Signs of spineage? I hope they do!
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/campaigns/dems-vow-to-make-gop-rep-pay-for-reckless-flub-about-american-credibility/Dems Vow To Make GOP Rep Pay For Questioning U.S. Credibility
The other day, GOP Rep Mark Kirk of Illinois seemed to say that he told China not to trust the United States. Kirk said that he’d told a meeting of Chinese leaders “that the budget numbers that the U.S. government had put forward should not be believed.”
Despite this apparent undermining of the credibility of the U.S. government to foreign leaders, the remark has gotten almost no attention in Washington, much to the frustration of Dems.
But now Democrats are signaling that they’re going to use Kirk’s flub against him in the race for Barack Obama’s old Senate seat, should Kirk run, as seems possible. The leading Dem candidate for the seat, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, has now uncorked a scathing statement hitting Kirk over the China gaffe, in previewing a possible 2010 Senate matchup:
“In the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Mark Kirk is essentially telling China, which holds more U.S. debt than any nation on earth, not to trust the American government, and by extension, the American people. This puts the full faith and credit of the United States at risk and threatens to permanently wreak havoc on the credit markets that are essential to our recovery and our economic future.
“Congressman Kirk’s reckless actions demonstrate a terrible lapse in judgment and should be immediately retracted.”
It is a bit surprising that Kirk’s comments haven’t ginned up a bit more attention in D.C. They do seem like perfect fodder for aggressive ads amid the economic meltdown; if they become an issue in the Senate race they may get a bit more national attention.