This looks on the up and up: Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk’s field director was passing out coffee and donuts to a group of African-American protesters at an event for Kirk’s Democratic challenger, Rep. Tammy Duckworth. A former Kirk staffer was also mingling with the protesters. According to the Kirk campaign, the field director was there as a tracker—a role usually given to lower-ranking staff—and why wouldn’t he be buttering up Duckworth protesters with coffee and donuts? Maybe so. But it all seems more than a little suspicious when you combine it with this:
One demonstrator asked a Chicago Tribune reporter “whether Duckworth is a Democrat or a Republican” and said he was being paid “by the man who sponsored” the protest. Before he could say more, other demonstrators nearby told him to stop talking. The group then refused to answer questions about why they were there or if they were supporters of Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), whom Duckworth is trying to unseat in November.
Blue Nation Review, a progressive blog, reported that an attendee at Duckworth’s event recognized some of the protesters as residents of a local homeless shelter. Demonstrators were also fine with accepting food from Duckworth’s campaign. The Chicago Sun-Times observed that staffers brought out bacon and eggs after the event ended, and protesters munched away.
Yeah. That doesn’t sound like an organic protest, now does it? Kirk is considered to be one of the most endangered Republican incumbents in the Senate, and the race between him and Duckworth appears close. Kirk’s campaign or his allies could easily have seen an advantage to getting Duckworth some bad publicity for having drawn protest … but if so, it doesn’t seem like it played out according to plan.