Liberal media hope springs eternal that House Speaker Paul Ryan will lose his southeastern Wisconsin congressional seat, judging by the headline over Sheryl Gay Stolberg’s story in Thursday’s New York Times, “Can Ryan Be Defeated? Maybe Not, but His Race Is ‘a Circus.’” It’s part of a drumbeat of Times stories and analytics deployed to fire up Democrats and/or discourage Republicans as the November congressional elections approach.
In this case, the savior is Randy Bryce, labor activist and newly mined Democratic man of the people:
When dozens of high school students from across Wisconsin marched through his hometown, chanting his name and demanding new gun control laws, Paul D. Ryan, the House speaker, was not around to hear them, having just wrapped up a trip to the Czech Republic.
But Randy Bryce was.
Stolberg also made an interesting admission:
Mr. Bryce, for those who don’t watch MSNBC, is better known by his Twitter handle, “Iron Stache” -- a nod to his occupation (ironworker) and his thick horseshoe mustache. A Democrat, he has become a liberal media darling of sorts, as he seeks to do the unthinkable: unseat Mr. Ryan in Wisconsin’s First Congressional District this fall.
Of course, her own paper is an unacknowledged part of that “liberal media.” Naturally, she contrasted a galvanized if split Democratic Party and an “embarrassing spectacle” on the right.
And on the right, Republicans are confronting an embarrassing spectacle: A white nationalist and anti-Semite, Paul Nehlen, who lost to Mr. Ryan by 68 points in the 2016 Republican primary, is running again, this time flaunting his bigotry to gain a national following....
....
But in an election cycle when Democrats have scored victories in places like Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania and even deep-red Alabama, some analysts say it would be a mistake for the speaker to coast, especially against Mr. Bryce, who has captured the attention of Washington and Hollywood and had raised $4.75 million by the end of March, according to campaign officials.
Stolberg noted that Ryan came into office with “a compelling personal story...He is viewed as a nice guy and a family man.” Then she noted that “some in his hometown say that since he became speaker -- and especially since President Trump took the White House -- Mr. Ryan has lost his way”:
....some political observers are seeing cracks in the speaker’s armor. Stan Milam, a longtime Janesville journalist and former radio host, said that neither Mr. Bryce nor Ms. Myers has what it takes to beat Mr. Ryan this year. But he does see the speaker showing some signs of weakness.
Stolberg moved to celebrate possible Democratic opponent Randy Bryce, while lamenting the candidate had “some baggage, which Ms. Myers and Republicans will undoubtedly try to exploit. He was late repaying a loan to an ex-girlfriend, and for nearly two years he owed $1,257 in back child support, which he paid after launching his campaign.”
She gave Bryce space for defense, then skipped her paper’s own coverage, including a January report that Bryce, a blogger and labor activist, had purchased fake Twitter followers.
Stolberg concluded with actual gushing:
When the speeches were over, he posed for selfies with the students and was mobbed by well-wishers. Among them was Teri Sickels, 59, a former assembly line worker who, like many here, was forced into retirement when the General Motors factory closed down.
“I love everything you stand for,” she gushed.
