By Barbara Altman
It’s been said that the definition of a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth. In mid-June, Mark Kirk gave new meaning to this political axiom.
Actually, Kirk’s now infamous quip that unmarried Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Lindsey Graham is a “bro with no ho” was not quite a gaffe. What Kirk did was more consequential than accidentally telling the truth; he accidentally revealed how he thinks. When he carelessly allowed his real voice to be picked up on a live microphone, Mark Kirk unwittingly showed us the kind of man he really is.
When he called the never-married Graham a “bro with no ho,” Kirk was referring to the fact that if the Senator from South Carolina realized his ambition to become President of the United States, he would have neither a wife nor a daughter to serve as his First Lady. He later explained, through staff, that he “was joking with his colleague…”
Joking? Kirk thought it was funny to refer to a hypothetical First Lady of the United States as a “ho”? Was he likening the role of the First Lady to that of a prostitute? Or did he mean to call all women whores? (According to Dictionary.com and other sources, “ho” is “disparaging and offensive” slang that means “prostitute or whore” and also may be used simply as a crude synonym for woman.)
According to the June 12 issue of the Chicago Tribune, Kirk’s full statement about Graham was, “He’s a bro with no ho. That’s what we’d say on the South Side.” Kirk, of course, is not from the South Side of Chicago. He was born in Champaign and attended New Trier East, in Winnetka. Did he intend the remark as a snide reference to First Lady Michelle Obama, who did grow up on Chicago’s South Side?
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what Kirk meant by his crude and tasteless wisecrack. What he said “joking with his colleague” provides remarkable insight into how he thinks—who he really is. Caught on a live mic, Mark Kirk unwittingly has given Illinois voters a glimpse into his heart. It’s not a pretty sight.