What, and have someone like Jim Oberweis get a hold of the GOP nomination? Not in a million years, there is a reason why he was passed up for the Senate nomination even though he came in second place in the Republican primaries. Oberweis made the mistake of running for Illinois Senate strictly on a severe anti-immigration platform (which made him look bigoted against Mexican immigrants) and importing drugs from Canada. Oberweis must have forgotten that Illinois Republicans don't care two hoots about immigration and that the Democrats have already embraced buying drugs from Canada. Yeah, real smart strategy there.
Keyes will trounce Obama in an open debate and expose Obama's actual socialist views to the Illinois public.
If you were running Obama's campaign, why on Earth would you legitimize Keyes' candidacy by agreeing to a debate? After all, all that Obama has to do for the next 80+ days is raise the issue of Keyes' lack of connection with the people and issues of Illinois, and the legitimacy of his candidacy.