We’ve yet to mention Jack Ryan’s problems in Illinois. Obviously, I banned discussion of the topic, because his ex-wife has the number-one forbidden topic on her resume.
I’ve gotten two different takes on it from different trusted sources:
1) “Reports from Ilinois are devastating and his performance [yesterday] was horrendous–he was angry, defensive and the visuals made him look guilty……it’s an outrage that he didn’t put this out before and let the primary voters decide….and NRSC should have told him that….you have to appropriately vet a candidate and get it all out on the front end when there are records involved….and …his “talking points memo” blaming the liberal press is absurd. Even Fox News can’t keep a straight face on this one.”
2) “Where’s the outrage? Of course I am referring to the outrage over the release of Jack Ryan’s sealed divorce records. Not the allegations – but the fact that a California judge, on petition of two Big Media outfits, decides that their reporter’s pursuit of the purient details outweighs the family’s privacy interests. As I understand it, neither Ryan not his former wife wanted the documents unsealed, for the professed and I think quite reasonable reason that they wanted to protect their child. I think it would be a different matter if the documents showed abuse of trust, fraud, or other malfeasance that went to fitness for public office. But as far as I know, offbeat sexual enthusiasms are not a disqualifier for public service – or a career in journalism or law for that matter.”
I agree with both: It is an outrage that those records were released to the press and he seems to have handled it all wrong—allegedly having insisted to GOP officials there was nothing to worry about in the divorce records. On the bottom-line poltiics: He was behind already. What are the odds he’ll recover from this with little to no GOP backing? Seems like he should move aside. But the point that we should not be able to read his divorce proceedings on the Internet shouldn’t get lost.