Senate GOP candidate Rep. Mark Kirk announced Friday that he backs Elena Kagan's nomination for the Supreme Court.
"With regard to Colicitor General Kagan, I would support her nomination," Kirk said in an e-mail to reporters. "Ms. Kagan appears to be modest and thoughtful not because she expected this nomination but because she is modest and thoughtful. Under the Constitution, only the President can make this nomination and Solicitor General Kagan is one of the more careful nominees he could have picked."
Kirk's statement comes after weeks of questions from reporters about whether he would vote to confirm Kagan were he a Senator.
Kirk's decision to back (hypothetically) Kagan's nomination also serves as a retort, albeit belated, to his opponent Alexi Giannoulias, who's been haranguing the GOP representative ever since Obama announced the pick.
Back in May, Giannoulias and Rep. Jan Schakowsky implied Kirk was sexist when he opposed Justic Sotomayor's nomination, and suggested Kirk would make the same anti-female decision this time around.
