MARK KIRK WINS OBAMA’S OLD SENATE SEAT according to AP and Andrew Malcolm of the L.A. Times, over Democratic state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. Kirk’s win was tangentially paved with this classic YouTube clip.

(This later YouTube moment involving a Giannoulias campaign aide, coming hot on the heels of Bob Etheridge’s video meltdown, didn’t help matters.)

Update: In other Illinois news, Guy Benson tweets, “Heh: Illinois ballot initiative permitting recall of the Governor is passing by a massive margin.”

Rod Blagojevich could not be reached for comment.

Update: Michelle Malkin adds, Kirk’s win is “a victory that should be greeted with muted cheers, given Kirk’s cap-and-tax, big government advocacy on Capitol Hill.”

See also Roger L. Simon’s recent post, “Notes for the Day After: Who Is Fred Upton?”

Update: “If Ted Kennedy’s seat can go to Scott Brown, then Obama’s seat can go to Mark Kirk. And it did. It is, to put it mildly, an embarrassment to the president and his party,” Jennifer Rubin writes.

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