There are probably any number of ways to exit a political race when the pressure on a candidate gets too great. There's not one right way.

But there are no doubt some wrong ones. And one of the most wrong and strangest exits many of us who've covered politics over the years have ever seen has to be departure of Scott Lee Cohen, the pawnbroker who became the Illinois Democratic Party's nominee for lieutenant governor.

Even for Chicago, known for weird political moments, Cohen's departure was odd. Cohen, who departed the race after it became public that he had once held a knife a prostitute ex-girlfriend's throat and had a history of using steroids, held a press conference. During Super Bowl halftime. In a bar. At a table. With his emotional son crying into his father's chest.

Again, even for Chicago, it was a fairly bizarre scene at the Hop Haus there on the Far North Side.

 

NPR's Cheryl Corley and the Chicago Tribune reported on the circumstances that led to Cohen's withdrawal:

In a steady torrent following the Tuesday primary, leading Democrats called for Cohen to step aside as new details were revealed about his relationships with his now-ex-wife while using anabolic steroids and his ex-girlfriend, convicted as a prostitute, whom he met at a massage therapy spa. Other revelations showed that as he pumped millions into his campaign, his ex-wife filed a mid-December lawsuit seeking $54,000 in back-due child support.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, of Illinois, the chamber's second-ranking Democrat, called on Cohen to get off the ticket, as did Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer who was nominated by Democrats to fill the Senate seat previously held by President Barack Obama. Lisa Madigan, the state's attorney general and daughter of Michael Madigan, cited allegations of domestic abuse in saying Cohen had no place on the ticket.

In an emotional gathering with family members at the Hop Haus tavern, 7545 N. Clark St. in Rogers Park, Cohen said that "it's my hope, and I pray with all my heart, that I didn't hurt the people that I love so much."

"There is uncertainty that if I continue to run that the Democrats will win in November," Cohen said. "Many people came out to support me when I announced. The Democratic Party didn't, but many people did. This is the hardest thing that I've ever had to do in my life."

After pausing to regain his composure, Cohen went on.

"For the good of the people of the state of Illinois and for the Democratic Party, I will resign," Cohen said. "All I ever wanted to do ... was to run for office and to help the people, not to cause chaos. That was never my intention."