Jack Ryan is acting an awful like a candidate.
Let’s run it down:
1) Sun-Times interview
I don’t feel I’m through with politics
2) 20/20
In a bizarre bit he said: . “I was told by almost everyone I spoke to this is a two-day story, this is not a crusher for a campaign,” he said. “The biggest reaction I got was, ‘Is that all there is?’ ”
Ummm…well, that was only your end of the files, not your ex-wife’s story in the files. Remember that little bit you left out with Governor Edgar?
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.
The thing is, if this is true and he really thought the file should be sealed on legal grounds, why didn’t he:
a) appeal (politically disastrous)
b) not figure this out in March when the accusations were released by McCulloch and figure out that there was a file out there
But the interesting section is this:
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.
Almost like a clarion call to defy the press and the party leaders.
4) Good Morning America appearance
5) Scarborough Country were he insists the ruling was out of the ordinary and unprecedented–it wasn’t.
RYAN: Well, I think it?s worthwhile looking into someone if they?ve broken a serious promise to their spouse or to someone they owe a duty to. That I think is a character issue for running for the U.S. Senate or for the presidency but the things that they?re alleging about me don?t rise to that level. So, I think it?s fair to go to those issues if they are a serious break of a promise but otherwise no.
What about to a Party Leader or a former Governor or the public or the…..
6) Hannity radio and Hannity and the useful idiot tv
7) It’s all being breathlessly reported by the Illinois Leader which has a publisher who happens to still be on the Jack! payroll.
After all of this there is no doubt this guy is going to run for something, but is he crazy enough to continue this run? One has to wonder if he isn’t trying a Perot like draft movement.
IS HE FRIGGEN NUTS? If he really thinks he can run and even do well after the fiasco he has created he is crazy. He’ll have to stay out of sight of the media more than Peter did in 1998 and Barack is no Carol Moseley Braun. The media will be ruthless or, if he is lucky, simply ignore him. He’ll have to self-fund, freeing up Barack to raise more from individuals and if he goes high enough, receive party money–though he won’t really need it.
The press will be merciless and if he thinks it was bad before, wait until he had a full frontal assault from the GOP and I don’t just mean Kjellander and Topinka. I mean the Dillards, the Syversons, the Cross’, the Watson’s who are all in danger of losing Lege seats. It’ll be a Congressional disaster that probably brings down Crane and Weller and may even make others vulnerable with low turnout.
He won’t be running against Barack Obama, he’ll be running against the Illinois GOP, and they’ll win.
And to add in a bit of bizarreness, there is still, in all likelihood, an unredacted file out there with at least 6 paragraphs that will be nasty. No Democrat will ever touch it–it will be a murder suicide by the GOP.
Only Because It Couldn’t Get More Bizarre
Only Because It Couldn’t Get More Bizarre…
I know the question of whether Jack! is “friggen nuts” was rhetorical, but: this is the same guy who thought the allegations would never become public, and if they did they wouldn’t be a political problem. I think that’s evidence that Jack! lives in an alternate universe when it comes to politics.
Here’s how I understand it.
It was important for the GOP to make Jack Ryan go away because connecting to “middle America” on “traditional values” is key to the GOP electoral strategy. Jack Ryan created too much cognitive dissonance.
But Jack Ryan is giving the GOP the worst of both worlds. He’s created a “hole” on the GOP ballot and he won’t go away as a media figure.
So maybe I don’t understand things as well as I thought.
Or maybe the pragmatic part of the GOP still wants to run Jack because of his money and the lack of a strong alternative. And Jack Ryan feels he’s been wronged and wants vindication.
Jack Ryan’s collapse may actually hurt Obama. If Obama won big (like more than Durbin vs. Durkin) against a credible candidate Obama would have a stronger claim that he’s “the real deal”. But if he scores a big victory against Ryan or some underfunded, half-hearted replacement, it won’t convey as much stature.