2004

The Talking Points

ArchPundit June 22, 2004 3 Comments

Gotta Give it to the Leader that they just posted the talking points for Jack Ryan:

Imagine all the divorced political leaders we have – Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Jon Corzine, John McCain, just to name a few – have their divorce records been unsealed? Is the media even demanding them?

Yeah, imagine that:

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) – John McCain gave up his interest in two homes and agreed to pay $1,625 a month in alimony and child support when he divorced his first wife 20 years ago, court records show.

The senator and Republican presidential candidate divorced his wife Carol in 1980 when he was a Navy captain with a home of record in Orange Park, Fla., about 12 miles south of Jacksonville.

McCain, 63, gave her his interest in homes in Alexandria, Va., and South Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., according to records of the divorce settlement obtained by The Associated Press and other newspapers.

McCain has admitted that he wasn’t faithful and instead of trying to hide it, he settled the case. I’m betting Kennedy settled as well, not that it helps his reputation. The beached whale pic of him nude sunbathing probably did more harm than any other revelation anyway. The reality is that most divorce files are publicly available as are most custody files. The fact that Jack had them sealed is notable.

If anyone wants to look up the Handlin vs. Handlin case from 1971, you’ll find plenty of hate, vitriol, and some down right pettiness from my parents, but I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be public. It is quite embarrassing (who the hell needs a court order to keep one parent from cutting the child’s hair?–my parents did). The reality is that keeping such files open keeps the system honest.

Once you go down this path, who in his right mind would ever want to run for office?

Someone not stupid enough to think it won’t come out and discloses embarrasing information about themselves before running. Like, oh, I don’t know–Barack Obama did about cocaine use as a youth.

I’m not going through them all, but it is a bad response. It’ll only keep the issue alive. He needs it to go away, not prove he is right. Going to war with the press is stupid and counterproductive. The proper way to proceed is take responsibility, accept that his statements could have been misconstrued, apologize to supporters and the party, and then, find a message–something he hasn’t been able to do before.

Extended entry has the whole list. Enjoy.
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In Perspective

ArchPundit June 22, 2004 8 Comments

1) that he frequented sex clubs isn’t so much a scandal as much as hiding it for months and then fudging. Today on 848–linked to below, he says he something like three places that made her uncomfortable. It isn’t the action as much as trying to hide it. Now he is pretty much admitting something along those lines occurred.

2) the issue is a GOP issue. One, by dragging this out, he has wasted a ton of time to get the voters to know him. Two, he lied to party leaders. They don’t take kindly to that. As I said in a private e-mail earlier–he isn’t going to have to watch his back, the GOP mob will be coming at him from the front.

3) Why are they mad? Remember, no one expects this guy to win, they wanted a reasonable attractive candidate to motivate the party faithful to show up on election day. mentioned previously

here

and

here

If had had lived through the primary with this information then the GOP could reasonably say it has been dealt with. Not now.

4) The guy is just friggen stupid. When Rod McCulloch made the charges public in March who the hell wouldn’t know the file would come out? If not by the Court than by whomever was passing around the file? Ryan knew McCulloch had seen an accurate file. This is a colossally stupid blunder.

5) He will never get on message now. The reporters will keep asking until they get answers he isn’t going to say and they are going to treat him like a hostile witness.

Remember To Donate

ArchPundit June 22, 2004 4 Comments

To Obama–he could now be facing a far better challenger so let’s make sure getting in that race is unattractive. The ad is down due to difficulties with Blogads, but will be back soon. For now Donate Here!

In Other News

ArchPundit June 22, 2004 2 Comments

Ghost in the Machine is released today, Chris Rhodes gives his take on it…..

And some of the funniest stuff on Jack!

oh, and Greg Kot was on 848 giving an interesting review of his new book on Wilco–and the predecessors. I’m not happy with Farrar–he just endorsed the wrong Smith in the MO-3 race.

The Best Wit in the Lege

ArchPundit June 22, 2004 No Comments

From CBS2, via the Leader

He did something like that? Only a Republican.”
~ State Senate President Emil Jones [D-Chicago]

848 is Up….

ArchPundit June 22, 2004 No Comments

Just about to listen to it….

Jack! Rod McCulloch. Train Wrecks. What more could you want?

Hit the Road, Jack

ArchPundit June 22, 2004 No Comments

The Hotline pipes in:

Hit The Road Jack?

It’s not hard to find GOPers who believe Jack Ryan’s days as the IL SEN GOP nominee are numbered. The kinky allegations trump the facts that Ryan did get joint custody and it was his wife who admitted adultery. But thanks to Blair Hull, sealed files receive a whole new level of focus in IL.

— The drumbeat to drive Ryan out of the race is bound to get louder thanks to the tribal nature of the IL GOP. Plus, the local TV newscasts are wall-to-wall, and as we all learned during the Torricelli mess in ’02, once local TV weighs in, it’s usually over.

The Other Shoe

ArchPundit June 22, 2004 1 Comment

For those keeping track, this isn’t the end. Remember, there is a file out there that isn’t redacted–it was passed around Republican circles in the Spring. From the AP on June 18th:

When the public session resumed, Schnider said he had reconsidered his earlier inclination to unseal about a half dozen paragraphs contained in the documents.

Schnider said the sections contain “personal accusations” that don’t refer to the couple’s child or reveal any information about the child.

But he said he agreed with arguments made by the attorneys for both parents that “the publicity that would be generated would become known to the child and will have a significant deleterious effect on the child.”