After President Obama formally nominated U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court this morning, U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias praised the selection and asked whether or not Republican rival Mark Kirk would support her nomination as well.

Joined by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Giannoulias reminded the reporters gathered that Kirk admitted during a WDWS-AM interview last year that he would have opposed Justice Sonia Sotomayor's nomination.  "I would have voted no," he said at the time, "because her judicial philosophy appears to be much more activist than I would support." "I'm sure the congressman's opposition came from a new-found desire to appeal to the right-wing fringe of his party," added Schakowsky. Watch it:

At a speech this afternoon speech before the City Club of Chicago, Kirk said he was still undecided about Kagan's candidacy. "Given that this is a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court," Kirk said, "I will take a very judicial approach." Here's his full response:

Meanwhile, NPR noted how the nomination was playing out in other hotly-contested Senate races around the country.