Senator Mark Kirk marked the anniversary of his first year in the U.S. Senate with a floor speech reflecting on the challenges and successes of the past year.
h/t Lynn Sweet.
We'd like to reflect as well on the tough battle we fought to put Kirk in the Senate, from the testy primary all the way through the general election fight against our old friend and B-Ball player Alexi Giannoulias. Thanks to all the Team America supporters who helped out.
Five more years like this, please.
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4 comments:
Surprised he didn't announce he won some award as Sargent At Arms of the Year for the Senate's War Room.
That is a pathetic comment.
1:09 - Shame on you. At least he's working and getting things accomplished.
First year senators don't do a whole lot and it hasn't really been a year because senators don't get their offices until mid spring unlike house members who get them the weekend before they are sworn in so the expectations aren't that high.
I'd give him a B+ on the foreign affairs stuff, he's playing with more fire than he realizes on the arab spring element. It's a major gamble to bet big on handing over countries like tunisia, libya and egypt to general populations with no tradition of democracy where the United States and Israel poll at 5 percent positive 93 percent negative. Iran has been his strongest work as a Senator.
Domestic wise I'd go B- the big thing that sticks out for me is Durbin. Someone seems to have told him that his domestic agenda should be 85 percent cheerleading what Durbin does, 5 percent what he thinks will avert a conservative primary in 5 years and 10 percent what he actually believes. He needs to get out of the habit of thinking he's Durbin light and make his own stand on his own issues. He needs to have a weekend retreat with a range of his staff people/business/academic/think tank types from his dc and state teams plus people throughout the state and say what do I want to spend my first term and longer focused on trying to do as a US Senator. What are the problems in the state, the country I want to focus on and then make it his mission to be that guy.
He never did that as a congressman on domestic issues and it's in part why in his last 4 years he was fighting for his life against a pup and why he struggled in his senate race. Porter had boosting research and science and the environment. Durbin has consumer issues and whatever the machine tells him to do/whatever is popular at the moment. Fitzgerald had ag and rule of law stuff. Al D'Amato had potholes. Ted Kennedy had education and personal excessive libation procurement. Al Gore had the environment and violence in the media when he was a senator. the senator needs to find some major domestic and state issues and own them, Durbin light is not what we signed on for. More bonus points if it drives catwoman nuts.
FOKLAES
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