Zowie! Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois just joined the ignominious club of politicians who've released internal polls showing themselves trailing their opponents, but despite the deceptively small margin, this may actually be one of the worst such entries we've ever seen. Kirk's survey, from GS Strategy Group, has him down 43-40 to Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, which is already god-awful place for an incumbent to find himself. But in your own poll? Since internals tend to be more favorable to the candidates who've commissioned them, it's a truly terrible sign that this is the best that Kirk can do.
Making matters still worse for Kirk is … just about everything else. Duckworth isn't as well-known as he is, so she has more room to move upward as voters grow more familiar with her. And there's the fact that Illinois is, of course, a decidedly blue state. That means that most of the undecided voters are going to be Democrats, or Democratic-leaning independents, who will ultimately pull the lever for Duckworth. This should all feel very familiar, since it's a mirror-image of what we saw with red-state Democratic senators in 2014—and we all remember how that played out.
Given how awful this poll looks for Kirk, we've got to wonder why he'd even put it out there in the first place. Politico's Kevin Robillard suggests that perhaps Kirk is begging outside GOP groups not to write him off, but any money-runner with a lick of sense should, upon seeing numbers like this, be far less inclined—not more inclined—to lend a hand. Right now, Mark Kirk is looking like the Mark Pryor of 2016, and it's Kirk himself who's painting that portrait.
Please contribute $3 to Tammy Duckworth to help her finally boot Mark Kirk from the Senate.