Monday, May 10, 2010

Mark Kirk to Address Sold-Out Crowd at City Club of Chicago's Public Policy Luncheon (UPDATED)

5-Term Congressman Mark Kirk, who is running for the U.S. Senate, will address a sold-out crowd today at the City Club of Chicago's Public Policy Forum. Last time Kirk was at this event, speculation was rampant over whether Kirk might run for governor, U.S. Senate, or another term in Congress. Of course, we now know which direction Kirk decided to go, so he will no doubt be addressing many of the issues that are at the forefront of the U.S. Senate race, including jobs, the overall economy, Wall Street, perhaps Obama's U.S. Supreme Court nominee, and maybe even throw in a little about his opponent, Alexis Giannoulias, as Kirk has been known to do from time to time.

Alexi, on the other hand, has been desperate to change the subject from his family's failed Broadway Bank, and has been blitzing T.V. lately with ads to try to pump up his poll numbers (even the Daily Kos poll shows Kirk in the lead). This gambit has raised some eyebrows, as it is awfully early in the campaign to start spending a lot of money on expensive T.V. ads, especially when Alexi is at a serious fundraising disadvantage to Kirk. This is speculation among some quarters that if Alexi can't raise his positives and shake off the stigma of Broadway Bank, the White House (which has been sending mixed signals about its support for Alexi over the last month or two) may finally decide to lay down the law and recruit another candidate.

I will be at the City Club lunch and will try to snap a few pictures on my trusty Blackberry, but we'll see how they turn out. I've now managed to lose three new digital cameras in the last two years, so I'm done buying them. :-(

UPDATED: Wow, that was a great lunch. Mark Kirk really showcased his experience and knowledge of domestic and foreign issues.... but I will tell you that every time I hear him speak like this, I walk away feeling very, very concerned about the security of this country, financially and otherwise. There is simply no way we can like a buffoon like Alexi into the Senate when we desperately need someone of Kirk's qualifications. The Kirk campaign just sent around a summary of his speech so I don't have to (!):

Congressman, Navy Veteran Presents Vision to Create Jobs in Illinois, Master National Security Challenges Abroad and Restore Public Trust

Kirk: “Americans lack of faith in our own government. Honesty in office – that’s how we rebuild trust.”

CHICAGO – Congressman and Navy veteran Mark Kirk today outlined his vision for adding jobs and ending corruption in Illinois calling the “breakdown in public trust” one of the greatest challenges facing the nation.

“As your Senator, I will work to provide honest government to Illinois, helping to put our country back on track,” Congressman Kirk said. “As a fiscal conservative and social moderate, I will work to cut government spending, enact the small business bill of rights, support our troops and back the toughest federal prosecutors – fighting public corruption in Illinois and on Wall Street.”

Highlighting his record of independence from party leaders on issues like canceling Alaska’s Bridge to Nowhere, stopping BP's Lake Michigan pollution plan and backing stem cell research, Congressman Kirk said bipartisan, independent leadership is what the country needs to restore the public’s trust in government.

Citing Illinois’ aviation and rail networks as “natural advantages,” Congressman Kirk said backing the O’Hare Modernization Project and boosting support to scientists at Argonne, Fermilab and FutureGen were critical to reversing unemployment in Illinois. The congressman pledged to continue his work to pass a “Small Business Bill of Rights” to help small business owners create jobs and emphasized the need to end the $500 million “corruption tax” Illinois families are forced to pay every year.

In the long term, Congressman Kirk stressed two critical priorities for America’s economic security: innovation and cutting government overspending.

“To sell more exports, we must reward private sector innovation with the goal of attracting the next Google or Apple to Illinois,” Congressman Kirk said. “We also need to fix a growing weakness for Americans in science, math and engineering. We need to accelerate to protect our status as the world’s leading innovator.”

Citing the European debt crisis, Congressman Kirk noted the serious challenges looming for America’s economy.

“Without fiscal conservatives in Washington to get spending under control, our little recovery could quickly return to crisis,” Congressman Kirk said. “The Greek debt crisis sent a warning to America. We must stop spending money we do not have. If we do not, our children will be forced to ask, who will bailout the United States?”

The congressman, known for his national security expertise, closed his remarks touching on three critical foreign policy challenges facing the United States: Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, drug cartel violence in Mexico and the rise of China as an economic and military power.

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, TA, can you Blog a bit from the lunch to let us know if any of those SEIU folks are outside picketing as they were the last time Mark spoke to the City Club? They are such an odd, vocal group with a mandate to do their best to be rude and rather off target whenever the Congressman appears in public forums. Rather classless, for sure, but they sure do make a lot of noise. I'll be anxious to hear your comments. I'm sure he'll have a comment or two about the Kagan nomination.

Anonymous said...

Kirk speech;

afghan drugs bad
environment good (I stopped BP)
suburbs good
Israel good
cut spending
stop corruption
grow small business
political independence
alexi more of the same

thanks for coming.

Mark does not need to comment on Kagan as long as thomas,alito,roberts and scalia are healthy. Stevens was a far left liberal so even if she gets in, she won't be as left as him, which is a win for the right.

He's better off not commenting on her because she's a woman and he's losing women voters to alexi right now.

The only time to be concerned is if a conservative or kennedy steps down during a democrat administration and that won't happen.

Anecdotally, stevens was recommended to President Ford by former 10th GOP and winnetka resident US senator Charles Percy (R-IL).

FOKLAEAPS

Anonymous said...

Also I wouldn't worry about jan, for all her feminism and women promotion, she hasn't had a lot to say about all the women getting crushed by state budget cuts and in the primary in a choice between endorsing a black woman and a young mobster male banker she went with.

not the black woman

the man.

and then she sold out poor women who want to have abortions with the deal she cut on health care.

FOKLAEAPS

Badge of Honor said...

Great to see you at the CCC lunch today TA. I thought Kird did a fantastic job - really showed the breadth of his knowledge, his ability to act in a bipartisan manner to get things done, and his committment to public service. The exchange with Burt Natarus was great. As he left maggianos I heard the former alderman say

"It's over. Kirk is going to run away this. "

I attended the Alexi lunch a few weeks ago and the contrast could not have been more sharp. Alexi whined about how the bank is not his fault and how bad Mark Kirk is."

Mark talked issues. Gave thoughtful answers to probing questions and looked very senatorial.

Oh and he didnt mention Alexi or his failed bank once - it was 2 hours of issues. Wonder how much coverage those issues are going to get in the MSM?

Anonymous said...

Thanks, TA and thanks BOH for your reviews of the City Club event today. I'm not amused by the whining voice of Alexi as he falsely accuses Mark Kirk of voting against Kagan. Shame on him. Kirk did not say that he wouldn't support her. He DID say that he'd go over her writings and her record before making a judgment. Poor Alexi, call the Beltone folks and get this guy a hearing aid. But we DO want him to stay in the race. As for the Natarus comment, just remember folks, this is still IL where the dead vote several times.

Anonymous said...

I nailed about 5 of his talking points. I am sure there was something about terrorism too. It's a long way to november and I don't count david axelrod out on winning this seat.

For those that did not attend, you can view the speech here, in maybe a week

http://blip.tv/file/3592917

meantime Alexi's talk is up. I recommend having a barf bag on hand.

FOKLAEAPS

Anonymous said...

===
“We also need to fix a growing weakness for Americans in science, math and engineering. We need to accelerate to protect our status as the world’s leading innovator.”
===

As far as p-r-i-o-r-i-t-i-e-s are concerned, this is a very strong message Conservatives should certainly be willing to consider.

Anonymous ?

Anonymous said...

I'm not in the habit of giving thanks to democrats but they did us a favor having the primary this early. Watching other conservatives, people far to the right of mark lose not to mention moderates it occurs to me that had the primary been later, even a moron like hughes could have come up and beaten him.

FOKLAEAPS