who is now running for Barack Obama's seat in the U.S. Senate. He has always claimed to be a moderate - never mentioning "Republican" on his campaign material. Despite this claim, Kirk has always been a reliable vote for the "Party-of-No." Because "moderate" has become a dirty word in Republican circles, he has shifted his position to conform - flip-flopping on "cap and trade," voting against equal pay for women, and voting against repealing "Don't ask, don't tell."

One would think that a 10-year congressman would have sponsored a few bills that have become law. GovTrack, a group that keeps track of this sort of thing, says it's difficult to find any Kirk-sponsored bills that have passed and finds that 93 of the 97 bills he sponsored have never even been scheduled for debate or voted on.

Mark Kirk has been critical of his Democratic opponent, Alexi Giannoulias. Chicago newspapers, the nonpartisan Factcheck.org and the Pulitzer Prize-winning nonpartisan Politico.com have described Kirk's ads as "baffling," "misleading," "unsupported" and "barely true." NARAL, Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign, the Sierra Club, and the League of Conservation Voters - all bipartisan organizations, some of which have previously backed Kirk - are now supporting Alexi for U.S. senator. He is by far the better choice.

Dick Doub

Wilmette