Is Kirk too independent?
Will Kirk's votes kill his candidacy? I read with interest the Daily Herald account of Congressman Mark Kirk's July 21 announcement to run as a Senate candidate from his boyhood home in Kenilworth. I was present for the occasion with a sign of protest along with a friend from Libertyville. We were the only conservative Republicans who showed up protest Kirk's candidacy, a great disappointment to the both of us.
Congressman Kirk prides himself on being an independent Republican who votes with Democrats on environmental issues and social issues and with Republican on fiscal matters and the military.
For this reason Kirk is being promoted by national and state GOP leaders, who like Kirk are often called country club or limousine liberals, as the best shot to take Burris' Senate seat from the Democrats.
It was possible for Congressman Kirk to win five terms in his liberal North Shore 10th District in which I reside, but will Kirk be able to convince enough independent and moderate Democrat voters to cross over and vote for him running statewide?
By focusing on the alleged corruption of the Democrat Party Kirk might be able to bring voters over to his side. But what about conservative Republican voters who are still angry over Congressman Kirk's shameful "yes" vote on the Waxman-Markey bill, where he was one of only eight House Republicans to defect from his party? Since the Waxman-Marky bill would result in the highest tax burden ever in American history, how can Kirk begin to call himself a fiscal conservative?
Unknown by most Illinoisans is that Kirk is a gun-grabber, having received an F- rating from the NRA. Of grave concern to many conservatives is Kirk's abortion stance. He received a 100 percent rating by Planned Parenthood.
Also of concern to Kirk's conservative Republican base is his lead sponsorship in the House of Hate Crimes legislation that creates federal protections and privileges to homosexuals and others who have chosen alternative sexual lifestyles. Mark Kirk will also have to answer to being the only Republican added on as a co-sponsor of HR 1966, which calls for the monitoring of cyberbullying. Both children and adults could be prosecuted under this bill.
Although Mark Kirk has been anointed by top Republican brass and certainly has the means to raise the projected $25 million to run statewide, at least five other Republican candidates will be challenging Kirk for a chance at Burris' senate seat in the 2010 primary election: Dr. Eric Wallace, Robert Zadek, Andy Martin, John Arrington and Don Lowery. It would be wise to check them out on the Internet.
It will be difficult and even impossible for conservative Republican faithful like me to work for the candidacy of someone who votes against the party platform more than he supports it. We want and deserve a candidate who offers a contrast to the Democrats, not a weak echo.
May the race begin. It won't be pretty and promises to be a nasty one once the Chicago Democrat political machine kicks in.
Nancy Kulp Thorner
Lake Bluff