Illinois GOP Senate nominee Rep. Mark Kirk (R) offered an apology in a meeting with the Chicago Tribune editorial board Thursday for making several false claims about his military service record.
His excuse was that he "had tried to translate precise military terms into 'civilian-speak.'" Kirk had falsely claimed that he was fired upon in Iraq, had participated in Operation Desert Storm, and that he won the Navy's Intelligence Officer of the Year award, when in fact it was his whole unit that won the medal.
Like we saw in Connecticut, this doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would derail a campaign or lose him much (if any) support in the long run.
Plus, it doesn't hurt that his opponent, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D), has loads of his own personal baggage. But Giannoulias, who's been lagging in the polls recently, didn't miss a beat and pounced on Kirk for the exaggerations. But he looked a bit foolish never having served in the military himself, which didn't give him much of a leg to stand on.
I do not believe that this whole exaggeration business will affect Kirk's chances of winning come November, and I still rate this: Lean Republican.
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