Kirk’s fine, and is probably closer to the general tenor of the state than any other statewide Republican, but in the Senate, he’d be nothing but a boy-toy for the brain-dead Dixiecans whose politics are antithetical to a moderate state like Illinois.

Peter Fitzgerald saw the writing on the wall; he knows how pointless it is to be a moderate Republican in Washington these days, and he got out before he wasted any more time. Kirk’s heading down the same path; if he had the stones, he’d come out and defend his votes on cap and trade and lay out a case for modernization of our rickety health care system (and by “modernization”, it means “looking at what more successful competitor nations are doing, and using their models). But he’s not that guy. He may have served in war zones, but he’s no Teddy Roosevelt.

Damn shame that he isn’t. Maybe folks like me that used to trust Republicans more than Democrats would be willing to back a guy like that.