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Republican Congressman Mark Kirk is well ahead of his closest challenger in the race for the Republican Senate nomination in Illinois. GOP voters will pick their candidate on Tuesday. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Republican Primary voters in the state finds Kirk leading attorney Patrick Hughes 53% to 18%. Twelve percent (12%) prefer some other candidate, and 18% are still undecided. Conservatives have been critical of Kirk for some of his positions in the House, and Hughes, chairman of a group called Sensible Taxpayers Opposed to Increased Taxes, is challenging him from the political right. But 51%...

Architects of competing Senate climate change plans met Tuesday as behind-the-scenes talks continue over legislation that advocates of greenhouse gas limits are struggling to keep alive in 2010. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are trying to craft a compromise climate and energy bill, and they met in the afternoon with Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). Cantwell and Collins introduced a so-called cap-and-dividend approach in December. Kerry, Graham and Lieberman are hoping to blend emissions caps with energy provisions including expanded offshore drilling and new subsidies for nuclear power. “They [Cantwell and...

People of Illinois after witnessing the slaughter Senator Brown gave the chosen one for Ted's seat. Lets not have to go through the same stuff Hoffman did in New York. The plan is to make sure to tell everyone to vote Patrick Hughes and tell everyone that Kirk is nothing more then same as Pelosi. Below you will find he is the real conservative. Conservatives lets see this happen. And Thank You. On The Issues Fiscal Policy Our economy grows when private citizens and businesses are freed from unnecessary government intervention. Lower taxes, restrained government spending and the elimination of...

SPECIAL REPORT RFFM.org has learned U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk's first name and middle initial is really James T. That's right. The congressman from Illinois' 10th U.S. Congressional District is actually James T. Kirk, the Captain of the starship Enterprise. Captain Kirk is not really in the Navy Reserves, he's a member of the United Federation of Planets, as well as a member of Congress. There has been much speculation why Kirk has not been participating in any U.S. Senate debates which led to this RFFM.org special investigation. In reality, Kirk is on a dual mission. He's not only seeking the...

Sen. Lindsey Graham is ready to be the 60th Senate vote to get the climate change and energy bill passed, he told a Midlands audience Tuesday at Harbison State Forest. “Since they’ve got no Republicans but me, business is open,” Graham said. Graham has been criticized by his own party for pursuing bipartisan resolutions on such issues as illegal immigration and possible filibusters of judicial nominees. And he believes that the cap-and-trade bills being debated this year are another occasion to do so, he told the audience at a forestry conference hosted by the S.C. Wildlife Federation. He said he...

(CNN) - The Lexington County Republican Party in South Carolina voted late Monday to censure Sen. Lindsey Graham for his positions on several controversial issues, including his recent support for a compromise on cap-and-trade legislation. The Lexington GOP is now the second county party organization in a matter of months to censure Graham after Charleston County leaders approved a similar resolution in November. But unlike Charleston County, Lexington is one of the most conservative counties in South Carolina and is considered a bellwether of Republican sentiment in the state. The measure passed by a 13-7 vote after more than an...

Sens. Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman have been working overtime to craft a climate bill that can attract significant GOP support. But they aren’t exactly scoring points with their mutual best friend in the Senate, John McCain. “Their start has been horrendous,” McCain said Thursday. “Obviously, they’re going nowhere.” McCain has emerged as a vocal opponent of the climate bill — a major reversal for the self-proclaimed maverick who once made defying his party on global warming a signature issue of his career. (snip) Former aides are mystified by what they see as a retreat on the issue, given McCain’s...

WASHINGTON (CNN) - An energy advocacy group is launching another television ad in South Carolina taking aim at Sen. Lindsey Graham for his support of energy legislation that would include a cap-and-trade program. The 30-second spot is the latest salvo in an ongoing campaign against the Republican by the American Energy Alliance, a group funded in part by oil and gas companies that has spent roughly $375,000 over the last month knocking Graham on South Carolina's radio and TV airwaves. The newest ad comes one week after Graham was censured by the Charleston County Republican Party for supporting the legislation,...

During two heated Democratic challenges, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk of Highland Park was targeted by millions of dollars in TV ads painting him as a far right Republican in his north suburban district. Much of the time, it was the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee paying for and writing those ads. Kirk spent millions of dollars himself on ads to cultivate a moderate, independent brand in the 10th District. Now it seems the DCCC agrees with him. DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen said during a C-SPAN interview Sunday that Kirk is a "moderate," contradicting his own organizations efforts to paint him...

WASHINGTON — When it comes to combating global warming, Sen. Lindsey Graham is right where he loves to be — ahead of the curve, in the mix on a major issue, at the table for high-level, bipartisan talks behind closed doors. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is working with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to craft a climate change bill. They face the dual challenge of overcoming widespread GOP opposition and withstanding relentless attacks by Big Oil and allied energy interests. "Our goal is to create a vision that not only will...

Even before a Senate committee could begin marking up the "Kerry-Boxer" climate bill, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) himself announced a new "track" of negotiations over climate policy that makes his original bill look somewhat irrelevant. Kerry, appearing at the U.S. Capitol with Sens. Lindsay O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), said the three legislators would work with business groups and the White House to forge a compromise climate measure that could get 60 votes in the Senate. These negotiations would be separate from the work that six different Senate committees are doing on climate legislation, including the...

(snip) U.S. leadership is crucial. That is why I am encouraged by the spirit of compromise shown in the bipartisan initiative announced last week by John Kerry and Lindsey Graham. Here was a pair of U.S. senators — one Republican, the other Democratic — coming together to bridge their parties’ differences to address climate change in a spirit of genuine give-and-take. We cannot afford another period where the United States stands on the sidelines. An engaged United States can lead the world to seal a deal to combat climate change in Copenhagen. An indecisive or insufficiently engaged United States will...

Politics: Move over, John McCain and Olympia Snowe. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is fast becoming the Democrats' favorite Republican as he partners with John Kerry to push cap-and-trade through the Senate. Earlier this year, eight Republican congressmen made it possible for Waxman-Markey, the 1,400-page job- and economy-killing cap-and-trade legislation, to barely pass the House of Representatives. At the time it seemed dead on arrival in the Senate if it was brought up there this year. Once again, as with their medical plan, the Democrats seek to better the odds by putting a GOP hood ornament on a Democratic clunker....

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who has long resisted climate change legislation, has joined the ranks of those pushing for a bipartisan agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions. We welcome his change of heart. Mr. Graham has sensibly decided that it helps neither the planet, the country nor his party to block efforts to solve the problem of global warming. . . . . . Mr. Graham’s conversion could encourage Senator John McCain and Maine’s Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins — all past supporters of climate change legislation — to come forward again, and it could attract fence-sitters...

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime friend and ally of Sen. John McCain, is now going a step further, Democrats say, and actually becoming the new McCain. Senior members of the majority party say the South Carolina Republican has displaced his Arizona mentor as the dealmaker on two big agenda items of the Obama administration: climate change and immigration. As McCain, on the heels of his presidential election defeat, has distanced himself from Democrats, Graham has moved in to fill the vacuum.

On August 26th, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-10th District) was one of eight Republicans who voted for a bill commonly called Cap and Trade. HR2454 officially titled, the "American Clean Energy and Security Act" passed the House of Representatives, but has yet to be considered by the U.S. Senate. The legislation passed by a total of seven votes. Indeed, without the support of these eight Republicans, the Cap and Trade bill would not have passed in the House. The Republicans who voted for Cap and Trade have come under a great deal of criticism. In fact, the bill is so...

August 30, 2009 (GLENVIEW, Ill.) (WLS) -- Republican Congressman Mark Kirk received a big endorsement Sunday in his bid for the U.S. Senate. Former presidential candidate and current Arizona Sen. John McCain was in the Chicago area to help give Kirk's campaign a financial and political boost. Kirk is among more than six people who have announced their candidacy for the February 2nd GOP nomination, all hoping to take the seat that will be given up by appointed Democratic Sen. Roland Burris. The Senate seat is one Republicans want badly. So, voters are likely to see the national Republican Party...

(snip) “The people of Illinois deserve a senator who will restore honest government, strengthen our national security, fight for veterans and bring fiscal discipline to Washington,” McCain, an Arizona senator, said in a statement. “Mark Kirk has my strongest endorsement.”(snip)

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk will land the high-profile endorsement of Sen. John McCain in his early Republican bid for Senate at a suburban event on Sunday. The former GOP presidential candidate from Arizona is set to hold a news conference with Kirk in Glenview and then a fundraiser expected to bring in half a million dollars, according to Kirk's campaign office. The endorsement comes early in the GOP primary. Petitions to get on the ballot won't even be filed until November. But Kirk has locked in praise early from key Republican leaders who hope to propel the North Shore representative...

Below, release from Kirk.... McCain to Endorse Kirk at Veterans Gathering in Glenview McCain: "The people of Illinois deserve a Senator who will restore honest government, strengthen our national security, fight for veterans and bring fiscal discipline to Washington. Mark Kirk has my strongest endorsement." Who: Congressman Mark Kirk Senator John McCain When: 4:00 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30 Where: Glenview Park Center, Lakeview A Room 2400 Chestnut Ave. Glenview, IL What: Senator John McCain will endorse Congressman Mark Kirk for U.S. Senate at a veterans gathering in Glenview on Sunday afternoon. Kirk, an early supporter of McCain's presidential bid during...