GOP Moderate Kirk Wins Ill. Senate Primary

Moderate favored over 2 conservatives in today's Senate vote

(NEWSER) - If polls prove accurate, moderate Mark Kirk will emerge victorious from today’s Republican Senate primary in Illinois, beating out two more conservative candidates with tea party backing. His victory would put a dent in the tea party panic gripping the GOP, says Talking Points Memo . Republicans in states including Florida, Pennsylvania, and California have been worried that far-right candidates will topple moderates, then lose in the general election. More»

Illinois field isn't scaring GOP frontrunner Mark Kirk

(NEWSER) - The Democratic field for President Obama’s old Illinois Senate seat is anemic enough to make a GOP win a real possibility, Lynn Sweet writes. The candidates—only one of whom has run for office, ever—haven’t phased the Republican frontrunner, Rep. Mark Kirk. The statewide Dem establishment seems apathetic about the result, and the national party was unable to convince AG Lisa Madigan to run. The primary is February 2, where Alexi Giannoulias will face off against a group of ragtag opponents. More»

Establishment, Tea Party, libertarians all negative in different ways

(NEWSER) - With the Republican Party so divided, it's no surprise that its response to President Obama's State of the Union address would also be divided, notes the Washington Post . In addition to an official response by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and a Tea Party response by Herman Cain, Mitt Romney and the other GOP candidates also weighed in:

• Cain's rebuttal focused on familiar Tea Party complaints—"Obamacare," "class warfare," and the "liberal media." Cain also addressed old sexual harassment allegations against him, noting that the "false attacks" derailed his campaign, but that accusations against Newt Gingrich failed because "the American people are waking up to dirty, gutter politics,” he said. “The American voters are saying, ‘We ain’t stupid.’"

California libertarian Jules Manson defends racist rant

(NEWSER) - Failed politician Jules Manson appears to be better at attracting attention from the Secret Service than he was at attracting votes in his bid for a city council seat in California. In a Facebook rant sparked by President Obama's support of a revised military authorization bill, Manson called for the assassination of the president and his "monkey children," reports the New York Daily News . More»

Now he says he didn't really mean it, and just wanted to get 'people to think'

(NEWSER) - Glenn Beck is back in the news, this time over comments that are rankling plenty of conservatives. On Friday, Beck made a bold statement: That Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama are basically the same progressive guy, so if you're a member of the Tea Party and support Gingrich, there's only one explanation: You must be racist. "If you’ve got a big government progressive [in Gingrich] or a big government progressive in Obama, one in Newt Gingrich, one in Obama, ask yourself this, Tea Party: Is it about Obama’s race? Because that’s what it appears to be to me," he told Fox News. More»