Sigh. Today it's looking increasingly likely that Ryan drops out.
For one, Capitol Fax reports that Jeri stood by her statements in the divorce papers.
The ex-wife of US Senate candidate Jack Ryan issued a statement yesterday which stands behind her accusations that Ryan had dragged her to sex clubs in New York, New Orleans and Paris.
The statement, issued by her spokesperson, read thusly: "Jeri's statement can be found in the original court documents, and the truth has not changed in the last five years."
That sure looks a lot like the original statement released by Blair Hull's ex last March, before Hull was forced to publicly deny her comments and then the whole thing devolved into a bloody mess.
Just about every paper in the state is calling for Ryan to relinquish the nomination, and the Sun Times now
writes:
Beleaguered Senate Republican candidate Jack Ryan is considering quitting the race in the uproar touched off by the release of his divorce records, a Republican source told the Chicago Sun- Times on Thursday.
"He's reassessing," the source said. Ryan canceled a trip to Washington today where he had planned to appear with Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) and attend a fund raiser headlined by Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), the chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Another fund raiser that had been set for this morning with House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) was also canceled when Hastert had a meeting at the White House. That cancellation contributed to the perception that the Ryan campaign was facing opposition from one of the top political leaders in the state.
The source said that Ryan was particularly concerned that the "tabloids are going after" Jeri Lynn Ryan, his former wife who alleged that Ryan brought her to sex clubs when they were married. Jeri Ryan is a television actress known for her roles on "Star Trek" and "Boston Public."
The couple found that it was "not helpful" to refight old fights, the source said [...]
In Pike County in western Illinois, GOP County Chairman John Birch rescinded his invitation for a Ryan campaign representative to appear alongside local candidates at this weekend's county fair and ordered no Ryan signs to be posted.
"We felt it might hurt the other candidates running," Birch said.
Talking to various Democratic House campaigns in Illinois, it's clear that they all want Ryan in this game, as his presence on the ticket and the hopelessness of Bush's Illinois bid (if he's even on the ballot) could keep Republicans home.
But it's increasingly difficult to see how Ryan can survive this and carry on with his campaign.