Posted on 08/09/2004 6:31:20 PM PDT by wagglebee
Republican Alan Keyes ripped into Democratic rival Barack Obama's views on abortion Monday, calling them "the slaveholder's position," as the U.S. Senate race roared back to life in Illinois.
Up at dawn for a whirlwind round of broadcast interviews, the conservative former diplomat started his first full day of campaigning as the GOP candidate by saying Obama, a state senator from Chicago, had violated the principle that all men are created equal by voting against a bill that would have outlawed a form of late-term abortion.
Keyes said legalizing abortion deprives the unborn of their equal rights.
"I would still be picking cotton if the country's moral principles had not been shaped by the Declaration of Independence," Keyes said. He said Obama "has broken and rejected those principles-- he has taken the slaveholder's position."
The remarks underscore the uniqueness of this Senate race in which both candidates, one an outspoken conservative and the other a favorite of party liberals, are black.
Obama, who has been basking in national celebrity since delivering the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, suggested Keyes is outside the moderate mainstream of state Republicans.
He said he voted against the late-term abortion ban in Springfield because it contained no exception to protect the life of the mother. He noted that Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and federal appeals Judge Richard Posner, both appointed by President Ronald Reagan, had voted to strike down laws banning late-term abortions.
Asked specifically about the phrase "slaveholder's position," Obama said Keyes "should look to members of his own party to see if that's appropriate if he's going to use that kind of language."
Keyes, who is from Maryland and lost two Senate races in that state, on Sunday accepted the GOP nomination to replace primary winner Jack Ryan, who dropped out of the race in June over embarrassing sex club allegations.
Illinois conservatives, who have long taken a back seat to business-oriented party moderates, engineered the selection of Keyes as the replacement candidate.
Monday afternoon, he was officially listed by the State Board of Elections as the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. The Keyes campaign confirmed that the Calumet City address listed, in Chicago's southern suburbs, is Keyes' new Illinois home.
Obama said he didn't question the sincerity of those who are deeply concerned about abortion, but he said he believed there are many other issues on the minds of voters.
"As I travel around this state, I don't get asked about gay marriage, I don't get asked about abortion," Obama said. "I get asked, 'How can I find a job that allows me to support my family.' I get asked, 'How can I pay those medical bills without going into bankruptcy."
He said that if Keyes uses the Senate campaign only as a platform "to espouse his socially conservative views, then I think the voters of Illinois are going to be disappointed and they will respond appropriately."
One issue of importance for Illinois right now is delays caused by congestion at O'Hare International Airport. Mayor Richard M. Daley has been pushing for expansion of O'Hare, backed by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., but opposed by Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., whose announced retirement launched the scramble for his seat.
Asked about O'Hare on WBEZ radio Monday, Keyes said he had not yet developed any position on the issue of expansion.
"The problem must be addressed," Keyes said. He promised to "try to reach a conclusion that is in the best interests of the economic future of the state and the quality of life" of those who live in the area. "The one thing I won't be bound by is any existing set of political obligations."
In the same interview, he defended his belief that gay marriage is wrong, brushing aside a suggestion from an interviewer that sexual preference might be biologically determined.
"We as human beings cannot assert that our sexual desires cannot be controlled," Keyes said. He said such a claim would "consign us to the real of instinctual animal nature-- and we are not there."
The race between Keyes and Obama sets up the first U.S. Senate election with two black candidates representing the major parties and almost assures Illinois will produce only the fifth black U.S. Senator in history.
Obama said Monday that there would be "a sufficient number of debates" between himself and Keyes-- both men are Harvard-educated, polished debaters-- but not the seven such clashes he had promised Ryan.
"That was the home-state special," Obama cracked. He declined to set a specific number, adding that staffers in the two campaigns would iron on the details later.
Yeah. I found Dr. Keyes's excuse for doing what he criticized Hillary Clinton for back in 2000 to be very lame. Obama isn't any more liberal than Clinton is. His views are very much like hers. Her actions violated his 'federalist principles' then, but not now? I think the only real difference between then and now is that he's been out of the limelight for 4 years.
Sounds like Obama is running a bit scared.
Me too. Sean Hannity has got to go. Fox News needs to just fire him now, and bring in Laura Ingraham, Monica Crowley or someone EFFECTIVE. He is such a loser.
Yeah. Shaking in his boots I bet - when he's ahead 60-something to 20-something in the polls? Sure he is.
If I had nearly 70% in the polls, I'd be scared too.
Makes Keyes look like a kook.
Agreed.
As I've stated in other threads, I wish he would just come out and give his real reason...whatever it is.
Very un-Keyesian and disturbing to try to float something this shallow.
I gasped when I read it.
Now he has given Obama the chance to look like the reasonable candidate - and it looks like Obama took it.
Like Chad said, I hope he knows what he's doing. Maybe it's the only thing he CAN do, when he's behind the eight ball like this.
I don't think Keyes will invoke Lincoln who was a blatant racist and white supremacist.
read it here
The first two black men to serve in the senate, one of whom was a former slave. Hiram Revels, a Republican, was the first, but only served one year beginning in 1870. Blanche K. Bruce, a Republican, was first to serve a full 6-year appointment from Mississippi in the same class.
It took the Democrat party until the 1940's to elect their first black person to Congress.
I spoke with AK, by phone, the day before the acceptance speech. What he said in public was what he said to me. At first he wanted to say no, then he thought about Obama's threat to the founding principles. He reflected on Lincoln's ordering of principles, and which ones were most fundamental, and slowly changed his mind. He prayed a lot over it, and reached a resolution. He is running to win, though he knows that will be hard.
Here is a link to the transcript of the full speech; I don't think it's been posted here yet.
http://www.renewamerica.us/archives/speeches/04_08_08illinois_announce.htm
Cheers,
Richard F.
He has to beat the Chicago machine and the Southern Illinois election fraud. It takes two honest votes to overcome one fraudulent vote.
I suppose you prefer more nuance....
We'll see. Personally I don't think he has a chance in hell, but I've been wrong before (I forget exactly when, but I'm SURE it's happened) so we'll see I guess...
Why is Keyes playing the race card, right out of the Chute?
Does HRC count?
So 3 of the first 4 Black Senators were Republicans. Funny how that doesn't come up in the stories.
I wouldn't have opened with this, personally, if I were Keyes. Perhaps, instead he could have used it in a debate to throw Obama off his game.
Since Dr. Keyes said that, I believe him.
I don't claim to be a purist so it's good enough for me.
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