Posted on 08/23/2008 6:27:04 PM PDT by shrinkermd
Four years ago Obama was in a tight race with a Republican opponent--Jack Ryan. Wikipedia records what happpened.
...Ryan married actress Jeri Ryan in 1991; together they have a son, Alex Ryan. They divorced in 1999 in California, and the records of the divorce were sealed at their mutual request. Five years later, when Ryan's Senate campaign began, the Chicago Tribune newspaper and WLS-TV, the local ABC affiliate, sought to have the records released. On March 3, 2004, several of Ryan's GOP primary opponents urged release of the records.Both Ryan and his wife agreed to make their divorce records public, but not make the custody records public, claiming that the custody records could be harmful to their son if released. On March 16, 2004, Ryan won the GOP primary with 36 percent to 23 percent against Jim Oberweis who came in second. Obama won the Democratic primary, with 53 percent to 23 percent against Dan Hynes, who came in second.
Barack Obama's backers emailed reporters about the divorce controversy, but refrained from on-the-record commentary about the divorce files. On March 29, 2004, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Schnider ruled that several of the Ryans' divorce records should be opened to the public, and ruled that a court-appointed referee would later decide which custody files should remain sealed to protect the interests of Ryan's young child. The following week, on April 2, 2004, Barack Obama changed his position about the Ryans' soon-to-be-released divorce records, and called on Democrats to not inject them into the campaign. The Ryan campaign characterized Obama's shift as hypocritical, because Obama's backers had been emailing reports about the divorce records prior to Judge Schnider's decision.
On June 22, 2004, after receiving the report from the court-appointed referee, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Schnider released the files that were deemed consistent with the interests of Ryan's young child. In those files, Jeri Ryan alleged that Jack Ryan had taken her to sex clubs in several cities, intending for them to have sex in public. The decision to release these files generated much controversy because it went against both parents' direct request, and because it reversed the earlier decision to seal the papers in the best interest of the child. Jim Oberweis, Ryan's defeated GOP opponent, commented that "these are allegations made in a divorce hearing, and we all know people tend to say things that aren't necessarily true in divorce proceedings when there is money involved and custody of children involved."
Prior to release of the documents, Ryan had told leading Republicans that five percent of the divorce file could cause problems for his campaign. But after the documents were released, GOP officials including state GOP Chair Judy Baar Topinka said they felt Ryan had misleadingly indicated the divorce records would not be embarrassing.That charge of dishonesty led to intensifying calls for Ryan's withdrawal, though Topinka said after the June 25 withdrawal that Ryan's "decision was a personal one" and that the state GOP had not pressured Ryan to drop out. Ryan's campaign ended less than a week after the custody records were opened, and Ryan officially filed the documentation to withdraw on July 29, 2004. The same party leaders who called for Ryan's resignation controversially chose Alan Keyes as Ryan's replacement in the race; Keyes lost to Obama, 27% to 70%.
I>Subsequent to his withdrawal from the U.S. Senate race in Illinois, Jack Ryan has characterized what happened to him as a "new low for politics in America". According to Ryan, it was unprecedented in American politics for a newspaper to sue for access to sealed custody documents. Ryan opposed unsealing the divorce records of Senator John Kerry during Kerry's race against George W. Bush in 2004, and Kerry's divorce records remained sealed. Ryan has made this request: "let me be the only person this has happened to. Don’t ask for Ted Kennedy’s. Don’t ask for John McCain’s. Don’t ask for Joe Lieberman’s. Just stop. This is not a good precedent for American society if you really want the best and brightest to run."
The Wikipedia link is: HERE.
Obama has been groomed by the far left, liberal intellgentsia and they have made the way for him such that his present race is a real contest. Ordinarily he is just given a pass to office holder status.
Hope for a fair election, but the norms are based on South Chicago.
bump
I remember it quite well. The RINO/Rodent Combine ran out the best Senator from IL since Ev Dirksen with Pete Fitzgerald, and thanks to that, we all got Obama.
yeah, i read the same.
also, the way that his organization surprised a political pro like hillary
is interesting.
someone went around the country district by district and calculated an edge for obama.
I remember, it was big news up in Chicagoland on WLS/the ‘rokon show’.
They slobber over Nobama nowdays. Its a pathetic radio show.
this is one of the reasons that rush
keeps saying that there’s someone behind obama.
I don’t trust divorce records anyway. People will say anything when it comes to trying to get a big share of the money or when it comes to custody.
Ryan is right. Those records should be private.
I remember it well too, however I’m pretty sure Obama was leading Ryan. These jackals have no problem going after those who they deem evil (Republicans, Christians) because they feel they deserve it. Different story when it’s John Edwards, NJ’s governor, someone on their side.
“I remember, it was big news up in Chicagoland on WLS/the ‘rokon show’.”
Uh, that would be the “Roe Conn Show.” Roe is a liberal who used to be fairly indiscriminate with whom he blasted (he was an equal-opportunity satirist, so to speak). However, he has pretty much made it clear he is in the tank for Obama.
Not only was Ryan run out by the media/courts but the Democrat expected to win the primary was whacked with the release of information regarding a sexual harassment suit which amounted almost to a hill of beans.
BUT the Democrats this time underestimated the opposition the rest of the nation will show to electing an Illinois politician. Those not corrupt to the core are dumb as hell. This one is both.
Interesting- Pat Caddel was just on the panel on FOX- someone said isn't Biden a good pick for Obama- Caddel said he'd like to know who's REALLY doing the picking and mentioned the Daley machine in Chicago..and that if the press wasn't so busy covering for Obama they might be looking into his background.
Not guilty!
...but we still like Seven-of-Nine....:^)
I recall Obama claiming that he had “always been the underdog.” If he was leading Ryan, I’m sure it wasn’t by the margin by which he eventually beat Keyes.
Obambi would be bussing tables in some Chicago restaurant right now if the IL GOP had any brass ones. What the Chicago LIBune did was uncalled for, but Judy Barr Topinka literally through Jack Ryan under the bus. She had higher office aspirations, so she had to eliminate any controversy (she eventually got her butt kicked in the Governor’s race).
Jack Ryan is a good man. He would have served his IL constituency with integrity. Instead we ended up with carpetbagger Keyes and the rest is history. Now we have the unique distinction of having two of the most liberal U.S. Senators...Durbin and Obambi.
What happened to Jack Ryan was completely unjust. The Chicago media is so biased, it’s a virtual auxiliary of the state Democrat Party.
Chicago observers might remember that Obama’s first election to the state Senate was similar to this. State Senator Alice Palmer ran for Congress and indicated support for Obama to succeed her in the state Senate. But Palmer was defeated in the DemocRAT primary by Jesse Jackson, Jr. So she decided to run for reelection, but Obama, who was already running, got her disqualified from the race by challenging some of her campaign’s signatures.
For what it’s worth, Palmer endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.
No accident. The community organizer was successful in challenging enough signatures on his opponents, I forget the name of the form candidates have signed by voters to be eligible, to have them disqualified. Including the incumbent, Alice Palmer. Essentially he ran unopposed.
Maybe someone else will know, but I think there is another case of unsealed divorce records in his background. Perhaps his Senate primary, perhaps his Congressional primary challenge to Bobby Rush.
Yes, I heard that story yesterday. In his book he says he just went door to door talking to people, and golly, enough of them must have liked what he said, because somehow he ended up winning the election. It’s pure fiction.
Truth is, there was a long time extreme left wing activist in that State Senate seat, who decided to run for Congress. She told her “friend” Obama that she wanted him to succeed her. Then, Jesse Jackson Jr., and the head of the Cook County Democratic Party both decided to run for that seat, and sucked away all her support. So she decided to run for reelection. She had only a few days to collect 750 signatures, and turned in 1600. Barak, with $15,000 donated by his backers, hired lawyers to go over each and every signature and challenge them in court. They also did the same with the other candidates. When they were done, Obama was the only Democratic primary candidate left on the ballot in an overwhelmingly Democrat district. No wonder Barry left it out of his book.
Sort of reminds me of the Inver Brass in Robert Ludlum’s book “The Icarus Agenda” Hummmmmm?
Here's a story from later in the race. Obama visited Freeport for a rally at the public library with Dick Durbin in tow, so I, my wife and some pro-life friends went down to greet him. We were waiting for two hours before he got there and had lots of exchanges with local Dems. There was this one guy who kept going into the library and then coming out to lay a real crusher of a comment on us, and every single time my wife smacked him down. Here's a typical exchange:
Dem dipstick: Hey, let's all go to the sex shops like JACK RYAN!! [This was accompanied by hand motions and hip swivels that were just short of public indecency]
My wife: No, that's all right sir, you can go on ahead. We aren't into that sort of thing.
He wandered off, completely confused. Man, I love that girl!
From http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/29/obamas.first.campaign/index.html: "In his first race for office, seeking a state Senate seat on Chicago's gritty South Side in 1996, Obama effectively used election rules to eliminate his Democratic competition."
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama: "In 2000, [Obama] lost a Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one.
As described on this thread, Obama's dirty tactics against Jack Ryan in 2004 again knocked a strong opponent out of the race.
So, we will see how it goes in the next 10 weeks. If Obama can can get John McCain kicked out of the race, he wins.
If not, in my humble opinion... 
Obama doesn't have a chinaman's chance.
No description of Obama’s relationship with the Chicago press can ignore the benefits of Obama’s ties to local strategist David Axelrod, a former reporter for the Tribune, a frequent source for local reporters, and on good terms with most of the paper’s editors. Fortuitously for Obama, Axelrod began the 2004 Senate primary cycle by engaging in early discussions with Obama’s best-funded rival, Blair Hull. Those discussions included Axelrod asking Hull to confirm or deny rumors of spousal abuse; Axelrod told Mendell that Hull offered a “glacial” and evasive answer. Unsurprisingly, Axelrod lost interest in Hull shortly after that.As the primary heated up, a consultant for one of Obama’s rivals handed Tribune reporter Mendell a packet of opposition research on Hull — the documents noted that he had been divorced three times, and that his second wife had been granted a court order of protection from him.
That prompted the Chicago media to demand Hull unseal his divorce records, and his campaign ultimately showed them to Mendell. The contents were devastating — allegations of abuse and threats. Mendell makes clear in his book that a non-Obama candidate provided him with the research.
Oddly, within a few months, dogged efforts on the part of the local press would eliminate another Obama rival, this time in the general election. Republican Jack Ryan seemed to be out of central casting — handsome, independently wealthy, sharing the name of a Tom Clancy hero.
But once again, the Tribune and a local television station launched a crusade to unseal the candidate’s divorce records. Ryan, his ex-wife (actress Jeri Ryan, best known for playing a cybernetic bombshell on Star Trek: Voyager), and his supporters argued that his nine-year-old son ought to be spared the messy details of his contentious divorce. A California judge ordered the records unsealed, and the entire political world heard accusations that the candidate urged his unwilling wife to have public sex in clubs in New York and Paris. Ryan denied the allegations, but no candidacy could survive a revelation like that.
http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=YjE4OWQ2NDIyNTkzYjg2YThlNjU1YmNjMWFjNzk3YjY=
Actually, Jeri Ryan came out during the scandal and tried to do some damage control, saying she knew Jack would make an excellent Senator.
Didn’t work.
Obama, The Columbia days: "While at Columbia, he lived off campus. He claims to have spent his first night sleeping in an alley near the corner of 109th and Amsterdam Avenue and washing with the homeless next to an open fire hydrant. (This, regardless of the fact that there is no alley at 109th and Amsterdam Avenue - perhaps Mr. Obama is confusing New York, which has few alleys, with Chicago, where every block is transected by an alleyway for trash.)"
Not to be the grammar police, but if she literally threw him under the bus he would be dead with tire tracks on him.
There is a good Rebulican State Senator from downstate LaSalle County named Gary Dahl. Other than him, this place is pathetic. The Emil Jones charade with his kid and the Meeks threat to the suburban schools makes you wonder if there is a future for this state. If Daley is calling the shots for Obama, then it makes sense. Daley is a socialist thug, and sees himself as king.
I only hope a few more of Obama’s homosexual lovers and crack buddies come out of the woodwork.
All funny aside - I very well think that it could be the NWO folks putting their “chosen one” in office. They need a brainless idiot puppet to get the remaining power.
One World Government IS coming - maybe sooner than many think.
What goes around comes around.
.
LOL!
Excellent potlatch!
that’s hysterical!
it’s what he wants people to think.
i doubt that he’s ever done without.
Got it in email or somewhere.
ping
Seriously, On O’Reilly’s show the other day they did a full show on Obama and the next night they did Sen. McCain and they said that Obama claimed to have slept in an alley so I googled it.
http://www.wikicu.com/Barack_Obama
*Caddel said he’d like to know who’s REALLY doing the picking and mentioned the Daley machine in Chicago*
I think it is way beyond the Daleys and starts with Soros.
The various Marxist in his background, and slick movers, would also explain how Hillary was toppled.
Who would have thought that would have happened.
There is a major machine at work.
another bill clinton psychopath.
reality is whatever is convenient at the moment.
Yes Obama had Palmer and another person thrown off the ballot and he ran unopposed.
Dirty Barack Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3Ned5TQoW4
I think it’s Soros funded groups that form the nucleus of Obama’s support. There are also some Democrats who are not happy with the Clintons and see them as a threat to their ambitions. The Kennedys fit into this latter group.
Thanks very much for the ping, DAVEY. Great post doc. Informative, educational. Thanks. Terrific thread BUMP! Thanks to all contributors.
Yes, I remember this, too. I especially thought of it a lot when Lerch was running back in 2004, and couldn’t believe how the media was so silent on his first marriage and subsequent divorce.
And it’s just SO hypocritical of Obambi, since so much of what he and his wife have been involved with is “sealed” or unavailable. God really has a way of getting back at people. That “what goes around, comes around” principle will hopefully kick in with the Chosen One soon, let’s hope!
Well, there's Arkancide, and then there's Obamacide.
Yes, who sent Obama?
(my new tagline)
Your graphic is excellent!
He’s tried to pass himself off as The One who voted against the war.
That was stoopid.
Thanks DC. I got that in email so it’s free for all, lol.
Honest Abe indeed, snort.
“I only hope a few more of Obama’s homosexual lovers and crack buddies come out of the woodwork.”
I sure hope so! It appears Sinclair’s fling with Obama is not panning out with his shifting stories....does Obama have any other lovers stashed in the closet?
We need to ask Congressman Foley and other Log Cabin Republican congressional pages if they know these guys.
http://www.daylife.com/photo/057obOY6ob4OA
I know...that’s dirty but opening up divorce records is pretty dirty too. Obama needs to taste his own medicine.
Why was Obama up this far North anyway during the rumor fling with Larry? Great America Six Flags Gurnee is closed in November.
I do know Obama and State Senator Terry Link are good friends.
Crooks like other Crooks.
Link got caught in a scandal.
“Sen. Link campaign workers indicted for forging names on petitions”
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=227391
I’m ready to kick butt.
We’re getting a Republican back in to clean up the cesspool.
I don’t know which made me more sick. Fitzgerald (imperfect but gold for this state) forced out by RINOs (probably with Hastert’s blessing). I wish he had toughed it out.
Or Ryan (who seemed very good himself) forced out by the media for the world’s first and only sex scandal involving his OWN WIFE.
Then the brain trust thinks “we NEED to find a black guy and since their are none in Chicago let’s get Alan Keyes”.
Total joke. Might as well have recruited Mike Ditka.
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