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U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk was hospitalized with a stroke over the weekend and underwent surgery today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, his office said. Kirk, 52, captured President Barack Obama’s old U.S. Senate seat in a close 2010 election against Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.

In November 2016, Illinois voters will go to the polls to decide who they want to occupy the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Sen. Mark Kirk. And although it is a long way off, could one of the names on the ticket be first lady Michelle Obama? At the end of this weekend’s broadcast of “The McLaughlin Group,” show host John McLaughlin made that bold prediction, saying a Michelle Obama run for the seat her husband won in 2004 would happen. “Michelle Obama will run for the United States Senate in 2016 and she will be thereby mimicking,...

Just go to this link (http://www.c-span.org/Events/Senator-Mark-Kirk-R-IL/10737426166-1/) and watch it.

SNIP But if you’re thinking about deep-frying your bird this year, William Shatner has some advice for you. And he has put it in the form of this very odd public service announcement, sponsored by State Farm insurance. Please remember to use the dingle-dangle.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk supported Osama bin Laden’s burial at sea, and he said the White House owed Americans and the foreign media some proof he was dead. “They should release a photo or two,” said Kirk on Monday at a news conference at O’Hare. “While grisly, it will confirm he’s dead. The media is rough in the Islamic world.” Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110502/news/705029714/#ixzz1LFxbTutW

Though Mr. Kirk and other Republicans thundered against pork-barrel spending and lawmakers’ practice of designating money for special projects through earmarks, they have not shied from using a less-well-known process called lettermarking to try to direct money to projects in their home districts. Mr. Kirk, for example, sent a letter to the Department of Education dated Sept. 10, 2009, asking it to release money “needed to support students and educational programs” in a local school district. The letter was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the group Citizens Against Government Waste, which shared it with The New York...

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden, the gaffe-prone vice president, strayed from tradition Monday at the swearing-in of Republican Mark Kirk, the new senator from Illinois. Biden, who is president of the Senate, began by instructing Kirk: "Please place your right hand on the Bible." Kirk, a Republican, did as instructed, putting his right hand on the Good Book and raising his left.

When Mark Kirk is sworn in this afternoon, the U.S. Senate will once again have no African-Americans. Since Reconstruction, there have only been four black senators. Three of them -- Carol Moseley Braun, Barack Obama and Roland Burris -- have held the seat that Kirk is about to occupy. For reasons that go back more than a century, all the way to the First Great Migration from the South, Illinois has led the nation in black political empowerment. We’ve elected more black statewide officials than anyone else. We produced the first black president. And it was a matter of pride...

The Junior Senator for Illinois is due to be sworn in tomorrow, after 2 weeks of stonewalling and delays by the Illinois Democratic machine. (Kirk won Obama's old seat in the Nov. 2 election.) After tomorrow, that will then put the Republicans at 42 Senators, right?

Senator-elect Mark Kirk, R-Ill., is one of three senators elected Nov. 2 to fill seats vacated by individuals who joined the Obama administration. Illinois law requires that Kirk assume his office immediately following the election, but unnamed state officials say Kirk can't be sworn in until Nov. 29 due to "paperwork" delays. Kirk, who replaces Democratic appointee Roland Burris, won his election after promising to be a Republican vote against any attempts by Democrats to pass radical legislation during the lame duck session of Congress. The lame duck session that opens Nov. 15 gives shellacked Democrats two final weeks to...

Here we go again.  The same vicious cycle seems to repeat itself ad nauseum.  We become all excited about the prospects of picking up Senate seats during the election.  Then, within a few days these RINOs return to their old ways.  The Hill is reporting that Mark Kirk is considering whether to vote with the Democrats and support the unconstitutional Disclose Act.  Even though he voted against this particular bill while he was in the House, he is showing willingness to sell himself out to liberal special interest groups that are pressuring RINOs to support this legislation.  Here is what...

Kirk to miss part of lame-duck sessionUpdated at 11:36 AM today November 6, 2010 (SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) -- Illinois Republican Mark Kirk won't be seated in the U.S. Senate in time for the start of the lame duck session of Congress this month -- unlike two other newly elected senators. The session begins Nov. 15. But state officials say the paperwork officially declaring Kirk the winner of the Senate race won't be delivered until Nov. 29. That should still allow Kirk to participate in two weeks of the session in December. He argued strongly during the campaign that voters needed to...

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.

Sestak is doing much worse than I anticipated; Kirk looks like he may squeak it out but Toomey may be a goner. What happened?

~~~~snip~~~~ Then the topic of the Illinois Senate race came up and the guys just absolutely tore into Alexi Giannoulias. They called him a crook, said he was in the mob, talked about Broadway Bank funding organized crime in Illinois, then laughed about Alexi being — and I quote directly — “Obama’s butt buddy”. Peals of laughter followed, with much snorting and sqealing as various hand and arm gestures accompanied their commentary on the Obama-Giannoulias relationship. The men all said they were voting for Mark Kirk and Bill Brady…despite all the “Brady is a Bigot” ads around Boystown, prominently displayed...

Join us as Pavel learns how Democrats mislead the voters through direct mail, both statewide, and in neighborhoods like Illinois’ 54th state representative district… ... “What’s on your mind, Pavel?” Pavel handed him the flyer. It was a full size, full-color brochure with Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Mike Labno on both sides, slamming Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk for voting for “Cap and Trade.” Inside, it presented Kirk’s and Labno’s respective positions, then closed with a plug for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias. The return address was that of the Lake County Democratic Party. The Boss chuckled. “Yup,...

Labno calls Kirk a 'Fiscal Pigeon'

U.S. Senate candidates Alexi Giannoulias and Mark Kirk both say they want tougher enforcement of U.S. border security, but they disagree on what to do with immigrants who are already in the country illegally. Giannoulias wants to move forward with a broad plan to legalize illegal immigrants across the country. Kirk says any such reform attempt must wait while Congress focuses on ensuring the integrity of the U.S.- Mexico border.

2010 Illinois Candidates - Gun Owners Of America

CHICAGO– Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk is just one of several Republicans running in down-to-the-wire races, but unlike his compatriots is enjoying mixed support from his party's fundraising arms. The North Shore congressman has pulled into a narrow lead over Democratic Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias in the campaign's final week, according to the latest poll from the Chicago Tribune. But Kirk's three point lead falls within the poll's margin of error. Kirk has been left out in many fundraising conservative circles. The Senate Conservatives Fund has raised more than $5.4 million for candidates in the nation's most competitive senate races,...

HERE is the link to the page that has the nice, brief, 2 minute streaming video report. Japanese reporter and camera crew are following Tea Party Express. They could videotape them in (apparantly cold) Illinois.Report said the Tea Party members call Obama a SOCIALIST.Main point of the Japanese story was it said that Obama is in big trouble even in his home state of Illinois by the conservative grassroots movement "Tea Party" which has taken off in the USA, indicative by enthusiastic and large crowds wherever this Tea Party Express goes.They interviewed some of the Tea Partiers and let their...

<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>

Giannoulias admits to dirty trick with third-party campaign in IL « Hot Air

below, from Labno.... Mike Labno, Libertarian Candidate for US Senate (IL) Responds to Partial Senatorial Debate Organizes Protest of Debate OAK BROOK, IL - OCTOBER 27, 2010 The Mike Labno, Libertarian candidate for the US and Lex Green, Libertarian candidate for Illinois Governor, as well as Green Party and Independent candidates are being excluded from the WTTW "Chicago Tonight" candidate forums for Senator and Governor, tonight and tomorrow evenings, hosted by the City Club of Chicago. We believe that WTTW, as a public station, is in breach of it's statutory mandate regarding "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all...

A mailer landing in Downstate mailboxes promotes Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Mike Labno as “the only pro-Life, pro-Gun candidate for U.S. Senate.” Only the mailer doesn’t appear to come from Labno’s campaign. A line on the flier claims it’s paid for by “Illinois Victory, a project of the Lake County Democratic Party.” State Sen. Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) heads up the Lake County Democratic Party, which he said has no “Illinois Victory” project. Link said he had never heard of the mailer until told of it by the Sun-Times Tuesday night. Supporters of Democratic Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias have unofficially...

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Click here to download Flyer Pdf

ay 18, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Republican Illinois Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk said Tuesday he opposes Arizona's new immigration law, taking a stand contrary to the conservative wing of his party. Kirk's stand comes in the wake of the flap at Highland Park High School where the girls' basketball team was stopped from attending a tournament in Arizona. Even though Highland Park High School lies within his 10th Congressional District, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk held his first news conference Tuesday since the Arizona trip controversy erupted last week. Kirk believes student athletes should not be...

By Jonathan Weisman Illinois Democrats are using the long-shot candidacy of libertarian Mike Labno to peel off conservative voters in the southern end of the state from Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk. A flier obtained by Washington Wire appears to be a Labno promotion. The first page is a picture of Rep. Kirk, asking “Congressman Mark Kirk, not a conservative?” with a quote from Mr. Labno questioning Mr. Kirk’s political beliefs. The next panel touts “Conservative Mike Labno” as “the only pro-life, pro-gun candidate for U.S. Senate.” It then portrays Mr. Kirk as a tax hiker who voted for President...

The U.S. Senate contest in Illinois could go down to the wire as Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi Giannoulias are still running close headed into the campaign's final week, a new Tribune/WGN poll shows. Kirk held a 44 percent to 41 percent advantage over Giannoulias, but the slight edge fell within the poll's 3.7 percentage-point margin of error. Another 7 percent were undecided — a key category of voters both parties are spending millions of dollars to sway with President Barack Obama's former Senate seat on the line in a nationally significant contest. Despite the statistical tightness of the...

Mike Labno didn't have to read the stock tables to feel disgust over the government's economic approach. Two years ago, Labno lost his job in construction around the same time lawmakers were approving a bailout for banks. The outrage Labno feltstarted him down the path to becoming the Libertarian Party's candidate for U.S. Senate. Labno bills himself as the only true conservative in the race and frequently casts digs at Republican nominee Mark Kirk, so much so that Democrat Alexi Giannoulias has actively boosted Labno's candidacy. Labno, a first-time political candidate from Oak Brook, said the bailout convinced him that...

Despite all efforts to convince principled voters that they must sacrifice their own convictions because so few will actually exercise theirs, some will stand up on November 2, 2010. The cynical party apparatus depends on apathy and voter laziness combined with the groupthink they nurture to corral voters into one of two cattle chutes. The arguments have merit, but are not necessarily convincing. The attempts to belittle and insult those who care are not hitting all their targets. Regardless of the efforts of and on behalf of the politically powerful, there is an alternative to the two worthless liberals presented...

The Illinois Republican Party and the Mark Kirk for U.S. Senate campaign announced a project to fight vote fraud in the 2010 election. Since the state of Illinois includes Chicago, East St. Louis, and several other locales that are world famous for vote fraud, this makes perfect sense. Immediately the race-baiting left screamed racism. “There are African-Americans in Chicago and East St. Louis! Those Republicans must be racist!”… and they thought that surely the mere mention of this demographic would win the day for the left yet again, as that baseless charge so often does, obscuring the real issues to...

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FUN AND GAMES) "September 19, 2007 Rudolph Giuliani is raising campaign cash in London. Only U.S. citizens and green-card holders can legally give to U.S. campaigns. But Giuliani, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are all holding events for Americans living in the British Isles. ROBERT SIEGEL, host: Today, Republican Rudolf Giuliani campaigned for the White House in England. Tonight he's got a lecture and dinner with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. But in this cash-craze race for the White House, he also did something no other presidential candidate has ever done: He held a fundraiser on...

Download Pdf Flyer Who is US Senate Candidate Mike Labno?

Republican Congressman Mark Kirk is now barely ahead of Democrat Alexi Giannoulias in Illinois’ up-and-down race for the U.S. Senate. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Kirk picking up 44% of the vote, while Giannoulias, the current state treasurer, draws 40% support. Green Party candidate LeAlan Jones earns the vote from four percent (4%) of voters, and eight percent (8%) prefer some other candidate. Five percent (5%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) The race is still a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings. The survey...

At a get-out-the-vote gathering Sunday morning at a Bronzeville restaurant, Congressman Danny Davis responded to U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk's suggestion to Republican activists that voter integrity squads be on site for voting in Chicago's black neighborhoods, which tend to vote Democratic. "Rep. Kirk thinks something will happen to his vote in these neighborhoods," Davis said. "Well, I'm here to tell him he's not getting any votes here. My question is why would he target areas that historically vote Democrat?" Vote drive Recently, without his knowledge, Kirk was caught on tape saying, "I have now funded the largest voter integrity...

POLITICO just dropped a bombshell with a story Sunday evening about a leaked email written by Mark Kirk to his campaign manager Eric Elk on November 3, 2009. Full story: Kirk feared attack from right. POLITICO says the email came from a Democratic operative who in turn claims to have received it from “someone close to Kirk’s inner circle.” Could a certain “Svengali figure” be involved somehow? We just don’t know. In any case, the email and its instructions reflect some panic on Kirk’s part going into the campaign season for the February Primary. Kirk’s email was sent just a...

Stufflebeam Endorses Michael Labno

... The board of the ISRA Fed PAC finds it unfortunate that neither of the major political parties could field a suitable candidate for U.S. Senate. Democrat candidate Alexi Giannoulias is an entrenched member of the Daley/Obama Chicago Machine who has shown no indication that he is sensitive to the issues facing law-abiding hunters and sportsmen. Republican candidate Mark Kirk has a long standing history of open hostility towards lawful firearm owners. Kirk's most recent legislative attacks on firearm owners includes sponsorship of a federal law to ban semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns and co-sponsorship of a federal law that...

Tune in to live Illinois US Senate debate tonight on V103 FM, 7:00-8:30 P.M. There will also be a live video feed @ http://www.v103.com/main.html V103 - Today's R&B & Old School - WVAZ-FM Chicago www.v103.com

According to the U.S. Justice Department, some counties in Illinois may have missed the deadline for mailing absentee ballots to members of the military and other overseas American voters as part of a new federal overseas voting law. At least one county has already admitted its military ballots were not mailed by the September deadline. St. Clair County Clerk Bob Delaney says absentee ballots to military personnel didn’t get mailed in time because they were waiting on a court decision as to whether the Constitution Party candidates would be on the ballot. Top Republicans, as expected, wasted no time flooding...

<p>California incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer spent some time today with CNN's Wolf Blitzer straightening out her arithmetic. Boxer is in a toss-up race with GOP challenger and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.</p> <p>"I voted for over $2 trillion of tax cuts, the largest one was in the stimulus bill," Boxer said. Blitzer, confused, thought she meant $2 trillion in the stimulus, when she meant over her career.</p>

Democratic operatives have apparently begun “push polling” in Illinois, trying to drive a wedge between conservative voters and Rep. Mark Kirk,... According to people who have heard it, the call talks up Libertarian candidate Mike Labno as the only true “pro-life” candidate in a race that also includes Democratic State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Green Party candidate LeAlan Jones. It also referred to Kirk’s vote last year for Obama-backed legislation capping carbon emissions and setting up a system for polluters to trade greenhouse gas emissions credits. The poll “asked how likely are you to vote…for governor, if today who…for Senate,...

First lady Michelle Obama was introduced in the University Club’s Cathedral Room Wednesday to a standing ovation from the approximately 200 donors in attendance. She hugged Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, who stood behind her left shoulder as she delivered her speech. “I am thrilled to be back home in my home town, Chicago,” Obama said. “I get to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

Alexander Giannoulias (D) 41 11% Mark Kirk (R) 229 63% LeAlan Jones (G) 4 1% Mike Labno (L) 90 25%

Even in Illinois we still have 2nd Amendment rights. This Saturday help send Mike Labno to Washington, and make sure you'll still be able to keep and bear arms in defense of yourself, your family, and your liberties. Come on out to: Maxon's shooting range, 1226 Rand Rd (between Golf Rd & Seegers Rd) Des Plaines, IL 60016 from 7-9:00 PM. Bring your handgun or long gun (but no black powder, please) and shoot as a guest of the Labno-for-Senator campaign. Maxon's can fix you up with ammo, and eye and ear protection, or bring your own. See you...

Who do you support for U.S. Senate in Illinois in 2010? - Topix

Mike Labno may be the Libertarian nominee for the U.S. Senate, but he’s not a libertarian. Real libertarians don’t think the government should spend money on anything but roads, police and the army. But Labno, a 39-year-old construction manager from Oak Brook, was unemployed for 16 months during the recession, so he’s unwilling to pull the safety net out from other people who were “screwed” by government decisions. Labno also opposes abortion and repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, two other positions that put him out of tune with classic libertarianism. He’s a right-wing populist, which actually makes him a better...

We haven’t written as much about Illinois as some other Senate contests — but it may be taking on an increasingly important role as some other races that had once looked to be competitive, like Connecticut and Missouri, now show a clearer advantage for one or another party. The race in Illinois has long been within the margin of error in most polls; our forecasting model last week characterized it as a near-tie, with the Republican Mark Kirk projected to win by 0.4 points over Democrat Alexi Giannoulias. What’s unusual about Illinois is the number of voters committed to minor-party...