Historians and history buffs like to play the “what if” game.
You know what I mean: what if we had not won our war of independence? What is Lincoln had not been assassinated—or JFK? And speaking of JFK, what if we known about JFK’s horndog proclivities before he was elected—or after?
Even non-history types indulge in this by asking questions like “what if Al Gore had that slam-dunk win in 2000, like all the cognoscente said he would?
So it’s only appropriate that some people are now doing pre-history “what if” games.
Christian Schneider at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute is blogging about the chain of events that led to Obama’s election as Illinois Senator in 2004.
This is obviously old news to those of us who live here, but it is getting a lot of attention from the rest of the country, in the wake of the Obama boom.
Recall that Obama was one of a crowded field of Dem candidates for Peter Fitzgerald’s Senate seat. But Obama was victorious with 53% of the vote.
Things were a little messy on the GOP side. Jack Ryan had all the right stuff—he was attractive, wealthy and had two Ivy League degrees. He made a fortune at Goldman Sach, then left to teach school in the inner city. What’s not to like, right?
What ultimately did Ryan in was the ugly divorce he was going through during the campaign. The details of his divorce to actress Jeri Ryan leaked out and included the fact that he forced her to go to sex clubs when they were in Paris. Now if Ryan would have been a Democrat, this would have been no big deal, but when the GOP leadership found out about this, they feared Ryan would hurt the whole statewide GOP slate and forced him to get out of the race.
Then, in a stroke of genius, the GOP leadership decided to get Alan Keyes to run in Ryans place against Obama. Sheesh!
The rest, as they say, is (recent) history; Obama went on to win 70%-27%.
I suppose it’s possible that Obama would have still won over Ryan, but who knows?
Jeri Ryan: the John Wilkes Booth of our time!
QC Examiner 
I believe that there was a sense of inevitability in that race – there appeared to be no stopping Obama. Let’s face it, he is the golden-child, one who it will be hard to criticize.
Look at the Jesse Jackson campaigns of the past. The man was an (corporate) extortionist, a (likely) tax-cheat and (later determined) an adulterer who had a child out of wedlock. If a Republican was these things, he’d likely be in jail, but this was a black liberal and if these issues are even discussed, it is called – RACISM.
This will be the toughest issue should he win the nomination – how do the Republicans run an effective campaign against him (without being called racist)?
I agree about the problems facing any opponent of Obama—I think Hillary and Edwards have had difficulties in how to attack him, too.
But it looks like opponents will have the same problem with Hillary. The idea she has planted that the “boys” were ganging up on her, and playing the crying game will cause trouble for any male—white or black opposing her, although Obama might have it easier.
To Obama’s credit, although he is black, he is not running as a black candidate (like Jackson and Sharpton), and his campaign so far has been amazingly race-free—at least on his end.
Hillary playing the gender/victim card will be bad news for everyone.
The whole identity politics game is toxic.
I agree that Obama has been running a colr-free race. He has to…if he runs a ‘black’ campaign, he’ll have the same fate as Sharpton & jackson.
As for Hillary, I don’t know. I do not know that sexism has the same consequences as racism. In fact, since she is so calculating and such a witch, I think that this issue is more muted.
Expect Hillary to use outside sources to take shots at Obama. I was surprised she used Bill to take the shot on his pre-War stance. I expected her to use a more distant source. Perhaps she was looking to use Bills high profile to stick in the wedge. If you pick up a rattlesnake don’t expect it not to try and bite you. If you take on someone like Hillary don’t let those crocodile tears fool you in to thinking she isn’t looking to sink her claws in to your throat.
So true, Scoundrel, which is why I pray that Hillary doesn’t get the nomination.
Another 4-8 years of Clinton partisan warfare would be beyond the beyond.
We’ll party like it’s 1992, except this time the Clinton-haters have internet connection and it will eclipse the venom and bile the Bush-haters have spewn to date.
Spare us, please! Don’t take us back to the future!
I still believe that Obama, should he get the nomination will be tougher to beat. My thinking,
Hillary has such high negatives, I believe her to be unable to get the Independants the way that Obama (the ‘Oprah Factor) can.
I am hopeful that the left comes out in force and does what they do best – put forth the candidate that has the most obstacles in the run for the White House as their nominee (Hillary).