Uncle Claudius Calls Uncle

In our last episode of Andy McKenna Plays Claudius to Mark Kirk's Hamlet, our heroes were locked eyeball to eyeball in a staring-match-to-the-death. Well today mean old Uncle Claudius blinked:

As Party Chairman my goal has been to build Party unity. Mark Kirk and I met last evening as part of an ongoing discussion about the U. S. Senate race. I reassured Mark that if he chooses to be a candidate, I will not oppose him.

Statement from ILGOP Chairman Andy McKenna

Presumably this leaves the US Senate field wide open for Congressman Mark Kirk to take a couple of victory laps and then jump in. Of course your LakeCountyEye has learned (the hard way) that predicting what Mark Kirk is going to do is a fool's errand. Kirk is certainly well positioned now to take his shot at US Senate. But for all your LakeCountyEye knows, Kirk is planning on retiring from politics to open that bed and breakfast in Minneapolis. Stay tuned!

Direct from the Magic Crystal Balls
Even Nate Silver can't resist getting in on the fun:

I'm not sure why Kirk, who also waited months until Lisa Madigan declined enter the race before declaring his interest, is such a delicate little flower, but running for statewide office in Illinois takes elbows and Blagojevich balls, and if he's not fully vested in the race, I wonder if he's going to be as strong a candidate as the Republicans are hoping.

FiveThirtyEight.com