Republican IL Senator Kirk Dillard on Barack Obama

After seeing the Obama Iowa ads, I wondered, “Who is the Republican IL Senator, Kirk Dillard, who is supporting Obama in a TV ad?” How the heck could a Republican be saying nice things about a Democrat? I mean, when do we ever see something like that??

I went and searched and here are other quotes from this Republican IL Senator about Barack Obama.

From a USA Today article:

Republican Sen. Kirk Dillard, who took office in 1993, says he gravitated to Obama when the rookie arrived in Springfield in 1997.

“Sen. Obama was someone who I thought — and I was right — could tackle extremely complex things like ethics reform, the death penalty or racial profiling by law enforcement,” Dillard says.

Obama was “a full partner” in drafting and passing the state’s first major ethics law in 25 years, Dillard says. Obama also helped pass laws requiring that police interrogations and confessions in capital cases be videotaped and creating a state earned-income tax credit.

Such successes are rare, “especially in a rough-and-tumble place driven by seniority like Illinois is,” he says.

From a Washingtonian article:

“When he first came to Springfield, many resented his good looks, his articulate speaking ability, and his intellect,” recalls state senator Kirk Dillard, a Republican. But Obama’s desire to move issues forward won over Dillard and many of his colleagues. “He’ll show up at any meeting that requires his attention,” Dillard says.

…

“The more successful Senator Obama has become, the more impatient he’s become,” says Kirk Dillard, “because he knows how much more he can accomplish.”

…

Intensely competitive, Obama typically saves his fiercest battles for the Scrabble board, the basketball court, or the golf course. He has navigated his political career in a way that has created few real enemies. “If Barack has any enemies out there, they come from just sheer jealously,” says Illinois state senator Kirk Dillard, a Republican. “I don’t believe he has any enemies who have a good reason.”

 

From a Washington Post article:

“When you come in, especially as a freshman, and work on something like ethics reform, it’s not necessarily a way to endear yourself to some of the veteran members of the Illinois General Assembly,” said state Sen. Kirk W. Dillard, a Republican who became a friend. “And working on issues like racial profiling was contentious, but Barack had a way both intellectually and in demeanor that defused skeptics.”

From an AP article:

At home in Illinois, state Sen. Kirk Dillard, the GOP chairman of DuPage County in Chicago’s suburbs, said he has been impressed with Obama since they successfully worked together on campaign finance reform years ago in the Illinois General Assembly.

“Sen. Obama would be nothing without his incredible intellect and charisma,” he said.

Explaining Obama’s popularity, Dillard said, “I believe Illinois and America are looking for a hero and somebody who gives us hope, as we saw at Coretta King’s funeral, that we can be a color blind society.” Dillard added that “It’s not just based on race. It’s based on we want a hero in general.”

From a CBS News article:

“Obama has a great intellect and the leadership characteristics of our great American presidents,” said state Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Republican who befriended Obama in Springfield. “But the unknown is the administrative and foreign policy experience.”

While Dillard expects to support the GOP presidential nominee, “I would not lose a night’s sleep worrying about my young children’s future if Senator Obama were my president because I know he would probably surround himself, like Ronald Reagan, with exceptionally experienced people.”

From a USA Today article:

Obama’s Republican partner on the measure, state Sen. Kirk Dillard, still keeps a picture of the Democrat on his office wall.

Though he is the Republican chairman of DuPage County, Dillard recently introduced Obama at a town hall meeting there. “I admire him both as a person and as a legislator,” Dillard says.

From a New Yorker article:

Kirk Dillard, a leading Republican
senator from the Chicago suburbs, looked chagrined when
I asked him about Obama. “I knew from the day he walked
into this chamber that he was destined for great
things,” he said. “In Republican circles, we’ve always
feared that Barack would become a rock star of American
politics.” Still, Dillard was gracious. “Obama is an
extraordinary man,” he said. “His intellect, his
charisma. He’s to the left of me on gun control,
abortion. But he can really work with Republicans.”
Dillard and Obama have co-sponsored many bills. Though
Dillard was unwilling to concede the general election
to Obama, he described Illinois as “a major player in
recognizing African-Americans. We are proudly the state
that produced Abraham Lincoln.”