Posted on 06/22/2004 4:29:42 AM PDT by Mike Bates
The divorce records of Republican Senate candidate Jack Ryan have been released. Last week a California judge ordered the documents opened in response to a lawsuit started by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago’s WLS-TV.
The files disclosed allegations made against Ryan by his former wife. She said that he insisted she go to sex clubs with him. According to the Associated Press, actress Jeri Lynn Ryan described one spot as "a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling."
She also charged that Ryan wanted her to perform sex acts in public so that others could watch.
For his part, Ryan denied the allegations, asserting that he had merely arranged some "romantic getaways." Using some Clintonesque parsing, he admitted: "We did go to one avant-garde nightclub in Paris which was more than either one of us felt comfortable with. We left and vowed never to return."
Oh, so that’s what they’re called these days. Avant-garde.
We all know that some spouses make spurious statements when love sours and the only dates the couple has are in domestic relations court. At this point, it doesn’t make much of a difference who, if either, was telling the truth.
This incident effectively kills any possibility of the very liberal Democrat Barack Obama not being elected in November. The odds of Mr. Ryan winning have always ranged between slim and none. Slim just left town.
Sex scandals work for Democrats. They don’t for Republicans.
A Tribune poll taken at the end of last month showed Obama with a commanding 22-point lead.
With the mediocre operation he’s run so far, it didn’t appear likely that Ryan would be able to turn things around. His campaign had failed to catch fire, even among many Republicans activists.
Running touchy-feely ads about how he taught in an all-black school doesn’t appeal to the party’s base. And it certainly wasn’t going to diminish Obama’s 90 percent plus lead among African-Americans.
Some observers think Ryan initially made a crucial mistake during the primaries by not disclosing documents relating to his split-up. Perhaps seeing Democrat Blair Hull’s candidacy crumble when details of his divorce were revealed strengthened Ryan’s resolve to keep the records under wrap.
He asserted this was to protect his son. At the same time, the candidate claimed that there’d be no embarrassment to the party if the information were made public.
If he genuinely believed that tales of sex clubs with cages and whips wouldn’t prove awkward, then Ryan is simply too dumb to be in the Senate. With people like Patty Murray (D-Wash) roaming the corridors there, that’s saying a lot.
I think Ryan’s actual first mistake was in running at all. Did he really think that the media would be satisfied with anything less than complete disclosure?
The next blunder was that of Republican primary voters. They chose him when there already was widespread public awareness of his messy break up and his efforts to cover things up. Illinois has become a Democratic stronghold in recent years, but that’s no reason to treat the Republican nomination so carelessly.
What happens now? Again, it doesn’t make much of a difference. Mr. Ryan will maintain some of his support.
A few Illinois Republican leaders will call on him to drop out of the race. Congressman Ray LaHood has already done that. Apparently, Jack Ryan’s campaign isn’t playing well in Peoria any longer.
Former Governor Jim Edgar on Monday continued to back Ryan and suggested it was time to move on. That statement was given after Mr. Ryan had assured Edgar that there wasn’t anything too terrible in the documents. It’ll be interesting so see Edgar’s reaction after he finds out for himself.
Jack Ryan may remain the candidate or there may be another. Either way, the Republican standard bearer will get clobbered.
The Illinois GOP has moved into full surrender mode. And just when President Bush needs every vote in the Senate he can get.
With IL's penchant for Marxism and liberalism, maybe that explains why the late Everett McKinley Dirksen seemed to do all he could to keep the Democrat base from mobilizing against him. In this situation though, the fault is as much with the GOP primary voters as anyone else.
Hastert represents the district where Reagan was born. I think that is in the NW part of the state, not downstate. Correct my geography if I am wrong.
The Torch Rule does not apply in IL, and I would think the IL Republican apparatus is too asleep to consider trying to replace Ryan. The apparatus would simply say, "Sorry, it can't be done. The Democrats win it all again."
People keep thinking "downstate" is Republican, but is that true? Wasn't the late Adlai E. Stevenson, II, from downstate -- Libertyville? Stevenson lost IL twice though in 1952 and 1956. And isn't Springfield more Democrat than not? The district next to the Ohio River was represented for years by the popular late liberal Paul Simon. I don't think "downstate" is much Republican any more. It seemed like IL went even more Democrat after it retired Moseley-Braun. Fitzgerald never seemed even to try to be a decent senator; maybe he knew that he could not win again, no matter how well he performed.
The Democrats only concern is power. I don't think the lives of people downstate depend on who is in office in Washington. Anyway, we are in a good position to pick up Democratic seats in LA, GA, FL, SC, and NC. 5+ GOP pickups and -1 loss. Maybe 6 if Tommy Daschund's gone in SD. So in the long run, it has minimal effect since we're conceding a seat we couldn't hold onto anyway.
Also I remember Reagan in 1976 saying that if he got 40 percent of the GOP primary vote against Ford that it would be a monumental achievement. Even the Gipper knew for years how liberal IL is at the grass roots.
The Carolina Democrats believe that they will save both the Edwards and Hollings seats. Burr is a weak candidate thus far in NC, and the SC Republican field is too divided to unite.
We have to win seats in the South to stave off a Democratic-controlled Senate.
And I had a feeling that something wasn't right with that guy. He made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. And I was correct, the guy's a pervert - or a deviate, either way he's unfit.
Any one who thinks that kinky stuff's the mark of a potential U.S Senate is too dumb to belong in the Senate in the first place.
Any one who thinks that kinky stuff's the mark of a potential U.S Senator is too dumb to belong in the Senate in the first place.
If he does that, won't the Republican's get to appoint another nominee to make sure the election is fair?
I think that's how it works.
Shalom.
But anyway, I voted for Oberweis, I didn't buy that touchy-feely cr@p from Ryan or the GOP. I 'knew' something wasn't right with the guy and I was correct - he's a perv.
I don't think another Pubbie stands a chance. If you can't win DuPage and blunt the gusher in Cook County, fuddgitboutit.
Historically, the dividing line in downstate Illinois is Highway 40. South of 40, it has always been Democrat (settled by people from Tennessee and Kentucky). North of 40, it has been GOP.
With all due respect Barak Obama is a frickin' Commie! Calling him 'very liberal' is a real stretch. That maggot is for outright gun confiscation. And he ain't to happy with 'personal land ownership' either (I think this maggot goes to bed reading the Communist Manifesto).
Until this Ryan cr@p hit I had hopes that once Obama was outed for his communistic ideas, he'd be toast with the downstate RATS - but now, I'm just REALLY po'd at Ryan for his hubris and arrogance.
(I think my move to Montana might be sooner than expected)
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