Kirk v. Roskam
Tuesday morning John Shimkus was asked about who might run for US Senate from Illinois in 2010. He had positive things to say about Republican Congressmen Peter Roskam and Mark Kirk. He mentioned Roskam first and my impression is that he sounded more enthusiastic about him. The AP reports that Kirk is thinking about running for Governor or Senate.
Mark Kirk has a reputation as a moderate and he was one of two Illinois Congressional Republicans endorsed by the Sierra Club in the last general election for his pro-environment voting record. Roskam is closer to the Shimkus wing of the Republican Party, and once introduced a discharge petition in support of a Shimkus bill to subsidize coal-to-liquid projects. Isn't it funny how much Shimkus hates "big government" spending when it comes to energy efficiency projects and renewable energy but has no problem subsidizing the coal industry?
So, it sounds like Republican leaders would like to see one of them run for Governor and the other for Senate, which is probably a good strategy for them. The two running against each other in a primary would be an ugly, ideological grudge match. It wouldn't be a bad thing for Democrats if the top of the GOP ticket includes two white men from the Chicago suburbs, as long as Democrats have at least one statewide candidate from outside the Chicago area.