Hotline Says—He’s Out
Sources close to ex-teacher/ex-Goldman Sachs exec. Jack Ryan (R) tell The Hotline that the candidate will announce his withdrawal from the race this afternoon. With virtually no internal support from the IL GOP leadership, Ryan had no choice. Members of the GOP exec. cmte will likely tout IL Board of Ed. member Ronald Gidwitz as Ryan’s replacement on the ballot against state Sen. Barack Obama (D).
Ryan’s formal announcement will happen after he finishes making calls to family, friends and supporters (Hotline reporting, 6/25).
Let the scrum begin.
Update: WGN is going to carry his announcement live.
UPDATE 2: Leader reports conservative conference call at 1:30, Jack’s public comments at 2:30. May or may not be accurate.
UPDATE: No speech, but perhaps a statement. I missed Science Friday for this?
June 25th, 2004 at
do you know what time the announcement is?
June 25th, 2004 at
On WGN they are on site broadcasting, but rumors are floating that he might not make an announcement.
June 25th, 2004 at
If they are going to cary it, he will need to anounce before the Cubs game.
OneMan
June 25th, 2004 at
That may be exactly what he is thinking…
He at least got this timing right–afternoon on a Friday with the Cubs-Sox game.
June 25th, 2004 at
OneMan, spoken like a true Cubs fan. Hey, Hey Holy Mackerel.
June 25th, 2004 at
Actually a Sox fan. You can put it on the board, yes!
June 25th, 2004 at
Have you seen this from the Illinois Leader:
“This afternoon, Leader Media President Dan Proft announced that IllinoisLeader.com plans to file suit to obtain Massachusett’s Senator John Kerry’s divorce records.
Developing story . . .”
June 25th, 2004 at
“I missed Science Friday for this?”
Up here in ‘BEZ-land, we miss Science Friday every week for Tavis Smiley… TAVIS SMILEY!
June 25th, 2004 at
On WGN, it sounds like they’re going to read a short statement from the Ryan campaign at 2:30, right before the Cubs-Sox pregame show.
Steve Cochoran (sp?) noted that he’d vote twice for JERI Ryan and then it was back to the baseball, baby.
June 25th, 2004 at
Okay, not so much with that statement reading thing. They’ll break into the game if Ryan steps up to a podium and says something of any interest. That’s really annoying. I’d rather just have the baseball at this point.
June 25th, 2004 at
The “Big Tent” republicans have no room for a Robosexual!!
June 25th, 2004 at
–Up here in ‘BEZ-land, we miss Science Friday every week for Tavis Smiley… TAVIS SMILEY!
A man with a voice for print.
June 25th, 2004 at
How very strange that the Leader is choosing to go after…Kerry? Um, ok. Why Kerry? This was almost entirely a Republican internal thing. The divorce thing was brought up in the Republican Primary by a Republican opponent to Jack Ryan; the suit was brought by the conservative Tribune; the GOP party leaders here in Illinois forced Ryan’s hand.
What the hell does a Democrat have to do with any of this?
June 25th, 2004 at
Can they Replace Him?
I suppose I should point out that Ryan has withdrawn from the race. As usual, Archpundit has been all over this. According to Eric Zorn, who has been an invaluable resource in doing a roundup of the reaction to Ryan’s scandal, the head of the Lib…
June 25th, 2004 at
What’s happening? What’s happening? Atrios says he’s out, but he doesn’t live here… Have been at Fahrenheit 9/11 all morning and just got back (go see it folks).
June 25th, 2004 at
Kenneth,
Of course you are right, but when does common sense matter? Here is an expanded statement from Dan Proft at IllinoisLeader.com: “The Chicago Tribune and a Los Angeles Family Court judge have established a new standard for the release of marital and custodial documents,” said Proft referring to the recent Jack Ryan decision. “Okay, then everyone in the public arena needs to be held to that standard. John Kerry is the start but there will be others we will seek to hold to this new standard.”
Proft was a paid staffer for Ryan.
June 25th, 2004 at
Daily Kos frames the issue as “Republicans Succeed in Using a Sex Scandal to Overturn an Election”
http://dailykos.com/story/2004/6/25/15157/3309
June 25th, 2004 at
The problem is Jack! was Rove’s choice number three. The Republicans wanted the guy until he lied to them.
June 25th, 2004 at
Kenneth G. Cavness: “What the hell does a Democrat have to do with any of this?”
Maybe they just recognized a promising tactic when they saw one?
Although given how long Kerry’s been in elected office, I’d be mighty surprised if his divorce hasn’t already been oppo-researched.