Posted on 07/07/2004 10:18:23 PM PDT by kattracks
The Illinois Republican Party is under fire from grass-roots groups who say the party forced U.S. senatorial candidate Jack Ryan to withdraw from the race, and they want his name returned to the ballot.
Mr. Ryan, who won the March Republican primary, stepped aside June 25 after details of his sex life were revealed in previously sealed divorce records. He was to run against Democratic state Sen. Barack Obama.
"Jack Ryan was under pressure from the state party to resign. They pushed him out, and we want him back," said Doug Ibendahl, who heads a 20,000-member group called the Republican Young Professionals.
The group has gathered thousands of signatures on a petition urging Mr. Ryan to reconsider and return to the race. The petition will be submitted Monday to party leaders.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Ryan yesterday said that the candidate is unlikely to return to the race, but agreed that party pressure was behind his stepping down.
"It became very apparent that we would have to fight a two-front war," said Kelli Phiel, press secretary for the campaign. "One against Obama, who is formidable enough, and another against our own party."
Mr. Ryan and Mr. Obama were vying for the seat of Republican Sen. Peter G. Fitzgerald, who is not seeking re-election. Democrats view the seat as one of the most vulnerable in their bid to wrestle the Senate back from a Republican majority.
Mr. Ryan bowed out when his divorce court documents revealed that he had taken his wife to sex clubs and asked her to perform sex acts on him in public.
Since he stepped down, Mr. Ibendahl said, "the state party has said it has at least a dozen people come forward who are interested in running in place of Jack. But the party refuses to say who those people are.
"This whole situation has become a train wreck, and the majority of the people in this state are not buying the idea that voters had lost confidence in Jack."
The state Republican Party sunk Mr. Ryan without remorse, said Jack Roeser, president of the conservative Family Taxpayers Network, who also wants to see Mr. Ryan return.
"He has been treated terribly unfairly," Mr. Roeser said. "Those people are rats for what they have done."
The group accused party leaders of wrongly claiming the revelations eroded public confidence in Mr. Ryan.
Calls to the state party yesterday were unreturned.
Mr. Obama has the backing of the state's Democratic machine and a lot of pull with black voters. He reported raising $4 million in the past three months.
Mr. Ryan, a wealthy investment banker, had served on a number of finance committees for Republican candidates in the state.
The state party is still trying to figure out who to run in Mr. Ryan's place.
"They keep saying this is an open process, this selection of a successor to Jack Ryan," said Cathy Santos, co-founder of Republican Young Professionals. "But not one seems to know what is going on. There is a lot of anger from the rank-and-file Republicans in this state."
If he was on the radio letting Hannity discuss these matters, do you still find him to be a coward?
If he want's back in, let him use his own money to get going again. That will tell how genuine he is.
How can politicians stand up against things like gay marriage,etc. leading such an immoral lifestyle I wonder.
Ryan is impressive on tv, a real shame. His big mistake was hiring Bill Pascoe, the incompetant GOP operative who sunk Douglas Forrester's bid vs Torricelli in 02, along with many other losers. Pascoe should be put out to pasture.
He did'nt commit adultry and the charge is hearsay.
I caught around 15 minutes on the radio (there may have been more to Hannity's show but the station cut out for 5 minute repeated news - traffic - and weather updates for the afternoon drivetime crowd).
I saw Ryan on Scarborough country last night-he must be making the rounds. What struck me the most is his total lack of responsibility in this whole mess. He should have been upront with the party and voters in the primary. The charges were in a contested custody hearing and should never have been unsealed. Jack was an idiot if he thought as a Republican, a Democratic judge who knew the stakes wouldn't unseal them. This entire thing could have been avoided if Ryan had more faith in the voters. I would feel better about him if he admitted some responsibility for what happened.
That's not the point.
He hasn't shown the courage nor conviction to fight for what he claims to be an injustice.
Ryan is content to roll up into a fetus position and cower in the corner of his skeleton filled closet.
Ditka! Ditka! Ditka! Ditka! Ditka!
It doesn't matter who the Republicans run in Illinois, Chicago will elect a dumbascrap.
I dont see the big deal at all. So he had sex with his wife. Big woop. Jimmy Carter did worse when he 'lusted in his heart'.
An immoral lifestyle wanting sex with his wife? Grant you that he wanted to do it in a public sex club, but did he want to include other people? Then there would be more of a point in the outrage, but he just wanted to be adventurous with his WIFE who turned him down and he didn't force her. I still don't see how this is such a big deal. Jeri Ryan even was supportive of his candidacy even though they divorced.
Ryan should be aware of the, "Thought Police." They only prosecute Republicans. Mr. Ryan, get back in the race and stay the course.
The evil party wins against the wimpy party
I have to firmly,respectfully disagree. If you don't get what's so vulgar about a man propositioning his wife to have sex in public in sex clubs, well there's no arguing.
Let it go, he's toast. Right or wrong, the damage has been done.
The big whoop isn't what was in the files. It's that everyone knew the files were going to come out one way or another, and he told party leaders that there was nothing embarrassing in them. How dumb is that? It's not the charge, which could have easily been dealt with by a strong candidate and a competent political team. It's that he let the party be blindsided and humiliated. Stupid and unnecessary.
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