Stroger Makes Hollywood Play
Put Down Your Nanowrimo And Leave The House
Sox Shuffle Continues
Jay-Z Announces 2010 Tour Dates. Chicago Not On List.
Yesterday the Los Angeles Superior Court released the divorce files of Republican Senate Candidate Jack Ryan and actress Jeri Ryan, revealing allegations that Jack Ryan tried to get his then-wife to have sex with him in public at various sex clubs. But the pain for Ryan doesn't stop there.
Deciding to hold a press conference, Ryan defended himself, repeatedly stating that he was always faithful to his wife and never directly responding to Jeri Ryan's allegations, instead referring to the denials made in the divorce proceedings:
"I did arrange romantic getaways for us but that did not include the type of activities she describes. 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,"
Throughout the hub-bub over the allegations themselves, a seperate, just as significant problem has arisen for Candidate Ryan: leading Illinois Republicans have begun to distance themselves from his campaign, charging that he lied to them about the nature of the allegations before the records were released. According to the Chicago Tribune, Ryan had told State Republican Chairman Judy Baar Topinka that there was nothing in the records to worry about, prompting her to make statements supporting him in the past week. And according to 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.
Chicagoist has seen the outcomes of enough political scandals to know that it is never the content of the scandal that hurts, it's the response that matters (i.e. "I did not have sex with that woman."). Already two significant Illinois Republicans have been publically betrayed by Ryan, which is going to make a recovery from this scandal very difficult.
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Yep, toast. And we're talking the kind that's all crispy and flaky from setting the browning level too high.
You could also add it's not the scandal that sinks you, but the failing of the cover-up that does you in. I am sure there are plenty of Republican voters who wished this information were out before the GOP primary, so that they could have made a fully-informed decision about whom their representative should be in the general election. In that case, perhaps the milk guy could have won, or that Rautscehnburger(sp?) guy.
The only thing that could have been worse for Jack Ryan in this case would be if he had managed to win in November, and then have the divorce papers come to light. He'd spend the next 6 years as an Illinois senator that would be joked about, and he'd make the state look bad by having him represent them.
Seeing as Barak Obama seems to be running away with the election already, I'm wondering whether the GOP leave Ryan in the campaign or whether they attempt to replace him, which would then mark two candidates' campaign records.
Kind of like the baseball manager who leaves in a starting pitcher getting shelled simply to rest the bullpen for the next game...
My comment from the earlier post on J. Toast Ryan --
Conventional wisdom: he's toast.
Next week's conventional wisdom: he's an amazing underdog who has hung in there after being socked with a scandal by yellow journalists.
The press won't be able to get to September without trying to turn this into a story of personal redemption and an amazing comeback. Very unlikely to close a 20 point gap, but Ryan's numbers will only go up from a low point this week.
Well, at least Ryan did manage to lock up the "fans of Eyes Wide Shut" vote.
"hey, what are all these naked people doing in this parisian avant-guard night club? and why aren't i wearing any pants?"
I was going to vote for Obama anyway.
Obama was going to win in a landslide anyway -- I just hope this scandal doesn't "taint" his huge victory in any way. You just know there are gonna be plenty of GOP Faux News types who will be all "Barack Obama, the freshman senator from Illinois who won election after his opponent was found to suffer occasional moral lapses...."
Ah well, at least Ryan is still kind of cute (ok, not as cute as Barack.)
What do we need Republicans for anyway?
Chicago is a Democrat town, and we don't vote for any of those hoity-toity North Side "Oh, look at me in my fancy avant-garde Parisian club" Republicans!
The Daley administration keeps this city workin' and the Democrats are the only party this town needs.
personally i think.... when i rome... do as the romans... so when they went to the bath-house... it shouldnt have been that big of a deal... oh wait... they were in paris... ahhh,... gay pari.