http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Could-Mike-Ditka-have-derailed-Barack-Obama-s-as?urn=nfl,115837&cp=56
Could Mike Ditka have derailed Barack Obama's ascendancy?
By Chris Chase
Barack Obama's easy win in the 2004 Illinois Senate race catapulted him to national fame and set him on his current path toward the White House. It was a convincing victory that is now but a footnote in the career of the Democratic presidential nominee. But that victory wasn't as assured as it appears in retrospect. For a few days in the summer of '04 there was the very real possibility that the Republican opponent in Obama's first major election battle race would be Chicago Bears coaching legend Mike Ditka.
Jack Ryan had won the Republican primary that year, but dropped out of the race after the release of embarrassing papers from his high-profile divorce with actress Jeri Ryan. The vacancy left GOP leaders in the state scrambling to find a replacement. With fears that the election was all but lost, Republicans wanted a major name to turn the tide. Ditka was that name.
For days the press played up the "will he or won't he" stories about Ditka's possible candidacy. The Drudge Report even said that Ditka would declare his entry into the race. But, in the end, Ditka rebuffed the offer, saying he didn't want to go through the rigors of a campaign or give up his lucrative jobs as an NFL analyst at ESPN or as an endorser of a casino and car dealership.
There's no way to know whether Ditka would have won but, remember, Obama was still a virtual unknown in Illinois in June of '04. Had Ditka run and won, Obama most-assuredly wouldn't be running for president today. Either way, the Hall of Famer almost certainly would have received more than the 27% of votes that eventual nominee Alan Keyes garnered in November. And you know he'd have locked up the endorsements of these three potential voters.
Now Ditka I could have voted for.
carguy123 wrote:
Now Ditka I could have voted for.
but would you have voted for him against Jack Ryan?
mtn
Dork
10/19/08 11:16 p.m.
MrJoshua wrote:
carguy123 wrote:
Now Ditka I could have voted for.
but would you have voted for him against Jack Ryan?
EDIT: Just noticed my stupidity here, forgot about The Hunt For Red October
Non-issue. Ditka didn't run in the primaries. Illinois Republicans are still hurting from their idiotic choice of Alan Keyes (who I actually liked).
The way I see it, the republicans knew that they had to throw a Ditka-like figure out there as the only way they could have had a chance against Obama--Ditka is kinda on par with God here in Chi town. When they couldn't get Da Coach, they went with the weirdest guy who applied.
MrJoshua wrote:
carguy123 wrote:
Now Ditka I could have voted for.
but would you have voted for him against Jack Ryan?
BERKELEY YES I'd vote for Jack Ryan!
So you got Coach Ditka vs. Obama......now is this full sized Coach Ditka, or mini Ditka we're talking bout? Cause if it's mini Ditka, I"m thinking Obama 1%, and Da Coach 99%.
Now if you're talking full sized Ditka, there would be no election cause Obama would get scared and quit da race. Having Da Coach in office would mean sure championships for the BEARS, Bulls, Sox and Hawks. The cubs would still lose though. Ditka can only do so much.
Joe Gearin wrote:
So you got Coach Ditka vs. Obama......now is this full sized Coach Ditka, or mini Ditka we're talking bout? Cause if it's mini Ditka, I"m thinking Obama 1%, and Da Coach 99%.
Now if you're talking full sized Ditka, there would be no election cause Obama would get scared and quit da race. Having Da Coach in office would mean sure championships for the BEARS, Bulls, Sox and Hawks. The cubs would still lose though. Ditka can only do so much.
Damn you, you beat me to it!
"Ditka 49 the Giants 3."
Hey come on! He was probably busy having a heart attack at the time...
Daaaaaaa bears, da bears, da bears, da bears da bears, da bulls, da bears da bears ............
dream sequence:
Ditka, kielbasa sausage, Bulls, bratwurst, Bears, Butkis, Old Style....Bears.....
OK. Jeopardy. Ditka versiss Gad. Subject: Da Bible. Who wins?
Ditka.
