You have to hand it to Congressman Mark Kirk's handlers. They're already bracing for a rough-and-tumble U.S. Senate campaign and anticipated some media scribe asking about his recent divorce. Who popped up at his senatorial announcement Monday at his boyhood home in Kenilworth? None other than the ex-Mrs. Kirk, Kimberly Vertolli, who endorsed her ex-husband: "He'd make a great senator."
If your ex endorses you, why wouldn't you win? Which brings up: Why'd you two split? Kind of like that political couple on "Brothers and Sisters"? She didn't want Rob Lowe to run; he did.
But it will get tougher down the road as the Democrats throw everything they've got to keep the seat once occupied by President Obama and now by Roland Burris, in their column. It may be hard to do. The early polling shows Highland Park Republican Kirk slightly ahead of Dem state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Chris Kennedy, son of Sen. Robert Kennedy, of the Kennedy clan. Not bad for a congressman from the North Shore.
The same day Kirk announced, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee issued a release linked to a YouTube video calling Kirk a "Transformer" who voted the way of President Bush who now wants to present himself as a moderate. Other Dems are issuing white papers tagging Kirk a right-winger. He hasn't even survived a primary vote and Dems are attacking him. Looks like they're scared.
Kirk probably will have token primary opposition and there's always that newspaper maxim the geezers around here always are spouting: Short names win over ones you can't pronounce, or at least tough spelling ones. The Hound doesn't completely buy that (hello, Barack Obama), but a Kirk vs. Giannoulias matchup down the road will pose problems not only for headline writers, but voters.
go CAP-N-KIRK...
"The race begins", OH CHEEZE! Here we go again.
In all due respect and consideration to our American way of how our election process works, the last presidential election process took way-way-WAY to long. For me and many others, it got boring by the 3rd month and got sickening by (the first) years end.
If I may suggest:
All campaign processes be held to 100 days, that's 2 days per State to HARK & BARK. In the "old days" those who ran for offices had to run around America by horse & buggy and hark off the rears of trains, that took a lot of time. In these modern days traveling is measured in minuets and mass communicating done by radio, TV & Internet.
Is it time for "Change"? Sure, this also.
THE HOUND SAYS: Go back to your video game, FM, and you won't get bored.
I should have figured as much,... nothing worthy to say, nothing constructive to mention.
Video games? My last games of that sort was 1972-ish? Called pinball, non-electronic.
Sorry to have bothered you.
THE HOUND SAYS: Let's see, you're bored with the election process, but you have time to whine. Hmm. Yes, stop bothering The Hound and starting lobbying for a shorter election cycle. That should keep you busy for the next decade.
Although I dislike Kirk's deal-making for his Cap and Tax vote, I can only hope that the Senate will kill it, and Kirk's vote will be forgiven and forgotten. With that, unless somebody with a big name and just as good a chance to win the Senate seat comes around, I'll go with Kirk over Giannoulias in the General. What the GOP will need to do is for both Kirk and any primary challenger to run against the Dem machine and not beat each other up. Giannoulias can will run using his friendship with Obama as the 'key' reason to vote for him. But he has to answer for his bank's mob connections, and voters who are already disgusted with the present mess, will be hard pressed to vote for a man based upon his buddy being President.
THE HOUND SAYS: By November 2010, being a buddy of the president might not be something one might want to point to, if you get The Hound's drift.