Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), perhaps still feeling the sting from being
stupid enough to sign on to Sen. Tom Cotton's (R-AR) infamous Iran letter, seems to have suddenly remembered he's running for re-election in Illinois, a state that will most definitely be blue in 2016. Running on his own
personal health issues (while simultaneously opposing Obamacare) isn't likely to do the trick, so now he's
jumping on a culture issue and attacking Indiana Gov. Mike Pence over that state's "okay to discriminate" law to seem less like a Republican.
"I strongly oppose what Governor Pence did. We should not enshrine bigotry under the cover of religion. It's not just bad practice—it's un-American," Kirk said in a statement Wednesday.
Kirk has apparently decided that being right on LGBT issues is going to be his ticket to keeping his seat. He also
voted for a budget resolution amendment last week to grant spousal Social Security and veterans' benefits to married same-sex couples and last month signed an amicus brief supporting marriage equality in the upcoming Supreme Court case. Clearly, Kirk is more worried about his general election than a potential primary challenge from tea party nutjob
Joe Walsh.