NBC Wonders: FLOTUS For Senate?

NBC Chicago ponders:

FLOTUS for Senate? It wasn't that long ago that such a slogan would seem absurd, but political wags are beginning to wonder whether Michelle Obama is mulling a run for Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk's seat in 2016. A Thursday column in Reuters suggests that Obama would be the only candidate with a large enough profile to unseat the Republican. It's not the first time Obama has been mentioned as a potential senatorial candidate, but that speculation has always focused beyond 2016. And the First Lady herself has never publicly indicated any interest in seeking political office. There's also that 2012 Public Polling Policy survey showing the first lady picking up 51 percent of the vote against Kirk's 40 percent if they were to run. Your move, FLOTUS.

From the Reuters article:

First Lady Michelle Obama is everywhere. She’s traveling to China. She’s raising money for Democrats. She’s issuing plaintive tweets seeking the rescue of the kidnapped Nigerian girls. She’s wading uncharacteristically deep into the Washington political mud pit to defend her school lunch program against Republicans, assailing them last Tuesday for opting to “play politics with our kids’ health.” She struck a similar tone in a New York Times op-ed two days later, accusing Republicans of trying to “override science” and suggesting they join parents and “put our children’s interests first.” So what’s with the bolder profile? Sure, Obama cares strongly about the things she is doing. That she does care in fact begs another question: Is caring all that’s going on here? Does she have political ambitions that would allow her to pursue an agenda while working to cement her husband’s legacy?

RELATED: Last year Kirk became one of three sitting GOP senators to endorse same-sex marriage.

Christian Hate Group Is Super Very Angry About Losing Senate Meeting Space

"It is shocking that a United States Senator would bow to pressure from these militants and refuse to facilitate the discussion of vital issues affecting children, family, life, and the economy. Groups like HRC have set themselves up as arbiters of what may or may not be discussed at public forums. Instead of meeting us in the marketplace of ideas, they take the low road of smears and intimidation, seeking to foreclose the healthy debate that's vital to a democracy. The Congress is part of the United States government, and - as such - should be open to all points of view. What other groups would HRC like to keep from exercising their First Amendment rights in this regard - the Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, most African-American churches, all of which disagree with the sexual radicals on one or more family issues?" - Larry Jacobs, managing director the World Congress Of Families, which has colluded with NOM president Brian Brown in furthering Russia's pogrom of hate and violence against LGBT people and whose members have endorsed Uganda's still-pending death penalty for homosexuals. (Via press release)

BACK STORY: The World Congress of Families was booted out of its Senate office building meeting space last week by GOP Sen. Mark Kirk (IL), whose spokesman declared that Kirk "does not associate with groups that discriminate." House Speaker John Boehner then stepped in to allow WCF access to House office space, where their meeting did take place.

Sen. Mark Kirk Cancels Senate Meeting Space For Anti-Gay Christian Groups

Yesterday I reported that a coalition of anti-gay Christian groups would be meeting today in official US Senate office space to discuss how they might copy Russia's anti-gay pogrom here in the United States. After outcry from LGBT groups, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) has kicked them out of the space. And they are PISSED.

“Shame on you, Senator Kirk, for allowing vocal radical sexual minorities to drown out the voices of the natural family and faith that have made our nation free, prosperous, and stable for more than 200 years,” said Larry Jacobs, managing director of the World Congress of Families in an email to BuzzFeed. “Obviously Senator Kirk doesn’t care about families and children and freedom and has chosen to side with the policies of decline, death and disease promoted by the Sexual Radicals.” A spokesman for Kirk, Lance Trover, told BuzzFeed on Thursday night, “Sen. Kirk doesn’t affiliate with groups that discriminate.”

Late last night the coalition sent out their press release again but with this "correction" at the top: "The Capitol Hill Symposium has been moved to Room #1539 in the Longworth House Office Building (NOT THE Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 562.)" OK, now who's in charge of the Longworth Building? (Tipped by JMG reader Ned)

Giving Credit Where It's Due

Via Memographs.

Sen. Mark Kirk On His ENDA Vote

"In Illinois, we all measure ourselves against the career of Abraham Lincoln and think about the legacy that that means. I would say that I measure myself against Everett Dirksen and his support for the 1964 Civil Rights Act as Republican leadership as the best moment in his career. [With] this legislation, I’m very proud to do it in the tradition of Illinois’ Dirksen and Lincoln." - Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), speaking yesterday after voting for ENDA in a Senate committee. (Via Chris Geidner @ Buzzfeed)

IL Hate Group Slams Sen. Mark Kirk

From the website of the Illinois Family Institute:

When polygamists and polyamorists come knocking on marriage’s door, we should all remember Kirk’s wise words that “government has no place” getting between people who love each other. And we certainly wouldn’t want to disrespect them. Mark Kirk’s public shift in position, like Barack Obama’s, does not constitute positive change.

Nor did they even change. For years they have simply lied to move up the political ranks, exploiting the naïve and gullible among us, and in Kirk’s case, feeding at the Republican trough. Any Republican who condescendingly proclaims that the “social issues” are irrelevant or insignificant or so unimportant as to be unworthy of his time or her attention deserves a slap upside the head and a boot out the door.

The IFI is ranked as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and is the former home of Peter LaBarbera.

GOP Sen. Mark Kirk Backs Marriage

"When I climbed the Capitol steps in January, I promised myself that I would return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others. Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. Our time on this earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back-- government has no place in the middle." - Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), writing on his blog.

RELATED: Kirk is the second sitting GOP Senator to back same-sex marriage. Sen. Rob Portman was the first. Buzzfeed's Chris Geidner notes that Kirk voted against the repeal of DADT but stated his support of civil unions in 2010.  Kirk suffered a massive stroke last year and later told the press that three angels had appeared at his hospital bedside to ask if he was ready to join them in heaven.

UPDATE: Freedom To Marry head Evan Wolfson applauds via press release.

"With Senator Kirk's support, the U.S. Senate is now ready to move to the right side of history in support of same-sex couples' freedom to marry. Just as we have seen a majority of Americans embrace the freedom to marry, so the Senate is now on the verge of a majority for marriage. As members of Congress are talking with their family, friends, colleagues, and constituents, they come to understand why marriage matters to gay couples as to non-gay, and speak up in support of fairness and freedom. Senator Kirk's heartfelt words about values of treating others as we'd all want to be treated in our precious time on this planet powerfully make the case for the freedom to marry -- and the need for decision-makers to end marriage discrimination in the United States."

UPDATE II: Log Cabin Republicans are cheering.

Log Cabin Republicans welcomes Senator Kirk's support of civil marriage for committed same-sex couples. As with his Republican colleague Senator Portman, Senator Kirk's evolution on this issue was framed in very personal terms. We've long said that this is an issue of freedom and fairness, and Senator Kirk's support underlines that message. With the Republican logjam on marriage equality now officially broken, we encourage Senator Kirk's fellow Republicans in the Senate and his colleagues in the House to join him, Senator Portman, Congressman Hanna, and Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen on the right side of history. In declaring his support for the freedom to marry, Senator Kirk said, 'Our time on this earth is limited, I know that better than most.' Log Cabin Republicans applauds Senator Kirk for making the most of his time and looks forward to working with him for many years to come.

GOP Sen. Mark Kirk: I Saw Three Angels

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) says that three angels appeared at his hospital bed following his massive stroke last year.

For Mark Kirk, there was no white light, no tunnel. What Illinois' junior U.S. senator experienced was three angels standing at the foot of his bed. "You want to come with us?" Kirk was asked. "No," he told them. "I'll hold off."  Kirk's life and outlook would be dramatically changed, the stroke serving as a defining moment that he said deepened his faith and altered his sense of purpose. Sitting at the dining room table of his suburban townhouse, his left arm slack, Kirk gestures emphatically with his right hand as he says the experience made him resolve "to never, ever give up."

Kirk concedes that he doesn't know if the angels were a dream, a medication-created hallucination, or a near-death experience, but his "angel encounter" is being widely touted on Christian sites. On Thursday Kirk laboriously climbed the steps of the Capitol Building for the first day of the 113th Congress.

Tweet Of The Day - Peter LaBarbera

Hilariously, the link goes to Hillbuzz's Kevin DuJan, who is quivering with rage that Kirk had the audacity to hold a town hall meeting on civility in political rhetoric last night.

Will Sen. Mark Kirk Vote Against DADT Repeal In Senate Like He Did In House?

Senator-elect Mark Kirk (R-IL) will be seated on November 29th, putting him in the unique position of being able to vote on the repeal of DADT twice. Earlier this year as a House member, he infuriated LGBT supporters and reversed his previously pro-gay record by voting against the repeal, a move most said was a transparent attempt to pander votes from his teabagger opponent. Today NBC Chicago calls on Kirk to return to his socially liberal roots.

Since Democrats will hold a 58-42 majority during the lame-duck session, Reid needs two Republican votes to prevent a filibuster. Kirk has a chance to make up for his last vote, and regain his reputation as one of the few pro-gay Republicans in Washington. The Pentagon is expected to release a report on Dec. 1, saying that allowing gays to serve openly will not harm military morale. Kirk could use that as cover for changing his position. Kirk was a socially liberal congressman when he represented his North Shore district, but swung to the right during the Senate campaign, leading one commentator to call him “an ideological windsock.” The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell vote will be Illinois’s first chance to find out what kind of senator we elected: the independent voice we saw in Congress, or the partisan hack we saw during the campaign.

ILLINOIS: GOP Rep. Mark Kirk Wins Barack Obama's Former Senate Seat

Rep. Mark Kirk used to have an OK record on LGBT rights for a Republican, having voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and for ENDA in 2007. But then he voted against the repeal of DADT. And since under Illinois law he will be seated in the Senate tomorrow, that means one more vote against repealing DADT should it come up in the lame duck session. This is another disaster we can blame on former Gov. Rod Blagojevitch, as he appointed the hapless Roland Burris to replace Obama in the Senate and Burris never survived the taint of Blagojevitch's favor.

ILLINOIS: Rep. Mark Kirk (R) Denies Gay Rumors To TV Reporter

After a Chicago television reporter confronted Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) about his fabricated military record, she pressed him about being outed last week by blogger Mike Rogers. And that went down in an amusing fashion.

Reporter: You said you are not gay? Why do the bloggers keep saying that?

Kirk: Because I guess I got divorced, but I hope to remarry one day.

Reporter: To a woman?

Kirk: Absolutely.

Hit the link for the video.

OUTED: Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)

Citing his recent vote against the repeal of DADT, noted outing blogger Mike Rogers has lowered the boom on Rep. Mark Kirk, the Illinois Republican currently running for Barack Obama's old Senate seat. Today Rogers blogs:

Within hours of the DADT repeal vote I was contacted by two people who knew Kirk from his college days. "In law school in DC everyone knew Mark was gay," the first source told me. I explained that the information was intriguing, it would not be enough to go on. He continued, "But I had sex with him a number of times." Well, now we're onto something I thought. "Could someone verify for me that you knew Kirk and went to school with him?" I asked. "Yes" was the swift reply. "Could you recall personal details about Kirk that others may not know?" "Yes," he said. And he did. The next source claimed to have gone to undergraduate school with Kirk. I asked for proof that he and Kirk were in school together and once that was shared with me, I met with the source. The source introduced me to a man whom had also been friends with Kirk college. They both shared with me their interactions with Kirk, including one sexual in nature. The source who claimed to have sex with Kirk described personal details about the House, um, er, "member." The description was the same as the first source.

Rogers goes on to recount having met Kirk personally at a 2004 party largely attended by gay men. It should be noted that Kirk has one of the more positive records on LGBT rights and recently earned an 88% score from the Human Rights Campaign. Last June he signed on as a House co-sponsor of ENDA.

Rogers has a 100% track record when it comes to these outings and played a large part in last year's feature documentary, Outrage.

RELATED: In late December, wingnut GOP Senate candidate Andy Martin also accused Kirk of being gay, but in a typically nasty fashion. Joining Martin's ugly campaign to out Kirk was arch-homophobe Peter LaBarbera.

UPDATE: Kirk had been claiming that he was the Navy's Intelligence Officer of the Year for 1998. Last week the Washington Post revealed that was untrue and that a similar award had in fact been given to Kirk's entire unit. Kirk then said it was a mistake on the part of his biographer, but the below 2002 video shows him claiming such at a congressional hearing. Kirk's Democratic opponent, Alexi Giannoulias, has leapt upon the issue, accusing Kirk of "lying or embellishing his military record."

PhoboQuotable - Andy Martin

"I helped expose many of Barack Obama's lies in 2008. Today, I am fighting for the facts about Mark Kirk. Illinois Republican leader Jack Roeser says there is a 'solid rumor that Kirk is a homosexual.' Roeser suggests that Kirk is part of a Republican Party homosexual club. Lake County Illinois Republican leader Ray True says Kirk has surrounded himself with homosexuals. Mark Kirk should tell Republican voters the truth." - Illinois GOP Senate candidate Andy Martin, in a radio ad accusing his opponent Mark Kirk of being a dirty queer. The Illinois GOP has issued a statement denouncing Martin and expelling him from the party.