The News-Gazette endorses Kirk for Senate
 The News-Gazette’s statement on endorsing Republican Mark Kirk for Senate
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Voters can vote twice in the U.S. Senate race, the first time for the three remaining months of President Obama’s unexpired term and the second time for a full six-year term beginning in January…
 …When it comes to credentials, there’s no comparison.
 A lawyer and one-term treasurer, Giannoulias has little to offer other than his ambition.
 Conversely, Kirk has a long educational resume (Cornell, the London School of Economics and law school at Georgetown ), experience in the U.S. State Department and World Bank and chief counsel for the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs before being elected to Congress.
 He’s also served in the U.S. Naval Reserves since 1989, routinely assigned to scenes of military conflicts…
 …the facts are that he has a long string of accomplishments about which he could brag as well as internal fitness reports that demonstrate how much his superiors valued his work.
 Kirk is an outstanding candidate who will be an outstanding member of the Senate, and he has our endorsement. Indeed, he’s exactly what the Senate needs if this country is ever to get out of the domestic and foreign messes it’s now in.
 During his years in the U.S. House, Kirk made it a point to work with both Republicans and Democrats to get things done. Kirk has worked doggedly on issues of foreign affairs and listening to him discuss complicated international issues is like attending a seminar. If elected to the Senate, he would be ready to participate in the most momentous debates and make the most serious decisions…
 …[Giannoulias] does, however, have experience as a banker, experience he touted widely when he ran for treasurer in 2006. He portrayed himself then as the bank’s chief loan officer who would use his financial expertise to address complicated economic issues. But this past summer, the family bank went bust, and he abandoned his banking background in his political pitch to voters. To hear him tell it now, Giannoulias didn’t know a thing about the bank’s problems and had nothing to do with them. The record shows otherwise…
 …Kirk has shown repeatedly that he has what it takes to serve effectively, and he’ll continue to do so in the Senate. He has our strong support.