Mark Kirk has been taking heat from all sides recently. Last week Kirk took heat from the left and the right when a leaked memo emerged that revealed the generally moderate Kirk to be seeking a Palin endorsement. This triggered reactions from the left and the right. The left claimed this was evidence that Kirk was running to the right, and people on the far right claimed that Kirk was disingenuous. Now today, Kirk is drawing heat from the left as a prominent abortion rights group castigated Kirk for supporting an amendment to the House-passed healthcare reform legislation that would prohibit taxpayer-backed insurance policies issued under the plan from providing abortion coverage. Kirk, who is pro-choice, hasn’t taken a lot of heat from the pro-choice community in the past.
With the shots being fired on both sides, Kirk will have few options besides straddling the center of the political spectrum… but then again, that is not such a bad place to be if you are a Republican running to become the next Senator from Illinois.
1 response so far
1 Demosthenes // Nov 11, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I live in Mr. Kirk’s district. As most people in our district know, Mr. Kirk was, is, and will always remain a complete waffling nonentity. As far as I can tell, other than his steadfast adherence to Isreal (which he shares with most members of Congress), Mr. Kirk believes nothing. He is socially liberal at times, and on other occasions he isn’t. He is a fiscal conservative, unless a Republican is in the White House; then he is a spendthrift Keynesian. In short, there is really nothing to say about Mr. Kirk, since he, effectively, is a cipher.
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