Alan Keyes wasn’t a contender. He was on the ballot in three states. You might as well call the half-time streaker a participant in the game...
If I write my name in on the ballot, can I claim to be a player too?
If you qualify to be on the ballot you are a participant. In the State of California, where the case was being heard, Alan Keyes was every bit as much as PARTICIPANT as Obama was. In that election Obama was trying to win California’s electoral votes just as Keyes was trying to win CA’s electoral votes.
The only claim that could be made was that Keyes didn’t have a chance to win. That does NOT mean he is not a participant or that the rules just go bye-bye.
At least not in the America I have always known and loved. I feel like that America is fast slipping away.