* I probably should’ve known better than to believe the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza yesterday when he wrote…
Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk penned a memo to Republican poobah Fred Malek hoping to secure an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his Senate candidacy, according to a copy of the memo obtained by the Fix.
If Cillizza really did see the memo, as he claimed, then he would’ve known that nowhere in that memo does Congressman Kirk explicitly ask for an endorsement. How do I know this? Because I now have the memo…
Memorandum
November 3, 2009
To: Fred Malek
From: Mark Kirk
Re: Gov. Palin Visit to Chicago November 16th
Governor Palin is scheduled to appear on Oprah November 16th in Chicago. The Chicago media will focus on one key issue: does Gov. Palin oppose Congressman Mark Kirk’s bid to take the Obama Senate seat for the Republicans?
We would hope Gov. Palin could say something quick and decisive:
Voters in Illinois have a key opportunity to take Barack Obama’s senate seat. Congressman Kirk is the lead candidate to do that. Kirk, the first member of Congress to deploy into combat since 1942, voted against the Stimulus, Omnibus and Pelosi health care bills. He announced he will oppose Cap & Trade and is the key House national security hawk on Iran. Kirk is a unique Republican candidate who has become the number one pro-Israel fundraiser in America, Republican or Democrat.
The memo then goes on to detail Kirk’s position on specific issues, including his oppositon to the Obama budget, “card check,” the Ledbetter [gender pay equity] bill and the stimulus, as well as his support for President Bush’s tax cuts and his proposal to cut off funding for Alaska’s “Bridge to Nowhere.”
The hazard of blogging is that one often depends on others to get their stories straight. My subscription publication is comprised of my own work, but the blog often riffs on what others do, puts it into context, uses it to relate other insights. I also break my share of news here, of course, but using other peoples’ stories is an important core function.
WaPo’s Cillizza is now on my “always check him out first” list.
* All that being said, the Kirk/Palin memo is still incredibly pandering. And it still points to a very valid question: Does Mark Kirk even know who he is?
Lynn Sweet…
That Kirk is courting Palin takes on more significance, however, after Tuesday’s balloting for an open House seat in New York yielded a Democratic win after the moderate Republican was driven out of the race by Palin and others who supported the third party conservative candidate.
Conservatives may be shopping for other moderates to knock off. But the reality in Illinois is very different from New York or other places. Though the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has been trying to pump Kirk’s seven primary rivals as real threats, they are barely known and hardly register in polls.
Sweet is right, but it’s more than that. Why has Kirk consistently overreacted to this mild threat? I’m not just talking about the Palin thing, here. He’s turned into Mr. Flip-Flop lately to placate a Right-wing that barely registers. Is he really concerned that something huge could explode or is he just thin-skinned? Is this about making sure a Constitution Party or independent candidate gains no traction in the general election? Questions, questions, questions, but few answers.
The Politico posits…
Kirk, a moderate, may also face a third-party challenge from the right, after fellow Republican Eric Wallace made clear in dropping out of contention for the GOP nomination that he may mount a [NY Conservative Party congressional nominee Doug] Hoffman-like run.
Wallace isn’t a threat, unless you figure that the general election race will be close, and it probably will be. Even if the guy skims a point or two from Kirk, that could be a big problem. Wallace is not the guy to look at, though. I’m betting the Kirk folks are more worried that a wealthy self-funder might jump in as a third-party or independent.
The Hill also weighs in…
But what we know now is that despite a win by a Democrat in NY-23, no GOP candidate believes the conservative activists who backed Hoffman are ready to hang up their tea bags.
True dat. And, they don’t care about winning. They care about making their point, as the aftermath of NY-23 clearly shows.
* Related…
* Mark Kirk and Sarah Palin: Senate candidate’s memo about ex-Alaska governor shows he’s veering to right, critics say
* Kirk looking for support from the right? You betcha