Illinois is just too blue now. The last Republican Senator to win barely won over Carol Mosley Braun and she had more ethical problems

Now if Roskam had run he might of had shot but Kirk is the best in race

I suspect he would be far more Conservative his first few years and then swing back to left in order to run for re-election

Winning Obama’s seat would be very good press for us

I am not going to oppose him in the primary, contrary to things I’ve said on record before. But that is ONLY because no viable primary challenge seems possible at this point.

I’ll not give a flying rat’s a** whether he wins or loses. We’re going to take back 6-7 seats if it’s an extremely good year. If I thought it was 10-11, I’d have a little more interest in his success.

He’s a leftist pig (not a moderate), but if his one crucial vote, cast once a session, to caucus with Republicans makes the difference between 50 and 51, I’ll be glad we had him.

But I still hate his guts.

from the NRA; well I suppose he will fit well in the seat as Obama gets an F on everything he has ever done!

Would love to see the the smirk wiped from Obama’s face if the seat goes our way.

I’m not in his district and everyone at the tea party rallies wanted him out before he announced he was running for the Senate. His name is not good in my neighborhood so i can only assume that other districts across the state are similar.

I really think that Hughes would be the better votes. I will vote for Hughes and if Kirk makes it, I will not vote for him. If I learned anything in this last election, I learned that we get the government we vote for and I’m voting for the one I like whether he has a chance or not. If McCain won this last election, we may not be going through this conservative revolution.

In the mean time, I will be trying to convince my friends to vote for Hughes.

Has voted Democratic in the past 5 presidential elections by 25%, 10%, 12%, 18% and 6%

Mark Kirk’s ACU rating is 55.7. Dick Durbin’s is 6.35.

Is Mark Kirk Tom Coburn? No.

Is Mark Kirk the only Republican who has a chance of winning an incredibly difficult state for us? Yes.

He can raise money, has a proven ability to win in a tough district, and there are a number of other races nationally in better states/districts for Republicans (like Florida for example) to make a stand.

Insisting on conservative purity in strongly Democratic states is a great way to make sure Democrats continue to win elections there.

People love to focus on the areas where moderate Republicans disagree with the base, but Kirk voted against the House health care bill, which is kind of a big deal, and it would be nice to have him there in 2011 rather than an Obama stooge.

BUT:

Do we really want to support Arlen Specter Junior?

Can we win given ‘da Mare’s son’, the current Mayor Daley, running Chicago (and Illinois) with ACORN’s help?

Can we win running someone none of us has any use for?

I will (and do) oppose Kirk vehemently during the primary, but if he wins, I’ll hold my nose and vote for him in the general; kind of reminds me of November 2008….exactly like November 2008. Makes me gag….

Kirk’s lifetime ACU (American Conservative Union) score is 55.69

as a comparison
Lieberman’s is 15.96
Ben Nelson is 47.26

Both Lieberman and Nelson have been receiving lavish praise in these quarters, yet Kirk technically has a more conservative voting record.

I think it’s worthwhile to have Kirk, especially since any Democrat representing Illinois is going to be a flaming liberal. And I firmly believe Kirk is the only credible Republican that has an even remote shot at winning Illinois.

This is one independent conservative Chicagoan that is sick and tired of the IL GOP!!!

He’s not mob associate (and Obama protege) Alexi Giannoulias.

If you think D.C. corruption is bad now, imagine if “Jaws” Gioranagio’s banker has the ability to insert earmarks in bills.

A race that is extremely winnable, and the party nominates an ultra-liberal instead of a Conservative. Sounds like NY-23 to me, if this guy wins the Primary like Scozefava did I say we find ourselves a Hoffman to run against him in the general! I’m not interested in feeling good on election night because ‘one of ours’ won Obama’s seat, then feeling bad for the next six years (or twelve, or eighteen, or however many years this guy is in there) while we watch him vote like the liberal he is. Lets send the Establishment another powerful message, no more ultra liberals in Republican clothing!

I won’t vote for Kirk. It’s the Illinois Republican Party as much as da mare’s machine that has kept Illinois a blue state. Mosley-Braun won in the “Year of the Woman” because the Illinois Committeemen had slated a non-candidate, a lawyer who didn’t seriously want to win and “campaigned” accordingly, in a pre-Primary assumption that Dixon couldn’t be beat… Too clever by half!

Peter Fitzgerald declined to run for reelection because the state Party hotshots were still in a grudge-match with him because he won in ’98 in spite of their obstacles. George Ryan was pushing Lolita Didrickson because reportedly he was worried she would challenge him for the Gov’s race — which also caused a very viable candidate, Mike Flanagan (who had previously won the Rosty House seat after the House Post Office scandal), to rip up his nominating petitions and drop his campaign plans.

“Go along to get along” hasn’t worked, won’t work, and I’m just not going to play.

If you hadn’t just endorsed a isolationist quasi-truther for Senate in Kentucky.

I won’t vote for Kirk in the primary, but I will in the general. I won’t give Kirk money. But a better Illinois primary race to consider is Illinois 14th. Three tea party candidates have dropped out of the primary leaving only Hastert and Hultgren. As a friend and fellow former colleague of Bill Foster wrote, ” http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=343002
There is another republican left besides Bill Foster’s prefered candidate, Ethan Hastert. I did talk with Danklefsen for about 45 mintues about six weeks ago. I also attended the Republican forum about two weeks ago. There, I met Hastert, Hultgren and Vargas and we chatted for about two minutes each. At that forum, they all said they’d unite behind whichever one won the Republican primary. Between Hastert and Hultgren … I have not been able to get over the fact that Hastert would become my Congressman and he is younger than my youngest child. Yikes! Hultgren has experience as a politician. And Chris Lauzen said Hultgren votes in the Illinois Senate pretty much the same way as he would. That tells me Hultgren is OK. Either one is preferable to how Bill has been voting … from my point of view.

Cheers. Dave.”

Send Hultgren some money http://hultgrenforcongress.com/ This is really Illinois’ version of NY-23.

If Kirk wins the Primary he won’t win the General. He is unelectable. Scandals will pursue him in the General. He is a RINO and the time to stop RINO’s is now. Even if it means 6 years of leftists. Perhaps Americans will get the picture when they have lived under the thumb of Socialist/Marxism for a while and elect Americans who believe in Free Enterprise, Fiscal Responsibility, Limited Government, Limited Taxation. The RockfordTeaPArty has given Kirk an F grade and that will be his grade in the General Elections also. For all you people who plan to hold their nose and vote this RINO into office shame on you. You perpetuate their abuse of us. Until we take a stand and say no the Republican Establishment will continue to abuse our good nature. Goodbye Mark Kirk. Goodbye RINO’s. Goodbye Republican Party if necessary. Kirk will betray everyone of you.

between two dimocrats the electorate will always choose the dimocrat. I don’t see Kirk carrying IL. Downstate where the GOP has its strength and in Cook County outside of Chicago he won’t be able to turn out the vote.

My opponent in the upcoming primary is a go-along/get along RINO who is convinced that she can sit down and bring everyone together. This will be followed by a marshmallow roast and a rousing rendition of Kumbaya. She is receiving no support because her message of “cant we all get along?” is the same joke now that it was a decade ago. The Democrats want to hand over control of the country to the leftists and have government decide everything for the people in a nanny-state style of hugely taxed “democracy”. I am fighting for the freedom of America’s children and grandchildren! The 2010 election is going to be the most important election in this generation. It is going to be the election that decides whether we keep our Constitutional freedoms or if we hand them over to the Obamunists who are intent upon running our lives and sending us the bill for doing it. I vote for freedom and I will fight for it to my dying breath!! Visit my website and find out about me: www.voteforteri2010.com and let’s take back our America from those who would destroy it!!
Teri Davis Newman
Republican Candidate for Congress
12th Illinois Congressional District
www.voteforteri2010.com

I’m not sure if there is a more conservative candidate running there, but Castle has just about the same record in a state that is just as blue as Illinois. Are we going to nix Castle too?

As much as I hate them, the Maine Twins are a good match for that state. Sometimes you have to take baby steps in the blue states. My biggest frustrations come not with the Kirks, or the Specters, or the Snowes, but when we have leftwing radicals elected in deep red states. Why are there two liberal Democrats in North Dakota? Why are there two liberal Democrats in Montana? Why are there two Democrats period in Arkansas??

The bottom line is that if the GOP were winning the seats that they should be winning, we wouldn’t have to be fretting over these blue state Republicans, because we would not be dependent upon them for our majority. They would just be peripheral senators. If we won in all the states we “should” win, we would always have 55-60 senators.

The seat is winnable by a conservative. John Arrington (http://arringtonfosenate.com) has been fighting Obama and his ilk for decades now. He is the one person in the race who knew what Obama was decades before we even heard Obama’s name. Arrington winning would propel this race into a national debate of the policies. Neither Kirk nor Hughes can do that.

“Mark Kirk the most electable guy the Illinois GOP can put up in 2010?”
NO!
You just gave the same kind of laundry list that made Mccain a feeble nominee in 2008. Conservatives will NOT get excited for him. A generic R will do well in 2010, and a RINO will do less well than a ‘Tea Party’ type that can excite the disgruntled base.

You only reason NOT to oppose Kirk vigorously in the primary is ‘choose your battles’ priorities. But if Kirk is the nominee, it means the NRSC (which will surely give him money) remains a compromised organization. So there are good reasons to not want Kirk to be the nominee…

But the best reason is this: Illinois is a deep-blue state in part because the IL GOP is a dysfunctional organization run by RINOs. I have seen the rot happen in other places, including where I live, and I have seen how conservatives can turn things around with a vibrant conservative-based party grassroots … that can happen again in Illinois but only if the establishment RINOs are stopped and real representatives of the conservative GOP base are put forward as nominees.

We need to OPPOSE Kirk in the primary and SUPPORT whoever is the GOP nominee in the general. Simple as that.

I think the culture of corruption here has gone far enough that a conservative candidate could harness the backlash and get elected. Problem is, the state Republican party is nothing more than an extension of the Democratic party, and incompetent to boot. There’s simply no party structure in place to promote or support a moderate, let alone a conservative.

I haven’t looked into it, but I’ve always had the feeling that Kirk’s campaigns are rather independent from the IRP’s, by practical necessity more than anything. Anyone else can correct me if I’m wrong.

I know, I know: I should look into taking a more active position at the local level. I looked into running for a Republican committee position in Chicago two years ago, but ended up moving out of the city. Now I’m back in the city, but have a wedding coming up in two weeks … Maybe down the line. My (about to be) wife is completely on board with it.

Kirk will not win the primary. We will take him down on February 2nd. D-Day is December 28th.

Andy Martin
Republican for U S Senator
www.AndyforUSSenator.com

Kirk will not win the primary. We will take him down on February 2nd. D-Day is December 28th.

Andy Martin
Republican for U S Senator
www.AndyforUSSenator.com

because there is much discontent with the politics as usual here in Illinois. As a GOP Precinct Committeeman in downstate Illinois and a Tea Party leader, I can tell you that the people I have talked to will not vote for Kirk in either the primary or the general. With Dr. Eric Wallace threatening a 3rd party run, the conservative vote will be split away from Kirk should he win in February.

Granted, Hughes needs to get ads on the air so people can see him and what he stands for. However, his support on the grassroots level is increasing everyday. Hughes has beat Kirk in his own backyard with township endorsements – 5 wins, 2 loses, 1 tie. Hughes has the support of the Joliet Tea Party, the Effingham Tea Party, and many others. He’s been endorsed by the Illinois Federartion of Right to Life which Kirk would never be able to do.

You’re right, Hughes’ money situation could be better but he is doing fundraisers all over the state and slowly but surely he is gaining traction.

What saddens me is that the national conservative leaders are all too focused on other races in Florida and elsewhere who go to the ballot box much later than we do here in Illinois. We have to decide on Feb. 2nd, and I would love to see Jim DeMint and others come out in support of Hughes and it needs to happen like yesterday.

Instead, Kirk keeps picking up endorsements by Reps. John Shimkus and Aaron Schock. These two Reps. can very little in common with a Republican like Kirk, yet in Shimkus’ own words “we have to get to 41 in the Senate”. Again, since I am on the front lines here in Illinois, I can tell you that because of Shimkus’ endorsement (very early in August before anyone officially declared or turned any petitions in) that his popularity in his district is at an all time low. I’ve never heard people use the words they use to describe Shimkus before and let me tell you, it ain’t good.

We Tea Partiers are beginning to coalesce around Hughes because out of the other candidates besides Kirk, he has the money, organization, and the conservative principles to get the job done.

I don’t buy into the argument that Illinois is too blue to elect a Republican, let alone a conservative Republican. We have stood by while the Democrats in Illinois have run this state into the ground. Our unemployment rate sits at around 10.7% and there is a huge backlash coming against anything Obama, Pelosi, or Reid here in Illinois.

The time is right, if you live in Illinois, you need to tell as many people about Hughes as possible and vote Hughes in February.

www.downstateiladvocate.com

it becomes self fulfilling…..we back the most liberal as a result of the assumption….therefore he IS the only one who has a chance because we ignored everyone else.

There is another problem we always overlook as well…even in victory sometimes we lose because of the damage done to the brand when we elect Dem Light candidates because the voters don’t think there is any difference between the parties. The converse is also true…sometimes we win even in defeat because we left the impression in the voter’s minds that there really is a difference between the Republican and the Party by standing our ground and fighting to the end!

The “Big Tent” analogy isn’t the correct one…the correct one is a MAGNET…we need to be a MAGNET that draws these independents in who are sick and tired of what’s going on in Washington—Fred Thompson

Erick, have you thoroughly researched the Illinois U.S. Senate race? If you had, you would have seen that Hughes has NO political experience and there is a candidate with a much stronger resume of public service to our state and our country. That man is Judge Don Lowery. He is a decorated Vietnam veteran, a retired Judge of 26 years and a strong conservative. He also taught Constitution classes at the local college and has the spine to stand up for conservative values. He is the only one that is even a member of the NRA and a the ISRA – in a state that has the MOST restrictive gun legislation in the nation – that is important!

I have been to 4 events in the last couple of weeks that all of the candidates attended. Hughes consistently left early without speaking to any of the attendees. If he can’t give me the time of day when he is asking for my vote, how do you think he will treat Illinoisans after he has it? The last even we attended, the response showed 90+% said they would vote for Lowery. They stated Hughes was impersonal and arrogant. Haven’t we had enough of that already?

Forget “Captain” Kirk. No way, no how, not ever

The time for Illinois conservatives to make a stand was months ago. Conservatives needed to pick one candidate and unite behind him or her to go up against Kirk’s Chicago style machine. I won’t vote for Kirk in the primary but if he’s the candidate in Nov. (which by all likelihood he will be) I will hold my nose and vote for him. Insisting on a “perfect” convervative candidate was how we ended up with 8 years of Bill Clinton. Even Kirk would be better than any of the Dem contenders.