Controversy gets one's name out there and Mr. Keyes is more than capable of defending his action. He was right then and he's right to do this now.
Sorry, I don't think it's great. The state and national parties drove away several decent candidates by refusing to commit money and resources to the race. So now we have an out-of-state candidate, funded by out-of-state money, who, by the way, is likely to lose badly.