Hewitt and NRSC ivory tower elitists should butt out of IL Senate race

A couple of months ago, 560 AM WIND hosted a forum with their star radio personalities, and nationally-syndicated talk show host Hugh Hewitt raved about "the next U.S. Senator from Illinois, Mark Kirk," and faces in the audience grimaced.  First, a national talk show host shouldn't tell locals how to vote and second, he hadn't a clue about Illinois GOP liberal twins Mark Kirk and Judy Biggert's anti-conservative voting records over the years. 

The twins split on one recent vote, though, as Biggert voted against the Cap & Trade bill and Kirk voted for it.  That one vote has caused Hewitt to begin a panicky back-pedal manuever that's almost laughable ... and why national know-it-alls should pay attention to locals now and then.  In Hewitt's TownHall.com column he writes about how much he adored the thought of Mark Kirk unseating Roland Burris and what happened to wake him up:

Then the congressman voted for the Obama-Pelosi-Waxman carbon tax, and Kirk's campaign began to unravel. Stunned Republicans in Illinois and across the country asked what could he have been thinking? The law is so manifestly poorly drawn and the economic effects so obviously disastrous that this single vote triggered a revolt in the land of Lincoln, and at this writing the congressman appears poised to withdraw from the Senate contest, his clear path to the GOP nomination suddenly imperiled by the word that GOP Illinois State Chairman Andy McKenna might contend for the job.

The plot thickens .. ta-da- ... oh, these DC wise guy pundits, they should all be forced to serve intern time in Illinois before being jacked up to the influence they don't deserve.  Anyone who makes it through Illinois politics has something worthwhile to say and deserves a national voice (if they can maintain their sanity in the process) ...  Hewitt's pearls of wisdom go on ...

Whether Kirk remains in the race or not, the message from the episode is clear: The GOP base will not quickly support any candidate who supports the massive tax hikes required by the Obama-Pelosi-Waxman bill. There is widespread agreement that concern over climate change cannot justify a crippling of the American economy or confiscatory taxes on all energy use. Rhetoric about the environment, in other words, cannot substitute for a party-defining commitment to limited government and lower taxes. Republicans who bolt on this issue will not be easily forgiven and their decision not quickly forgotten. This isn't a "big tent" issue in other words. The Obama-Pelosi-Waxman bill is not a "free vote" because it is so awful in its impact and implications.

See?  Isn't this pathetic?  Hewitt and the National Republican Senatorial Committee need to listen to the people of Illinois and not sit in their NRSC-dictated ivory towers telling Illinois taxpayers what's best for us.  Let US choose who we want to represent us in the U.S. Senate.  Please! 

Comments

[Dave]

I disagree the DSC has been great at endorsing candidates they can feel can win and they do so even over more liberal candidates sometimes I hope the NRSC starts doing this

We need to start winning and the losers need to leave the party

[warriorprincess]

As my friends know, to escape the wasteland that terrestrial radio has become, I download podcasts and audiobooks and listen to them in the car. Trust me, it changes your life for the better, and I say that not only because the Teri O'Brien show is downloadable from iTunes as a podcast. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I got in the car, pushed the wrong the button, and heard Hugh Hewitt's voice coming out of the radio. YIKES! As I dove for the button, I heard him respond to a caller that he knew nothing about the Obama Justice Department's dropping charges against New Black Panther party for their thuggery outside a Philadelphia polling place. Interesting, here's a timely story on Republican objections to Holder's actions.:

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/gop-holder-battle-over-new-black-panthers-2009-07-12.html

My inadvertent exposure to Hewitt's show happened about a month ago, and I'm sure that now that the story is back on the front burner, he will become aware of it. Still, you'd think an allegedly leader conservative commentator would have heard of the case.

Yes, these Washington wise men sometimes remind me of what Woody Allen said about intellectuals; that is, that they can be absolutely brilliant, and have no idea what's going on.

[Ilgop]

Kirk was voting his district, not the state. I don't like his vote but from what I'm told, the people of the 10th District supported the bill. Are we going to crucify him over his vote for the pork-laden farm bill as well? Yall really prefer Madigan?

[Dennis C. Ryan]

Ilgop: "The people of the 10th District supported the bill." Who are those people? Do you know anything about them? There are a lot of people in the 10th Dictrict, and I am sure some are members of very vocal special interest groups with something to gain from Cap&Trade. Others among them may be guilty of the
"feel-good-ism" that permeates liberal thought.
That they want to do good is commendable. But for every action there is a risk of undesired consequences - like higher heating costs for the people who can least afford to pay them.