* US Senate candidate Mark Kirk faced some pretty loud booing and heckling at a recent DuPage County Republican event, which amply showed that he still has problems with the far right. However, Kirk also demonstrated how good he is on his feet by twice turning the boos into applause.
Parts of the Republican crowd booed Kirk’s introduction and some angrily yelled chants about his “Yes” vote on the so-called “cap and trade” bill Thinking quickly, Kirk then asked for a moment of silence for a fallen soldier. It worked. He quieted the hall and eventually got them to cheer.
The loud boos cranked up again (at about 3:16 into the video) when he brought up the touchy cap and trade subject. But then Kirk said he voted “Yes” on cap and trade because he was representing the “narrow interests” of his congressional district and vowed to vote “No” on the bill if he represented the entire state.
And the crowd cheered.
This just proves a point about perceptions. It’s only a “flip-flop” when a politician flips away from your ideology. It’s “statesmanship” if a politico flips toward you. He’s either got no backbone or he’s a smart politician, depending on which way you see things.
* Anyway, Kirk kept “right” on hitting the hot buttons and smoothly firing out the ready-made applause lines with an ideological bullet-point tour through oil drilling, Nancy Pelosi, Hugo Chavez, his military service (quite a few times), the public option (he got the crowd to boo Alexi Giannoulias on that one) etc.
Have a look…
This is one slick candidate, campers. The Democrats should definitely fear him.
* Other campaign stories…
* Daily Herald: Time for Stroger to bow out gracefully - It’s time he pulls out of the race for county board president and clears the way for other candidates.
* Quinn endorsements cover political spectrum
* Quinn gets backing from SEIU Illinois Council
* GOP gov hopeful sets funding rule
* Dillard promises fund-raising moratorium if elected
* Proft: Government broken and the fix is in
* Ill. `lite gov’ seat worth more than warm spit these days
* Press Release: Jason Plummer, a small businessman from downstate Edwardsville, will enter the Republican primary for Lt. Governor during a statewide tour of Illinois beginning in his hometown and continuing on to Springfield and Chicago. Plummer currently works in the family business, R.P. Lumber, headquartered in Edwardsville, as well as subsidiary companies focusing on property development and technology investments.
* Kenilworth’s Dold hopes to fill Kirk’s seat
* Dems: Sente “most exemplified” Ryg’s position in 59th Dist.