Bernard Schoenburg: Why Kirk wasn't always facing camera in debate - The State Journal-Register

If GOP U.S. Sen. MARK KIRK, R-Ill., wasn’t always looking at the camera in the televised Springfield debate with U.S. Rep. TAMMY DUCKWORTH last week, well, there is an explanation.

Due to his 2012 stroke, spokeswoman ELENI DEMERTZIS said, Kirk has lost complete vision in his left eye.

At Sangamon Auditorium at the University of Illinois Springfield, Kirk and Duckworth were at a table in the middle of the stage, and questioners, including myself, were at a table on stage to their left. Kirk often was looking in our direction, but had to turn far enough to use his right eye to do so.

The moment of the debate that got the most attention was when Duckworth talked about her family’s military history dating back to the Revolutionary War, and Kirk said, “I’d forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to fight for George Washington.”

After a bit of silence, and given the chance to respond, Duckworth said that it was her father’s side of the family whose service went back to the American revolution.

I later asked for some family details, and MATT McGRATH, spokesman for Duckworth, said Duckworth’s father, FRANK, was American, and served in both the Marine Corps and Army. He worked in international development and met Duckworth’s mother, LAMAI, who is Thai of Chinese descent, in Thailand. Duckworth was born in Bangkok. Her father died in 2005, and her mother became a U.S. citizen in 1993, and lives with Duckworth, her husband BRYAN and their young daughter, in Hoffman Estates.

Kirk apologized for his debate comment about Duckworth’s family, tweeting: “Sincere apologies to an American hero, Tammy Duckworth, and gratitude for her family’s service.”

Duckworth responded on Twitter: “Thanks, Sen. Kirk. Let’s honor my family’s service — and your own — by sticking to the issues for the final week. See you Friday in Chicago.”

The candidates are scheduled to debate at 7 p.m. Friday on WLS-TV—ABC7 in Chicago.

The State Journal-Register, UIS, NewsChannel 20 and News/Talk 94.7 and 970 WMAY were sponsors of the Springfield debate.

Dr. Duckworth

Duckworth, meanwhile, has a doctorate from Capella University, a Minneapolis-based for-profit institution.

Some for-profits have come under criticism from a key political mentor of Duckworth, U.S. Sen. DICK DURBIN, D-Ill. But Duckworth said Capella met her needs and schedule, and is accredited.

“I think that if you set the highest standards with real penalties (with) real teeth behind it, schools that are legitimate will meet them,” she said. “I was working on a Ph.D for six-plus years. It was all online. So for me, that’s what I needed. ... There was no way I could have gone to ... a traditional school.”

She said she was assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and then a member of Congress while doing the work.

Her doctorate is in human services, and her dissertation was on the use of electronic medical records by physicians in Illinois. She said she was looking at rates of acceptance and deployment of the electronic systems “and whether or not we were driving small practices out of business.

“There were practices that just shut down because they didn’t want to convert” to the electronic records, she said. She was also interested in “what we could do to help physicians better use them so that they didn’t increase the workload. So it’s really more of looking at trends and the like.”

MIKE BUTTRY, spokesman for Capella, said the school is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, which also accredits institutions like Northwestern University and the University of Illinois.

“Our focus is providing high-quality, online learning to working adults,” Buttry said. “We’re proud of our reputation for rigor and quality, and we’re certainly proud of Representative Duckworth, one of our most distinguished alumna.”

Duckworth earlier studied at the University of Hawaii, got a master’s in international affairs at George Washington University, and did some work toward a doctorate in political science at Northern Illinois University.

Durbin’s future

Has Sen. Durbin, a Springfield resident, completely ruled out a run for governor in 2018?

It sure looked that way, according to a story last week in the Daily North Shore, a Highwood-based publication, about a Durbin visit to the campaign office of state Sen. JULIE MORRISON, D-Deerfield.

“Durbin Says No to Governor Race,” was the headline.

I followed up and was told by Durbin’s office that nothing had really changed — that he’s still focused on the U.S. Senate.

Speculation about a possible Durbin run was in evidence at this summer’s Democratic National Convention, but Durbin has let people know since that they should “cool it.”

I spoke with STEVE SADIN, the reporter who did the Daily North Shore story. He related that Durbin was asked by a Morrison volunteer if he is running for governor, and Durbin said no.

It sounded definitive, Sadin said, adding that it also sounded that way in a follow-up interview, when Durbin discussed other potential Democratic candidates, including CHRIS KENNEDY, a Kenilworth businessman and son of late U.S. Sen. ROBERT KENNEDY.

Sadin did say that Durbin was not asked at the event if he could change his mind about 2018.

Durbin also discussed potential future plans on WFMB-AM last week, when interviewed by SAM MADONIA.

“I’ve got four years left in this term, and I’m looking forward to being the senator from this state, and that’s all I ever aspired to be,” said the 71-year-old who has been in the Senate since 1997 and was in the House before that, starting in 1983.

“A lot of people have speculated, ‘Oh, maybe he’ll run for this, maybe he’ll run for that.' I’ve got a good job. I enjoy it. I’m in a position in the Senate where I can help Illinois.”

Madonia asked about the governor-run rumors. Durbin said he’s never done a poll to see his strength for that job. He said he thinks the rumors reflect that he has name recognition.

“I don’t know what my approval numbers are, but whoever reads them says, well, he might be a viable candidate for governor some day,” Durbin said. “I have not encouraged that. LORETTA and I like what we have now, living in Springfield. Drink a glass of wine on the back deck. Coming home on the weekends.”

And that’s where it sits.

— Contact Bernard Schoenburg: bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com, 788-1540, twitter.com/bschoenburg.