Posted on 08/06/2004 2:57:01 AM PDT by kattracks
CHICAGO - Former presidential hopeful and talk-show host Alan Keyes (news - web sites) has agreed to become Illinois Republicans' U.S. Senate candidate, according to a newspaper report.Keyes planned to announce his decision to accept the GOP nomination at a public launch on Sunday, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times reported in Friday editions, citing unnamed Republican sources.
Bill Pascoe, a political adviser and Keyes friend, said Thursday he could not confirm that Keyes had accepted the nomination. "He thinks he owes it to them to take the time to deliberate," Pascoe said.
The committee asked Keyes to make the run late Wednesday after spending weeks searching for a replacement for primary winner Jack Ryan.
Keyes would face Barack Obama in the race for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (news, bio, voting record), a Republican. Obama, a state senator making his first run for national office, gained prominence as a keynote speaker at last month's Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Keyes, a two-time presidential hopeful who also ran two failed U.S. Senate campaigns from his home state of Maryland, opposes abortion and gay rights, wants to replace the income tax with a national sales tax and calls affirmative action a "government patronage program."
The race would be the first U.S. Senate election with two black candidates representing the major parties and almost assure Illinois would produce the fifth black senator in history.
Keyes will have to establish residency in Illinois by Election Day, according to federal law.
Since Robert Byrd is KKK Satan, he could live a long, long time.
But can he take the heat?
I'm a firm believer in the axiom: "Money is the best aphrodisiac." It explains more relationships than I care to count.
What might not be apparent at the beginning will be more so as time ..... goes on...and on.
Good point.
He might as well go for broke. In addition to his usual stalwart defense of Right Principles, I hope he runs intensive ads in the black media along the lines of "Who you gonna vote for: Keyes or the White Guy?" Or "Obama is faking it." Might as well have some fun ....
Thank you for the ping.
WHAT YOU ALL DO NOT KNOW IS.......................
How ignorant our GOP is in Illinois, Judy Bar Topinka is really
Judas Topinka!!
She endorses and supports Democrats!
She has HIGH PRAISE for Obama. It is a cover up and she is probably really working against Alan Keyes BEHIND THE SENCES!!!
Wake up and look at how the group has handled all of our wonderful CONSERVATIVE candidates so far.
Excuse my French. they have treated them like Sh**.
May I be wrong about this, but I am speaking from Past practice of the Ill GOP Central Committee.
...pretty, pretty, pretty! Look at the pretty green colors.
Senator Byrd, that isn't a Grand Dragon's uniform, it's my graduation gown from high school.
NOW GET OUT OF MY DAMN APARTMENT!!!
Bingo! I think a lot of people are overlooking that factor.
Thank you. Yes, that is a good point - he was asked to run by the state's GOP, whereas Hitlery muscled her way in (at taxpayer expense) and shoved aside long-time New York Dems to run. I had been bothered by how he would get around the statement he made about Hillary back in 2000, and you've supplied a legitimate answer.
I would really love to see him win, but I'm afraid he doesn't have much of a chance. But, just imagine the election-night sputtering by Peter "the voters are having a temper tantrum" Jennings et. al., if Keyes pulled this off! Not only would there be a hard-core right-wing black intellectual in the Senate, but "rising star" Barack Obama-nation would be knocked down a peg or two! We can dream, can't we?
I agree with you.
I didn't think that the Illinois could sink much lower after Jim Edgar retired, but man, was I ever wrong.
It's a travesty that Glenn Poshard-a real "Reagan Democrat" if there ever was one-lost the gubernatorial race to George Ryan. In fact, I imagine that there were a lot of Republicans who voted for Ryan in the mistaken belief that he would, at the very least, try to protect innocent life.
Unfortunately, the only lives that he protected were those of hardened, convicted murderers and his political cronies.
Maryz made a good point on this thread: Hillary shoved were way past long-time New York Democrats in order to run. No one asked her to run until she announced it, whereas the Illinois GOP is asking Alan Keyes to be their candidate. And no, Ambassador Keyes has never lived in the Prairie State, but all their election laws require is that he establish residency by election day, so they obviously aren't too picky about having long-time residents as candidates. I was troubled, also, by the statement he made in 2000 re: Hillary, but I believe this is a legitimate difference.
Here's a prediction for ya...Obama will refuse to debate Keyes..calling his parachuting into the state an insult to Illinois voters..
No one wants to admit it but his name is 'scary', for lack of another word. That's why his face been all over the media.
An anonymous source reports that at one point during the selection process, Judas unleashed a giant mouthful of profanity at one member of the Central Committee who was supporting Keyes -- it was such a bitter and profane invective that Keyes actually got up and left the room until things calmed down. O Judas, show a little class and go back to playing the accordion.
The bottom line for me is that I'm not from Illinois, but from Ohio.
I do foresee a day, however, when the Senate will become the domain of a "national elite" such as Hillary and other big names.
It will then have gone totally away from the intent of the founders that a Senator be elected by the state legislature so that the senator's first interest would be the representation of his/her own state.
When the Senate becomes a national body, full of media prominent people who go to any state from any state just in order to get in the Senate, then we will see the wisdom of the founders in its full glory.
An elite will rule, and states will have lost all relevance in the Congress.
The above should help explain why he may not have a chance. I like Keyes and hope he wins, but its going to be tough for him.
The Replicans are truly the Stupid Party!
Again, the entire issue is that the senator as designed by the Constitution is there to represent the interests of the STATE, the representatives are there to represent the interests of the PEOPLE. They are not always the same. Keyes knows this. The whole principle is wrong.
I dunno. That might apply more in the race for Constable. But it can't hurt.
Wow!
Your scenario does have the potential to play out - hopefully it won't. I don't think we'll ever see a movement to take the election of senators away from the people and giving it back to the states. But, even if that happened, whose to say that the states wouldn't catch the free-agent fever that has swept professional sports and simply elect prominent, powerful rainmaker-types as their senators? You would have the potential of seeing states competing to have Hitlery agree to be the senator-for-hire. The answer, as always, is that We the People must be ever vigilent. Freegards...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.