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.
Are Tampico and Dixon NOT in Hastert's district? I read once that he represented those towns, but maybe the district has changed its boundaries in the past two redistricting cycles. Who does represent Dixon now? I once heard Michael Reagan say that he had never been to Dixon but planned to visit the town in the future.
Great article Mike,
Illinois has only one-party left statewide. Too bad, it was once a very proudly conservative state, when Jim Thompson was elected in the 70's, I said that was the beginning of the end for the GOP in Illinois. Jim Edgar's administration only delayed the inevitable.
I guess Judy Barr Topinka is the only GOPer left!
We can blame the French. The French do wierd things especially burlesque sex shows. It's no Las Vegas. Everything you do stays there....not if you go to Paris. How would you know if you find yourself in the production of Moulin Rouge...did Jack speak the language? My brother and his buddy accidently walked into a gay bar. After one drink they realize they were in the wrong bar and walked out. They broke many hearts.
Well, it might get Klintoon's vote, if he lived in Illinois.
Despite his wandering from the straight and narrow sometimes, Fitz's putting Mz Moseley Braun to pasture is something for which we should all be grateful.
I think that if he were going to change his name, he would have done it earlier. Obama, Osama, it can be confusing.
But the media treats Republicans, especially if there are hints they may be conservative, differently.
Among Democrats, that endorsement might help pump up the turnout.
Have you considered moving?
From the title, I thought this was going to be about The Tide.
In Illinois, most of the R's are near dead, so how could you choose one?
Thanks for the second effort! :)
And that's pretty much in name only.
I wish it were.
Re your post #21: People who think and act this way are not open to reason.
Maybe the Pubbies need to pull a Torrecelli before the election... like asking 7 of 9 to run for Senate in place of her ex.
Let's get real here folks. Jack Ryan supports free markets, an individuals right to self defense in his own home with a handgun; notwithstanding any tyrannical local laws to the contrary, lower income taxes, general support for the war on terror to include the Iraq reconstruction, education vouchers, not allowing birthing baby's skulls to be cracked and their brains sucked out, and an end to racial preferences in affirmative action. I can't speak for the rest of you, but I will support this guy even if he doesn't get out of the race, since Obama is a polar opposite on all of these issues. It is my hope that this contretemps will lead in a roundabout way to a discussion of the issues, since his opponents extreme liberalism is DEFINITELY flying under the radar.
True, this development does not help Ryan's campaign, and does reflect poorly on his judgment. If he intended to stay in the race he should have released this material when it first became obvious that its release was an inevitability. He could then have better controlled the timing of that release and had more time for its impact to be defused. We should assume that he will not drop out of the race as things stand now. If that is so, then we need to go on the offensive and highlight Obama's extreme liberal beliefs, voting record (particularly Illinois SB 101, which he co-sponsored with Carol Ronen, D-7th District which places Homosexuals, bi-sexuals, lesbians, and trans-gendered people as protected within the rubric of the Illinois Civil Rights Act), and contrast them to Ryan's beliefs. More fingerpointing will only get us closer to electing the semi-communist Obama.
You've got that right. Maybe I'm too enthusiastic, but maybe Steven Rauchenberger could be drafted as a replacement candidate. He ran a campaign based on substance while eschewing personal attacks, and nearly outpolled The Abominible Milkman. He's more conservative than the average Illinois voter, but he has intelligence and integrity, and sticks to his guns articulately and without acrimony. He could turn out to capture the voters' imagination.
Steven Rauchenberger was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune in the primary. The editors liked his willingness to answer tough questions and thought he was articulate. The editors frowned on Jack Ryan for mounting a stealth campaign in the primary. They were annoyed by Jack Ryan unwillingness to answer all their questions.
Now the local media having a field day with Ryan.
He should feel at home in the US Senate. Kennedy is still a senator.
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