Yet Ryan had a problem - during the campaign, he was going through a messy divorce from actress Jeri Ryan, of “Star Trek: Voyager” fame. Details of Jeri Ryan’s testimony contained lurid details about Ryan forcing his wife to go to sex clubs in Paris. These details were toxic to Jack Ryan’s campaign, and he saw his poll numbers plummet - eventually, Republican leaders pressed Ryan to quit the race, fearing he was toxic to the statewide ticket.Interesting twists. Sometimes success is being in the right place at the right time.
Eventually, Ryan bowed out, leaving the Illinois Republican Party to find a candidate to run against Obama. This led to the national embarrassment of Alan Keyes moving to Illinois to run. Naturally, Obama won 70%-27%, buoyed by his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention.
The rest is history. Certainly, Obama deserves all the credit for the way he has excited Democratic crowds around the country - leading to his rout of Hillary Clinton in Iowa. And he may have beaten Jack Ryan on his own. But it’s fascinating to think that the salacious testimony of a woman scorned could one day fundamentally alter the path of the world in which we live. Without it, Barack Obama could still be sitting in the Illinois statehouse, planning his next political move.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Did Seven of Nine Help Barak Obama
We are talking about actress Jeri Ryan and her role (albeit a reluctant role) in Obama's 2004 Senate win. Details here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
It should be noted that the records in which the testimony appeared were sealed, and were leaked from some judge's office.
Post a Comment