Illinois has become increasingly unfriendly for the GOP. Jack Ryan might be the best bet to retain the seat being vacated by Fitzgerald.
suntimes.com
Media blitz takes Ryan to top poll position
November 26, 2003
BY STEVE NEAL SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
He's broken out of the pack. In his bid for the Senate seat that is being vacated by Republican Peter G. Fitzgerald, educator and investment banker Jack Ryan has established himself as the undisputed front-runner for the GOP nomination.
Ryan is ahead of the crowded GOP field in polls sponsored by news organizations, led his primary rivals in a DuPage Republican straw poll, and is first among senatorial hopefuls in his own state telephone poll of likely Republican voters, which showed that he is the first or second choice of 42 percent of likely GOP primary voters. The poll of 500 Republican primary voters was conducted by the Alexandria, Va., firm of Public Opinion Strategies.
When former Gov. Jim Edgar decided not to run for Fitzgerald's seat, White House political strategist Karl Rove was among the first to tout Ryan for that seat.
Among the reasons that Rove and the National GOP Senatorial Committee are excited about Ryan is that he has the personal wealth to fund a credible campaign in this Democratic state. Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and former chairman of Goldman Sachs, is Ryan's former boss and regards him as a viable contender. So does commodities millionaire Blair Hull, a contender for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, who likes and respects the GOP hopeful.
Ryan's net worth is estimated at between $37.9 million and $95.9 million. He is also actively raising money and has a finance committee that includes Bob Pritzker, Best Buy Chairman Dick Schulze, and Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson. By going on television with early commercials, Ryan solidified his lead over his primary rivals.
Others in the Republican senatorial field include North Shore businessman Andrew McKenna, state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin), retired Gen. John Borling, dairy owner Jim Oberweis, and Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria. McKenna and Rauschenberger have the potential to compete with Ryan but may not have enough time or money to catch him.
Ryan, 44, who quit his job at Goldman Sachs to teach at Hales Franciscan High School on the South Side, is bright, articulate, and is committed to improving public education, and says that government must ''stick up for the weak, the infirm, the aged, those who cannot speak up for themselves.''
The tall, dark-haired Ryan looks like the late John F. Kennedy Jr. and may also have California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ability to attract votes from beyond the GOP's base.
Ryan's television commercials have already moved his numbers up. Two-thirds of Republican primary voters are now familiar with him, compared with only half before the media blitz.
The early commercials have also helped Ryan to establish himself as a political newcomer not to be confused with former Gov. George H. Ryan, who left office earlier this year under the cloud of a federal corruption probe.
The former governor is rated unfavorably by 64 percent of GOP primary voters and is rated favorably by only 16 percent of the Republican electorate.
But Jack Ryan is being judged on his own terms. The poll indicated that 34 percent of GOP primary voters like him and only 5 percent don't.
By more than three to one, Ryan is regarded by GOP primary voters as the contender with ''the best chance of beating the Democratic candidate'' next November.
The last time that Republicans won an open seat for the U.S. Senate in Illinois was in 1928. In the 75 years since then, four Republcians have ousted sitting Democratic senators. But a GOP candidate hasn't won an open senatorial seat since Big Bill Thompson was mayor of Chicago.
Ryan's ads and his direct mail have already had impact in the GOP race. ''I just admire him for giving up money to get involved in politics,'' an elderly white conservative male said when interviewed by Public Opinion Strategies.
''He looks like the All-American guy,'' added a middle-age Republican woman from Chicago. ''I like his views on education and family issues.''
A thirtysomething male from Springfield said, ''I like that he seems to have strong values. He's a rich person who's not all about money. He seems very intelligent and very personable.''
''The first thing that came to mind,'' said a young male voter from the collar counties, ''was that his name is the same name as a character in a Tom Clancy novel.''
Jack Ryan doesn't mind that comparison. But some GOP voters are worried that he might be linked to the former governor.
''As far as Jack Ryan,'' said a young male voter from Chicago, ''he seems to set himself apart from the other Republicans. That would be a positive thing.'' But this same man noted, ''Jack Ryan is not a good name in the state right now. Not his name, or anybody with the last name Ryan. George Ryan kind of ruined anybody with the last name Ryan.''
But Jack Ryan has faith in the voting public and represents a new generation of leadership.
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