Mark Kirk Appears On NBC 5's City Desk

by Josh Kalven on October 06, 2008 - 12:13pm

In an episode that filmed last week and aired yesterday morning, GOP Rep. Mark Kirk and Democratic challenger Dan Seals appeared separately on NBC 5's City Desk. Host Carol Marin immediately asked Kirk why he refused to directly debate Seals on the program. Kirk first tried to deflect the question, then stated, "Actually it would have been fine with me." Watch it:

But while Kirk suggested it somehow wasn't his decision, the Seals campaign made clear yesterday that they were more than willing to debate the GOP incumbent on NBC 5's airwaves. From communications director Elisabeth Smith:

"Dan believes that it is important for voters in the 10th district to see where he and Mark Kirk differ on the issues, which is why he agreed to appear jointly with Kirk on City Desk. This is not the first time that a joint appearance has fallen through. Unfortunately, Mark Kirk continues to do everything in his power to run fast and hard from his record of voting nearly 90% of the time with Republicans and supporting President Bush's failed policies in Congress."

Kirk also told viewers that he "hopes everybody watches" his joint appearance with Seals before the Tribune editorial board last week. But as far as I can tell, the only coverage of that debate is this article, which focused on Kirk's comments about Sarah Palin. I've been unable to find any video of the joint appearance on the Tribune website or elsewhere. (If the video is out there somewhere, please leave the link in comments.)

Later in the interview, Marin asked Kirk about his initial support for the Iraq war. He responded by blaming the "faulty intelligence":

While plenty of bad intelligence did indeed surface in the run-up to the Iraq war, Kirk's answer omits a crucial part of the story: how the Bush administration suppressed the intelligence community's doubts about certain prewar claims and how they used highly questionable, alternative intelligence sources to make their case for war. For more on that story, read this Media Matters piece I penned in December 2005. Meanwhile, 10th District blogger Ellen Beth Gill offers her own rebuttal.