Felson writes:
This leapt out at me in Ben Smith's coverage of Freeman's withdrawal:
But Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), one of Freeman's leading critics, said the appointee could have "withstood" the attacks on policy grounds, but ultimately was torpedoed by the fact that he headed an institute funded by Saudi royalty and sat on the board of a Chinese state oil company.
This is textbook. Kirk is running for the U.S. Senate in Illinois next year. It's a brutally expensive race, especially for a Republican, who has to deal with the state's Democratic bent. That he chose to take the lead on this issue, which matters next to nothing to the average Illinois voter, is telling.
