Wednesday, November 4, 2009

As I said before...

...forget the Republican victories for governor in Virginia and New Jersey yesterday. The big news was that the GOP, by backing the Conservative candidate in New York's 23rd Congressional District, handed a seat over to the Democrats that had been in Republican hands for over 100 years. (The 23rd has 45,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats.) Expect to see more of this as the teabaggers battle the Washington establishment for control of the party.

Just yesterday, I noticed that one of their many targets next year could be Mark Kirk. Kirk is currently my representative in Congress. He's running for the Republican nomination for the U. S. Senate seat once held by President Obama. He has a great resume and comes across as a sober, responsible legislator. (He even looks like a Senator.) Kirk could very well wrest this seat away from the Democrats; it would be a huge victory for the Republicans. He's voted pretty much the party line for the eight years he's been in Congress. He supported President Bush consistently and has been a Member-in-Good-Standing of the Party of No since Obama's election.

As you can imagine, I'm not a big fan of Kirk's. Although I respect him personally, I just can't abide by his politics. I'd hate to see him win that seat in the Senate. But I may not have to worry for long if the teabaggers decide to "primary" him with a more conservative candidate. As I said, Kirk has been a reliable vote for the GOP since he's been in Congress. His one sin that I know of? He voted "yes" on cap-and-trade legislation and for this he may become a target of the right wing.

I'm all for it. Go ahead teabaggers, split the Republican Party in two and lose just like in New York's 23rd. Become more and more marginalized and let the Democrats get on with the nation's business.

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