Jeff Wartman

Over the last two days, both the Daily Herald and Chicago Sun-Times have written important endorsements of Congressman Mark Kirk in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

From the Daily Herald:

Not only is Rep. Mark Kirk of Highland Park by far the most qualified in the GOP field, he would be the most formidable candidate Republicans could offer in the November general election. Put simply: Kirk could win; it is debatable whether any of the other five candidates could.

I don’t think it’s debatable at all – no other candidate in the Republican primary can win the general election.  Period.

The Herald continues…

He’s an intelligent, hardworking independent who strives to model bipartisan ethics in a system that is choking on its partisanship. In 10 years, he’s become a leader among Republican moderates in the House, chairing their Tuesday Group get-togethers. Morton Kondracke, executive editor of Roll Call, described him well as “one of Congress’ most effective moderates.”

He has been a leader on Capitol Hill in rejecting the outrageous congressional practice of earmark spending and has fought for fiscal sanity in government spending.

As a Naval Reserve intelligence officer, Kirk has keen insights into the stakes in Afghanistan and the war on terror and an ability to articulate them that few other politicians can match.

As for those political assailants who ignore the record and try to smear Kirk as a Democrat in Republican clothing, consider this: If that were true, why have Democratic national officials worked so hard to try time and again to unseat him in the 10th Congressional District?

While it’s true that many reactionary Republicans will oppose Congressman Kirk based on a small amount of fringe issues, the fact of the matter remains that Congresman Kirk has been helping to lead the fight to oppose the Democrats national takeover of health care, reduce the deficit, cut taxes, and keep our country safe.

The choice is simple:  do we want to elect a legislator with proven results in Washington, or do we want to lose?  Most of the other candidates for U.S. Senate here in Illinois are good people, and good Republicans.  However, Mark Kirk is the only Republican in Illinois that can win.  His Republican values will serve us well in the United States Senate.

Furthermore, there is another reason that the election of Mark Kirk to the U.S. Senate would be positive — it would push back on the Democrats national talking points.  For the last decade, Democrats have been trying to portray the Republican Party as moving far to the extreme conservative right wing.  However, electing a responsible moderate Republican like Mark Kirk should prove to the media and the rest of the county that those of us active in the Republican Party believe in a big tent party and reject small minded purity tests.