Friday, February 23, 2007

Barack Obama is a lightweight who is only in the Senate because the Republican opponent who would have crushed him, Jack Ryan, imploded after a sex scandal and Barack only had to beat Alan Keyes to get elected.

Buffeted by allegations of sex club forays, Republican candidate Jack Ryan on Friday dropped out of the U.S. Senate race in Illinois.

In a written statement, Ryan blamed the news media for the controversy, saying its interest in his personal life had gotten "out of control."

"It's clear to me that a vigorous debate on the issues most likely could not take place if I remain in the race," Ryan said. "What would take place, rather, is a brutal, scorched-earth campaign -- the kind of campaign that has turned off so many voters, the kind of politics I refuse to play.

"Accordingly, I am today withdrawing from the race. "

Ryan, 44, a wealthy former investment banker, had been running against Democrat Barack Obama for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Peter Fitzgerald -- a potentially key contest in the battle for control of the evenly divided Senate.

Even before the lurid allegations, Obama held a lead over Ryan in various polls.

Aides to the candidate had concluded that he could not have succeeded in his contest against Democratic state Sen. Barack Obama (search) unless he redoubled his campaign efforts with a massive infusion of cash from his personal fortune and a negative turn. That decision followed overnight polling to gauge his support in the wake of the allegations.

Ryan was said to have refused to take that route.

Republicans are now at a definite disadvantage as they try to come up with an alternative to take on Obama. Illinois Republican Party leaders were planning to meet Friday afternoon to discuss the next step.

Obama, who had been leading polls since the March primary, avoided getting in the way of Ryan's fall, and said Friday he didn't care to talk about the allegations.

Ryan conducted an overnight poll to gauge his support in the wake of the allegations made by his ex-wife in divorce records unsealed earlier this week.

The internal polling had Ryan trailing his Democratic opponent by 20 percent to 25 percent, the official said. That figure didn't worry aides as much as results showing that conservatives were peeling away from Ryan. They concluded that the only way to get Ryan's base back would be to immediately go negative on his opponent and not let up.

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Illinois GOP leaders will select another candidate. Ryan's replacement would become an instant underdog in a race in which Ryan was already training Democratic State Sen. Barack Obama.

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Ryan was seen by many as the party's best hope of revitalization after a devastating 2002 election, in which Illinois Republicans lost control of the governor's office and nearly every statewide office, and an ongoing corruption scandal involving former Gov. George Ryan, who has since been indicted.