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(VIDEO AT LINK) Former Governor Mitt Romney has kept a high profile throughout the midterm election season endorsing and fundraising for GOP candidates, an effort that some analysts say has established his position as frontrunner for Republican nomination in 2012. Romney hasn’t escaped President Obama’s attention – and in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview last night, Obama compared his health care plan to Romney’s and practically announced Romney’s candidacy. Obama weighed the political costs of health care reform and said Republicans didn’t cooperate as much as he had hoped they would. “We thought that if we shaped a bill that...

Sen.-elect Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) could buck his Republican leadership in his first two weeks on the job and vote in favor of a campaign-finance transparency bill that the GOP’s top brass ardently oppose.

 Watchdogs are pushing for a vote on a stripped-down version of a campaign finance bill during the upcoming lame-duck session. That version of the legislation would force groups bankrolled by anonymous donors to disclose the sources of their funding, as well as their political spending. Advocates for greater limits on campaign finance have been eyeing Kirk, as well as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), as two possible votes...

GOP's Kirk wins Obama's old seatFrom the NBC News political team Republican Mark Kirk is NBC's projected winner of the Illinois Senate race, snatching the seat that former Sen. Barack Obama held in Illinois. Kirk defeated Obama ally Alexi Giannoulias. Giannoulias struggled to overcome reports that his family's failed bank made loans to known criminals. The president and the first lady both made stops in the state to try to boost the Democrat. **SNIP** The victory for Kirk gives Republicans a net gain of five Senate seats so far tonight.

Saturday, October 30, 2010 Abortion rights groups play both sides in IL U.S. Senate race Abortion rights groups far surpass pro-life groups in campaign contributions to political candidates, OpenSecrets.org writes today.  It's pretty troubling and discouraging for pro-lifers in Illinois that both of their U.S. Senate candidates are on the list of the nation's top 20 biggest abortion dollar recipients in 2010.  So, no matter who's elected November 2 -- Mark Kirk or Alexi Giannoulias -- the abortion industry will be happy.  OpenSecrets.org also lists the top 20 candidates getting prolife group backing, of which three from Illinois are included: former U.S. Senate candidate...

Kirk siphons away black minister By DAVID CATANESE | 10/25/10 2:10 PM EDT Updated: 10/26/10 12:46 PM EDT The Rev. Willie Wilson, a nationally prominent black pastor, announced his backing of Rep. Mark Kirk in the Illinois Senate race Monday, bucking his long tradition of supporting Democrats and splitting his endorsements at the top of the state ballot. Willie Wilson, a nationally prominent black pastor, announced his backing of Rep. Mark Kirk (shown) in the Illinois Senate race Monday. Wilson’s blessing is meant to signal to black voters that the Republican candidate is an acceptable option in one of...

<p>CHICAGO (AP) - Republican Mark Kirk says the Bush administration lied to him about the evidence for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.</p> <p>Kirk voted to invade Iraq and said he was morally certain Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.</p>

"Down one road is extremism -- where Roe v. Wade is overturned and being a moderate is a curse" says Charlie Crist in his new ad. "That's the road Sarah Palin, the Tea Party and Marco Rubio want to take us down."

Republican Congressman Mark Kirk is now leading Democrat Alexi Giannoulias in Illinois’ up-and-down race for the former U.S. Senate seat of President Barack Obama, according to the latest Rasmussen poll. While this is one of the key races that could enable Republicans to take control of the Senate, a no less important, but symbolic, element of the race is that Obama could see his own once seemingly safe seat fall into GOP hands. It would be one more blow to his midterm fortunes. With Roland Burris – who was appointed to see out the president’s term by controversial Governor Rod...

What does Illinois Tea Party candidate Michael Labno have to do to get some attention around here? Does he have to be more like Christine O’Donnell: should he make some bizarre comment about meatballs, get caught buying vibrators and boil some frogs? Or does he have to be more like Illinois Republican candidate Mark Kirk: shall he create an imaginary life story where he single-handedly killed Osama bin Laden with his .50 caliber sniper rifle, was awarded a medal of honor and then devoted his life to reading fairytales to nursery school students? On October 5, 2010, Rasmussen Reports announced...

Voters have starkly negative views of both candidates, each of whom has struggled in the campaign with stories that have hurt them. (Giannoulias had to spend time dealing with questions about the dealings of his family's bank, which ultimately failed, and Kirk had to acknowledge embellishing on his military service record). Forty-seven percent see Kirk unfavorably compared to 33 percent who regard him favorably, with 20 percent undecided. Giannoulias is seen unfavorably by a 48 percent to 33 percent margin, with 20 percent undecided. In mid-August, 34 percent had seen Kirk unfavorably and 42 percent saw Giannoulias unfavorably which suggests...

September 18, 2010 (HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.) (WLS) -- Thousands of conservatives and Tea Party supporters gathered for a rally in the suburbs Saturday. The Sears Center in Hoffman Estates was host to "Right Nation 2010." The headline speaker was cable news commentator Glenn Beck. Also on the speakers list was Republican nominee for Illinois governor and State Sen. Bill Brady. There had originally been reports that Brady would skip the event. Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk was not attending. Saturday's gathering comes just days after Tea Party-supported candidates won primary elections in several states. Approximately 5,500 people purchased tickets for...

The political resiliency of the climate eight has convinced some observers that the next Congress might even offer a kinder landscape for passing climate legislation. If Castle and Kirk ascend to the Senate, the chamber might have more moderate Republicans willing to join Democrats on cap and trade, says Rob Sisson, president of Republicans for Environmental Protection.

Andy Martin analyses the undisputed “facts” of Mark Kirk’s alleged “drowning” and suggests that no sensible person could believe Kirk’s own version of the facts. “We are drowning in Mark Kirk’s lies,” Martin says. Read Andy’s analysis of Kirk’s undisputed “facts” and decide for yourself. Andy Martin takes a closer look at Mark Kirk’s “drowning” episode and finds more questions than the Chicago Tribune Martin suggests Kirk’s own version of the story displays a “Tarzan” complex or, worse, a teenage suicide attempt “No rational person can believe Kirk’s own ‘undisputed’ facts Martin says “Factually Correct, Not Politically Correct” FOR IMMEDIATE...

U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk called for new measures Thursday to limit federal spending, including giving the president the power to veto specific programs. The Illinois Republican also said he would back a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget and a “super-majority” vote before Congress could approve excess spending.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman said this afternoon that if elected governor, she would defend Proposition 8, which prohibits same-sex marriage, by appealing a recent federal court ruling declaring the proposition unconstitutional. Whitman made her clearest stand to date on the issue while speaking at the warehouse of Solar Gard Window Film in San Diego, hours before she's scheduled to address the California Republican Party's convention downtown. During a brief news conference, the Bee asked Whitman whether she would defend Proposition 8 if elected governor. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has taken up the issue after Chief Judge...

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), the GOP's nominee for the Illinois Senate seat formerly held by President Obama, has now stated his support for the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan, and that he would vote to confirm her if he were in the Senate right now. The move is seemingly a part of Kirk's effort to appeal to voters in the center, having worked hard to present himself as a moderate and independent-minded Republican. "With regard to Solicitor General Kagan, I would support her nomination. Ms. Kagan appears to be modest and thoughtful not because she expected this nomination but...

The following open letter from Laurie Higgins to Illinois Republican Party leadership is posted below by RFFM.org with Mrs. Higgins permission. Higgins appeals to GOP leaders, urging Mark Kirk to bow out of the Senate race "for the good of the party." Higgins joins a growing chorus of conservatives who believe Kirk should be encouraged to do what's best for not only Illinois Republicans, but the integrity of the political process as well. Laurie Higgins is an influential pro-family activist and a widely read columnist. Higgins has a background as an educator. Her articles and columns have been published across...

In a move that could burnish his credentials as a “moderate” Republican, Senate candidate Mark Kirk announced Friday that he supports President Obama’s choice of Elena Kagan for the U.S. Supreme Court. "Under the Constitution, only the President can make this nomination and Solicitor General Kagan is one of the more careful nominees he could have picked,” Kirk said. Only two Republican senators have publicly declared so far that they are voting for Kagan. The vote will be over by the time Kirk would take his senate seat. But his announcement that he would support her makes it harder for...

Illinois conservative Republicans have a national dilemma mounting right before their eyes. The Hill wrote yesterday that the GOP's Mark Kirk is part of an effort to weaken conservative influence in the U.S. Senate

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is backing away from a key immigration proposal she advanced in this spring's competitive GOP primary after farmers and other business interests expressed displeasure with her idea. As she campaigned this spring, Whitman said she would send state and local officials into California businesses to look for illegal immigrants – her own version of federal immigration workplace inspections. But her campaign now says she would wait to act until the federal government institutes a "fail-safe" way for employers to verify workers' status – an effort that has been more than a decade in the making....