Alan Keyes has decided to accept the Republican nomination for the U. S. Senate in 2004:
Keyes reportedly set to accept GOP bid
Conservatives see talk-show host as the right person for party’s coreBy Rick Pearson and Jon Yates, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporters H. Gregory Meyer, Liam Ford and John Chase contributed to this report
Published August 6, 2004Maryland conservative Alan Keyes, a former Republican presidential contender and talk-show host, has agreed to accept the nomination as the Illinois GOP nominee for Senate and plans a public rollout for his campaign on Sunday, several Republican sources said Thursday.
“He (Keyes) indicated he wanted to come back on his own terms, bring some of his supporters with him and didn’t want to have to walk out the door (Wednesday night) bombarded with questions about everything,” said one member of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee. “He just wanted a few days to organize things.”
Bill Pascoe, a longtime friend of Keyes’ volunteering as his spokesman, said he could not confirm the 53-year-old Keyes had accepted the nomination, adding, “He thinks he owes it to them to take the time to deliberate.”
I think this is good for Alan Keyes, good for Barack Obama, and good for Illinois. It’s good for Illinois because the kind of dialogue in which Mssrs. Keyes and Obama will engage is certain to get more media attention than an unopposed Obama race would or that a race against less of a personality than Keyes would garner. Hence the race is likely to get more attention from the national parties than it would otherwise. This is good for Illinois—typically ignored by national parties. It’s good for Obama because Keyes is a smart and articulate guy and Obama will get to show what he can do. It’s good for Keyes because there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
Good for the Illinois Republican Party? Who knows? Can anything halt its march to irrelevance?
The race in Illinois is very interesting. It represents an archetypal battle between two psychological poles with the African-american community. When you listen to Keyes he speaks the truth. When you listen to Obama he offers a vision of a mixed-race future. What a deep polemic.
Obama will wipe the floor with Keyes.
But it should be interesting to watch.
“It’s good for Keyes because there’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
Has Harold Stassen been informed?
😉
Harold Stassen could only dream of being as effective a self-promoter as Alan Keyes.