Perhaps he has a point...
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.
What if Mel Gibson moved to Il.?
Not that I could arrange that or anything.
Mel? You listening, Mel?
Shalom.
Perhaps he has a point...
Actually, Libertyville is a far north Chicago suburb, closer to Wisconsin than Chicago.
BTW, we had one RAT that was a stealth candidate1 for our Village Board and won by 300 votes. He wanted to set up our Village like Chicago with Wards, Precincts, etc. The first thing he proposed was a hand-gun ban, which went nowhere.
Then he went for a AWB2, and that got scuttled too. So now the rest of the Board (and the Mayor) keep busy deep sixing this butt-heads proposals at every turn.
1- Turns out he was a RAT committeeman, but in our local election there's no party affiliation listed so not enough people knew about him, and he's a Lawyer to boot.
2- We have fairly liberal (in a good way) gun laws. Our guns laws are one page long. AND we can use our weapons to defend "our persons and property".
You need to review your Senate history...lol
He can't be worse than Durbin....
For a Republican to even think of anything of a sexual nature, is a shocking and heinous crime against humanity and especially degrades the female half of that humanity, aka the "victims." Republicans are GUILTY as charged. Although the leftists are normally opposed to the Death Penalty, they would gladly consider it for the Bob Packwoods of this world, because as Republicans, they are ipso facto, bad people.
KB's Corollary: Now, if a Democrat actually has sex with people to whom he is not married in the oval office, or commits rape, or molests Congressional Pages, or runs a Gay Dating and Escort Service from his living quarters, there are no victims here. In fact, forcible sex with Ted, or Bill, or Gary, or Barney The Bugger of Bayonne, is an exciting opportunity for personal growth for all participants, willing or not.
Neither are those participants "victims" who happen to die during, or as a result of the enriching Democrat sexual experience. Rather they are martyrs in the cause of personal freedom. Can't be helped. Put some ice on that.
A one time actress? Dig up her past! Maybe she's another Madonna or spent most of her time on the casting couch. They have THAT type of reputation. Ryan should just start making jokes about her career. Maybe she's trying to jump start it on Ryan's campaign. Ryan can joke around like Austin Powers and he didn't behave.
"Dennis Hastert is from Illinois but he represents a downstate district. If it weren't for Chicago, Illinois would be a Red State like neigboring Indiana."
Well, Hastert actually represents Yorkvill, which is about 50 miles or so west of Chicago (and a little south). But virtually the entire, six-county metropolitan area is stauchly Democrat, except for portions of Dupage County, which used to be a Republican fortress, but has lately become rather liberal due to the influx of immigrants and Chicagoans. Springfield is Democratic, as is Champaign-Urbana. Southern Illinois is more conservative (aside from St. Clair and Madison Counties), but the population numbers just aren't there to make any real impact.
Oh, I obviously didn't know the location of Libertyville. Where is Hwy. 40? It is not on my minimal map.
Well worth the effort! :)
If she's who I think she is she don't need a jump start. methinks she is the vulcan on Enterprise - a knockout by any definition.
however people in divorces do wierd things, and she apparently is no exception. She might just be trying to ruin him politically. Of course she might be correct, but then what is the relevance of her claims to the divorce?
oops! wrong star ytrek character. anyway she doesn't really need a career jump start does she?
Is there a man among us who has not on occasion proposed something a little adventurous to his wife? Is this not a good thing rather than a bad one? Did we not have a President who proposed freaky to an intern working for him?
Ryan will lose because he is a Republican named Ryan. Whether he loses by one vote or a million matters not.
Of course. It should be done, and then let's hear what the Rats have to say. It was ok for them. Why not for the GOP?
Actually, it would be perfectly legal to change candidates until September (providing Ryan withdraws). The 19 members of the Republican State Central Committee would select a new candidate if Ryan decides to do the honorable thing and step aside.
After September, the Torch Rule applies.
In part. But also because he's lost the support of the state GOP.
From the Trib:
The political impact of the revelations on Jack Ryan's candidacy will play out over the next several days. One prominent Illinois Republican, U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood of Peoria, said he was "shocked" that Ryan would run for public office carrying such baggage and called on him to get out of the race.
<snip>
Ryan refused requests from his opponents to release the file, saying it could harm his son and only dealt with custody matters. At one point, State Republican Party Chairwoman Judy Baar Topinka said she asked him flatly whether there was anything embarrassing in the file. Topinka said Ryan assured her there was not.
"I consider him an honest man and I take him at his word," she said shortly before the primary, which Ryan won over seven opponents.
On Monday, a source close to Topinka, who is also the state treasurer, said she felt Ryan had misled her. "She stuck her neck out for him and he assured her nothing in those files was embarrassing to him or to the Republican Party," the source said. "There's a general feeling by a lot of people that they've been lied to."
LaHood was even more direct. "In the interest of saving further embarassment for him and his family, he needs to immediately withdraw from the race," he said. "There is no way Republicans in Illinois will vote for somebody with this kind of activity in their background."
From the Sun Times:
Former Gov. Jim Edgar was stunned to hear about Jeri Ryan's allegations after Jack Ryan called Edgar over the weekend to describe the files, but made no mention of the sex clubs. Based on that characterization, Edgar told reporters earlier in the day the files would not likely sink Ryan's campaign.
"Edgar kind of feels like he took this guy at his word and is kind of stunned it could be different from what he was told," the source said.
Others quoted in the story either say he's a good candidate or it's no big deal. However, this is going to hit him in the pocketbook, the all-important fundraising. And without donations, he's toast.
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