The Achilles Heel

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 12: Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., talks with reporters after the Senate Policy luncheons in the Capitol, January 12, 2016. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

As we’ve noted, endangered Senate Republicans, especially in the northern tier of the country from Wisconsin over to New Hampshire, are the Achilles Heel of the GOP ‘three nos’ SCOTUS blockade strategy. Now Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), facing a tough reelection battle, has gone from dissenting from the McConnell strategy to going on the attack against his own colleagues, telling a local radio station Friday that GOP senators need to “just man up and cast a vote.”