For months, Illinois Senate candidate Jack Ryan (R) assured Republican leaders — in his home state and in DC — that his divorce files don’t contain information embarrassing enough to end his campaign. It’s a promise he may regret making.
Just to be clear, I really don’t care about Ryan’s personal life. The recently-released documents are, however, causing a significant political controversy for a candidate that is struggling to compete anyway.
Ryan’s Dem opponent, State Sen. Barack Obama, to his credit, isn’t going anywhere near this. Obama has made it clear that he doesn’t want the salacious details to play any role in the campaign whatsoever.
However, the problem for Ryan isn’t what the Dems think; it’s what his fellow Republicans think.
Over the weekend, the state party already started weighing other options.
State Republican leaders asked the Republican National Committee recently whether they had the authority to name a replacement candidate if Ryan decided to withdraw, according to a Republican source speaking only on condition of anonymity. The source said the RNC told them the state party did have such authority.
At least one GOP lawmaker wants to replace him immediately.
In recent days, Ryan has tried to shore up support from Republican leaders, but one GOP member of the Illinois congressional delegation, Rep. Ray LaHood, called Monday for Ryan to withdraw as a candidate.
“There’s no way the people of Illinois are going to countenance this behavior from a Senate candidate from the Republican Party,” LaHood said.
Ryan continues to put a brave face on things, but his language reveals an unshakable problem.
Republican Jack Ryan vowed to stay in the race for U.S. Senate despite embarrassing allegations that he tried to pressure his former wife to perform sex acts in clubs while others watched.
“My intention is to stay in the race,” Ryan said Monday.
Once a candidate has to answer questions about whether he or she will even be in the race on Election Day, the candidate’s done. And use of the word “intention” doesn’t exactly convey confidence in the future.
Ryan was going to lose to Obama anyway, but this solidifies the results.
So, if Ryan is forced out, who will take his place? Almost certainly one of the candidates Ryan crushed in the GOP primary. There’s dairy magnate Jim Oberweis, state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger, and businessman Andy McKenna. But if they couldn’t beat Ryan in the primary, how could they beat Obama statewide?