Posted on 08/08/2004 9:28:35 PM PDT by quidnunc
Illinois Republicans, at one time a canny and crafty lot, have made a stupid error in hiring Alan Keyes to slap together what's left of the party's U.S. Senate nomination and go howling off into battle against Democrat Barack Obama. The Democrat's wunder-candidate will give this race national attention and the local GOPer's thick-headed Grand Strategy — "hmmm, they've got a black candidate who can give one hell of a speech … we need a black candidate who can give a fiery speech" — is likely to set the already tattered Illinois Republican party back at least another five years.
Keyes will be the perfect foil for Obama to campaign against, and the selection of Keyes will seem exactly the shoddy and cynical move that it is. The Republicans should know better.
-snip-
I'm certain Ambassador Keyes is now busily at work printing up some "Crazy Times Demand a Crazy Senator" yard signs and oiling his trusty chains for a repeat performance in Chicago this fall. Whatever element of the Illinois GOP that came up with this plan will regret the day they thought it up.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
""Crazy Times Demand a Crazy Senator" yard signs"
LOL!! Okay, i gotta admit, this one was good. Why is the Weekly standard being so hard on Keyes though? He can put libertarian/conservative ideas back on the map in a serious way.
Since the Democrat judge politically assasinated the other candidate, Jack Ryan, they seem to want Obama coronated without opposition. Who do they think he is, Hillary Clinton ?
Why is it this person assumes the Illinois pubbies picked Keyes because he's black?
Mr. Keyes is a man of subtance and is no one's foil.
He will make a fine candidate.
Jack Ryan asassinated himself by lying in the beginning.
The verb you want is "crowned." A coronation (the noun) is an event; there is no such thing as "coronating" someone.
No one is to blame but Ryan himself for that. We all knew what was in the files, we all knew it would come out. If he had gotten out in front of the story and not lied to the state party about the contents of the files, the story would have been a 48 hour blip.
It will be interesting, but Keyes will lose in November.
I think that this Obama guy can give good memorized speeches, but when it come to "off-the-cuff" statements, he's a "greenhorn" and Keyes will make mince meat of him in short order. This one will be fun to watch. I hope they televise the give and take between these two on FNC. Hannity & comatose should pick this one up.
Murphy's a political consultant. He knows why things happen.
He's right on this one.
Au contraire, the Democrat judge is to blame. Notice Kerry's divorce records are still sealed. They are completely corrupt.
How do you make a race worse than having no candidate at all? Yep, those IL republicans are a crafty lot all right--almost as crafty as the einsteins at Weekly Standard.
Right - - wasn't he McCain's consultant in 2000, when Keyes was exposing McCain as pro-abortion, and thereby sinking McCain in the South Carolina primary? That would explain why Murphy is trashing Keyes.
Precision is all, to me. ;)
Keyes was selected and encouraged to counter the Bama mania. Keyes is an articulate, telligenic black man.
Figure it out.
The Standard was the mag that basically endorsed Colin Powell for President in its opening issue - but now can't stand Powell. It's Bill Kristol's mag, and his political judgment isn't very good. He has shown a lot of enmity toward Bush over the years.
Keyes stayed in those primaries, BTW, long after it became evident that Bush was the winner. In fact, Keyes was the last primary candidate to endorse Bush in 2000.
I never dreamed the ILGOP could make things worse, but they have. They'll get the mess they deserve. But the rest of us here in Illinois shouldn't have to suffer along with them. Ugh.
I'd hate to be black in politics. People would forever accuse you of having a race card on your forehead.
They probably did pick him for that reason --- but in this case I think that could be good. I just hope they get out and do some heavy campaigning for him and really try to get him in.
Watch the black Catholic get trashed by all sides.
You know, he didn't even go to grammar school, maybe you should have been a little more lenient with him.
I'm listening to Drudge right now and I have to say Keyes sounds serious!
Focusing on just one state like that, he has a chance.
He will drill a hole through the BS and bring forth real issues for discussion among the people.
He will make an impression and at the very least, his running will swing the population a few points to the right for the next decade IMO!
Only if you played it, as Keyes did, during the 2000 primaries.
And he's also stayed in the GOP --- while others (like Buchanan) left the party. At least you can't say Keyes is a quitter.
You're kidding me. If he was allowed into the debates, he would have flattened all the other candidates.
Sorry, but no. Ryan brought this on himself in the first place, and totally mismanaged the situation. Any sympathy I had for him pretty much evaporated when I saw that he'd lied to the state party, lied to Denny Hastert, and by extension, lied to me. The dems are to blame for lots of things, but not this. Ryan has to take responsibility for himself.
I didn't do squat to Thor! What's he going around telling people I did this time?
He's certainly not a quitter, even when he should quit.
Obama is already being touted as a presidential candidate.
I'm guessing that Keyes' role is to rough him up and get him to make statements which will put some stink on him.
Denny Hastert is working berhind the scenes to revitalize the Illinois GOP, and he's nobody's fool.
The fact you put quotes around the phrase suggests you don't take the issue seriously -- like McCain himself. I'm not surprised.
Why should he quit? He's infinately more conservative and closer to republican party ideals than Bush.
He was in almost every one of the 2000 primary debates. He flattened nobody.
Bush still emerged as the GOP candidate.
Keyes didn't play the race card. He's less of a race panderer than just about any candidate.
Let's horsewhip him.
The senate has become who can do the best for America not just your state! When an idiot from a little state can hold up the senate. Who cares where they come form. Rhode island-Delaware and other small states where people get elected no matter how bad they are.
If he's closer to Republican party ideals, how come he can never win a Republican race?
Why should he quit?
You don't want me to answer that.
Excuse me, but less than a month ago, they were trying to get Mike Ditka to run. No disrespect intended to Da Coach, but after him, it's hard to make the argument that Alan Keyes is a frivolous candidate.
Yes because he appealed to the middle of the road and the republican-lites.
He did. He accused the media of ignoring him, after one of the debates in 2000, because he was black.
The man's a brilliant orator and he's eminently qualified for this office.
Why, he's a regular Horatio Alger story.
He's more conservative. It's just that the Republican party now is made up of an uneasy coalition with Conservatives and Moderates --- and both need each other if either is to win any major elections.
A consentual act in politics is very different. He straight up lied and wasn't honest at all.
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