Obama vs. Ryan. Those are comforting words in Chicago. They comfort, in part, because Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is the architect of the Republican economic plan that the Obama campaign has spent months attempting to link to Mitt Romney. That job just got easier.
Obama vs. Ryan is also a reminder of how the Republican Party can shoot itself in the foot when faced with Barack Obama.
Let us revisit Illinois politics at the beginning of 2004. Rod Blagojevich was the incumbent governor, replacing the scandal-ridden George Ryan. (It is hard to remember, now that both men are convicts, that Blagojevich won his race pledging to clean up Springfield.) That March, Barack Obama fended off several opponents with advantages of money and name recognition to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Republicans nominated a photogenic, charismatic, young candidate named Jack Ryan. He lacked much of a record, or a platform, but his was a campaign that appealed to suburban moderates. That is how Republicans can win statewide office in Illinois. The pick was as solid as the party could muster.
Jack Ryan, though a political neophyte, came with a couple of pieces of baggage. One, his last name was the same as the disgraced ex-governor's. His response to that problem was to play down the last name and issue signs and bumper stickers declaring, simply, "Jack!"
Two, his primary opponents murmured ominous warnings about what lurked in the sealed records of Ryan's divorce with actress Jeri Ryan. Jack! refused to unseal the files, despite a drumbeat of demands from the media. In June, the presiding judge unsealed the files, revealing Jack! pressured his wife to attend sex clubs with him. This outraged the conservative base of the Illinois Republican Party, and two days later, Jack! dropped out of the race.
Then in July, Barack Obama made a speech in Boston. You may remember how that turned out. The inspirational star of the Democratic convention now had national attention -- and no opponent. Illinois Republicans had, as Archpundit called it, a conundrum.
Illinois Republican leaders then met to determine a replacement for Jack! In their infinite wisdom, they selected Alan Keyes, a man who thought George W. Bush was too liberal, had tax questions dogging him, and had a reputation (among some) as a dynamic debater.
In a year when George W. Bush increased his share of the popular vote, when Republicans made gains in the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama was elected to a Senate seat previously held by Republican Peter Fitzgerald with 70% of the vote.
Now, Paul Ryan's selection by Mitt Romney will not lead to President Obama getting 70% of the vote. But as the Obama camp alerts senior voters to the potential end of Medicare as we know it and further cements the Romney-Ryan team as the ticket of billionaires profiting off the misfortune of the middle class, memories of how another fresh-faced Ryan's campaign went must cause a smile or two in Chicago this morning.
[Hat tip to Archpundit for retaining his archives of the 2004 race.]