In 2004, Republican U.S. Senate primary nominee Jack Ryan was "forced" off the ballot when it became clear to him and party officials that his candidacy was badly compromised by information that had come out about him after the election-- information about his sexual predilections that was far less disquieting than the allegations and admissions in Scott Lee Cohen's past, but never mind.
I don't recall from Democrats nearly the level of phony indignation that I'm hearing today from Republicans about a denial of democracy and voters being cheated out of the candidate they chose. But I do recall distinctly that when the GOP went to replace Ryan, it ignored not only the second place finisher in the primary but all the other primary candidates. And I recall very little outrage and indignation on their behalf.
2004 Illinois U.S. Senate Primary Results
Jack Ryan 35.5%
Jim Oberweis 23.5%
Steven Rauschenberger 20.0%
Andy McKenna 14.7%
Jonathan Wright 2.6%
John Borling 2.0%
Norm Hill 0.9%
Chirinjeev Kathuria 0.8%
The party, quite sensibly, wanted to nominate the single best candidate to engage the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. Quite crazily, then, however, it handed the nomination to the entertainingly batty Alan Keyes of Maryland. You know the rest.
