Glenn’s Solution for the Republicans
ArchPundit
Maybe if they chose Jerry 1 we could get a really high sloping gallery to the General Assembly chambers.
Illinois Senate
Berkowitz Responds
He responds partially to McCulloch’s statement from earlier in this post. I link-you decide. I think Jeff and I agree that we both disagree on several issues.
Reasons Not To Run? About $4 Million to start
Suicide mission for the Illinois Republican eventual nominee only got worse when the Obama campaign announced they brought in $4 million last quarter.
From the press release:
Obama raised the $4 million from April 1 ? June 30, 2004, from more than 8,500 donors. Since beginning his campaign for the Senate, Obama has raised nearly $10 million.
What isn’t being said? I hear Barack is being a good soldier and raising money for the State and National Party as well–and as the election continues and if he is indeed the keynote speaker (someone make sure that speech isn’t toooo long please), he’ll be more of a draw.
Good Article Summarizing the Process the GOP Is using to Replace Ryan
Nathaniel Zimmer writes the piece every major paper should have written already on how the GOP is going to replace Jack Ryan on the ballot.
An interesting note is here:
But Dam brought up the possibility that powerful Republicans who do not sit on the committee, such as Hastert, could use their influence to put a candidate over the top. “If Hastert strongly pushes for somebody, I will respect that,” he said. “I don’t want to ignore the reality that without (national support) we will have a difficult, uphill battle.” Others, such as Smith, bridle at the prospect of intervention. “There’s a little bit of resentment of some people who don’t have a vote on the committee saying this is who it should be, almost as if they had a vote,” Smith said. “I don’t like outsiders saying this is who it should be.”
What should be noted here is that while Hastert didn’t endorse Rauschenberger he was generally supportive and said early on that Rauschenberger should be considered in the primary race. While the situation is certainly different now, one can assume the Speaker has no serious objections to Rauschenberger.
I don’t fawn over many press accounts, but I think this is an excellent nuts and bolts article that gives some good insight into how the process will work. Everyone’s been reading tea leaves (including me–that isn’t a jab at most of the print media), but this puts it into the context of how the decision is actually made.
Sign The Petition
Really, I mean, could Democrats or Political Satirists be any happier than Jack Ryan’s return to the Senate race?
Still To Come
Ryan’s interview on 20/20. Haven’t had time to get to watch it through. The full bit and a brief overview is available at the ABC 20/20 site.
Statement of Support from the Family of Former Illinois U.S. Senate Candidate Jack Ryan
The Jack! comeback trail continues–for the record, he isn’t going to try and stay in this race, but he’s clearly angling for a comeback.
CHICAGO–July 6, 2004–The family of former Illinois U.S. Senate
candidate Jack Ryan has issued the following statement of support
regarding recent events:“After witnessing the recent events and the ensuing media
coverage, we feel compelled to try to help correct some of the
allegation and innuendo surrounding this issue.“Jack has dedicated much of his life to helping others. He is
steadfast in his desire and drive to serve the public. Despite recent
events, he will continue to contribute to the lives of Illinois
children and to the betterment of our state and nation.“We are proud of Jack’s victory in the primary and believe the
campaign would have been a vigorous, deliberative discussion between
two respectable candidates focused on the issues that matter.
Fundamentally, this election could have set a benchmark for our
democracy, with an honest dialogue between two honorable public
servants.“Jack understood the consequences of putting himself in the public
eye, but is deeply disappointed that allegations made during an
emotionally charged custody case have eclipsed his drive to be a force
for good for the people of Illinois. We support his position that
these allegations should have nothing to do with his right to serve,
and that this is a sad testament to the state of our current political
system.“To be clear, Jack’s overarching desire was to protect his son
from the contents of the court records and focus the campaign on a
dialogue about the issues that truly matter. While Jack could
certainly withstand the overzealous and salacious media sideshow that
ensued, he could not – as would any caring parent – bear to have his
child and his family repeatedly confronted with this.“Ten-second sound bites and six-word headlines do not reflect the
love and commitment Jack has shown to our family and especially his
son. Jack’s commitment to being a great parent is beyond reproach.
Anyone who casts doubts on his devotion to his son is simply out of
touch.“Senator Fitzgerald demonstrated integrity and respect for Jack,
our democracy and the political process during this difficult period.
He and individuals like him represent what is good and hopeful in our
democracy.“To all of Jack’s supporters, friends, and well-wishers, we thank
you for the tremendous support you’ve given to him, and us, during
this difficult time. Jack remains undeterred in his belief that public
service is the noblest of callings, and he will continue to actively
seek ways to support his community and his country.”
A Sense of History
Barack Obama posts his statement commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and quotes Everett Dirksen.
?Stronger than all armies is an idea whose time has come. The time has come for equality of opportunity in sharing of government, in education, and in employment. It must not be stayed or denied.?
Come January, he’ll be inhabiting the same Senate Seat seat (in the historical sense) that Dirksen did. Just in case you weren’t paying attention.
Rod McCulloch’s Response to Jeff Berkowitz
More than the content directed at Jeff Berkowitz, I think this is noteworthy in its description of how McCulloch saw the file and what he says was in there. I’ll have some commentary in the next post. I made a small edit to a paragraph that doesn’t go to any of the arguments made.
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Jeff, you folks must truly be the “Vince Foster was murdered” crowd. You Ryan guys are far worse sore losers than Al Gore and his supporters ever were. Do you figure that you and the small group of dedicated Jack Ryan Kool-Aid drinkers are the only people in Illinois politics that haven’t figured out that Jack Ryan leaving the U.S. Senate race because of circumstances surrounding sex clubs in “Paris, New York, and New Orleans” bears out what I was saying in March?
So much to refute, where to start? First of all, Ryan’s paid triumvirate of fellow liars, Jason Miller, Dan Proft, and Jeff Davis, have, in my view, disqualified themselves from working in serious campaigns in Illinois, as much as Ryan has disqualified himself as a candidate. By signing confidentiality agreements before accepting their large paychecks, they in effect signed a contract to lie for the candidate. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that before in Illinois politics. Don’t get me wrong, there have been liars in politics since I started more than twenty years ago. And they have lied for all manner of reasons (protecting their candidate, keeping themselves out of trouble, because they couldn’t help themselves, etc.), but never in my experience because they signed their honesty away.
Davis is, or was, a friend of mine. I am quite sure I have moved down on his Christmas Card list. Proft has proven himself on more than one occasion to be shameless and Miller was already way out of his league when he got here. I’ll deal with Proft in a minute.
You, Berkowitz, on the other hand, are not a liar, you are just playing the role of the useful idiot. I must say it’s not very becoming. What is it about New Trier Township residents and their blind spot on Jack Ryan. You unfortunately echo the lying triumvirate’s arguments that because I didn’t get every detail (in their narrowly constricted version) correct that I must be lying.
First, I did sign an affidavit, which was different from the statement faxed around. John Chase from the Tribune among others has a copy.
Second, I have never said, or sworn that I saw the actual documents. I believe they were and that’s what I swore to and said at the time. But I haven’t and can’t totally rule out the possibility that they were clever reproductions. If they were reproductions, what was in there was pretty darn close.
Third, I had about fifteen minutes of viewing those documents in a frenzied, hurried environment. Which is about the same amount of time, incidentally, that the Dan “the Liar” Proft claims he had.
Fourth, from the moment I arrived at the state party’s fund-raising dinner (Hard Rock Hotel on Michigan Ave.) Friday night, all manner of people came up to congratulate me, including several strong Ryan supporters from early on. These people ran the gamut from one of Jack’s best volunteers from the Northwest suburbs, to a noted northside Ward Committeeman, an early Jack! supporter, to a noted national leader, and all manner in between. I will be charitable and just say that you must have been too busy chowing down to notice. At the end of that fund-raiser, you did hog several moments of my time where you made all sorts of absurd allegations and must not have listened to a word I said.
After the fund-raising dinner, there was a cocktail party on the 4th floor, which you did not attend. After a few drinks, the congratulations became longer and louder, almost to the point that it was embarrassing. Campaign workers from Rauschenberger, McKenna and Oberweis campaigns surrounded me at various times for several moments. This is not surprising since they were chanting almost in unison “Go, Rod, Go!” back in March. But the topper may have come from one of the few downstate County Chairman to support Jack. He and that county’s former Republican Chairman and their wives were in a corner of the balcony just outside the main room where this cocktail party was held, when I came out on the balcony to get away from my new-found admirers. The former Chairman waved me over when he saw me and regaled the others with his version of David vs. Goliath. The new Chairman informed me that because he had been an early Jack Ryan supporter, he killed a proposed campaign contract for me earlier in his area, but now since he knew I was telling the truth, we might be able to rehabilitate it.
“Conquering hero” might have been a little strong, but compared to the icy stares I received at some functions in March and April, it was pretty close. I say again that rather than congratulations, sadness is in order. There are times when you almost wish you weren’t right, and similar to when I was out front in the effort to warn about George Ryan, this is one of them.
Proft insists in effect that I couldn’t possibly have seen the documents because he (the great and powerful one) only saw them himself for fifteen minutes. As if these people (Proft, Miller, and Davis) were the only three people around Jack who ever had access to these documents. Laughable.
Now let’s examine the accuracy of what I actually said. I said there was an allegation of an affair. Jeri Ryan now says she has no reason to believe that Jack was unfaithful. In the documents I saw, there was an allegation by Jeri’s lawyers about an affair. If for whatever reason Jeri has now backed off that claim, fine, I said at the time in March that this was a minor part of the statement. The Ryan folks must think we have forgotten about all the redacted parts.
Second, I said that Jeri alleged that he forced her to have sexual relations against her will. This is not an allegation of rape, and your unthinking nod towards Proft on this point is beneath your intellectual level. This allegation could include a wide range of things, including sexual activity in an “avant garde” night club in Paris that Jeri was “uncomfortable” with, particularly after she had already repeatedly declined to do these things in public. Since that part of my statement was ACCURATE, I think I’ll stand by it. I never claimed that she alleged rape, or physical assault, which her recent statement ruled out. At the time of my statement, in every interview I gave, I said that this allegation was tied to the third one: the sex clubs.
Finally, I said that she alleged that he took her to sex clubs in Paris, New York, and New Orleans and forced her to have sex in public. We know that she alleges he asked her to do so in New York and New Orleans and we know that according to his own account he did indeed take her to a club in Paris where they left after they both became “uncomfortable.” Uh-huh. I think I’ll stand by that statement as well.
Bottom line is I’ll stand by my description of a fifteen minute look at those documents and proudly take the abuse of the sore losers. The political world of Illinois knows what happened. I don’t guess it has occurred to Proft, Berkowitz and the rest that if they really believed what I said was inaccurate back in March, instead of lying for Jack, they could have corrected it with the “true” version, oh, that’s right, they signed documents making them lie. But we’re supposed to believe them now.
Finally, there is a little reported fact that makes this story even juicier. It is in the Daily Herald story from the day after the Judge’s ruling. It comes from an Associated Press story that I haven’t seen anywhere else. Look at the end of the story, where it talks about “six paragraphs” that are worse than what he released. He says that he was inclined to release them, but the Ryan lawyers talked him out of it. As someone once said, you could look it up.
I know what’s in there too, but I didn’t want to go there.
Rod McCulloch
Not Even Slowing Down
A. I don’t feel that way, necessarily. I really don’t feel that I’m through with politics. I mean the voters, the people decide, not me. But I still do have this idea, which I’m confident about. This idea that take the Great Society programs, which empower institutions and then empower individuals instead. . . . And I think that’s worth fighting for.
So we will have Jack Ryan to kick around again. Brings a smile to my face.