Mark Kirk is Gay

So says his Republican opponent for the US Senate, Andy Martin.

Andy Martin, a noted conservative dirty trickster, put out a spot on local radio in which he pushes a "solid rumor" that fellow Senatorial aspirant, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), "is a homosexual."

"I helped expose many of Barack Obama's lies in 2008," the ad goes. "Today, I am fighting for the facts about Mark Kirk. Illinois Republican leader Jack Roeser says there is a 'solid rumor that Kirk is a homosexual.' Roeser suggests that Kirk is part of a Republican Party homosexual club. Lake County Illinois Republican leader Ray True says Kirk has surrounded himself with homosexuals."

"Mark Kirk should tell Republican voters the truth."

The seedy spot seems to take a page out the Karl Rove playbook -- in which allegations of homosexuality are pushed by innuendo and 'simple demands for the truth.' In a statement to a local Illinois station, the Kirk camp vehemently condemned and denied its content.

Now far be it from me to point out the obvious, but doesn't attempting to slur one's opponent really just reek of general ignorance and incompetence? I would hate to have contributed to this guy only to hear my dollars being set on fire and flushed down the toilet with an ad like this. This is to say nothing of the fact that even if this "rumor" were true, perhaps Andy Martin hasn't noticed, but being gay isn't exactly the political leprosy it used to be. Martin also perhaps hasn't noticed that we aren't exactly in the era of social politics these days, what with the economy in the tank, and the federal government expanding exponentially. God forbid you'd go after Kirk for something substantive like the fact that he voted for Cap-and-Tax. How about we address some of the issues, Andy? Don't be such a fag.

Beyond that, I heard this ad today on WLS and was slightly taken aback that the station would even run it. You're not NPR, WLS. Let's leave the low-class nonsense to Janeane Garofalo.