Mike Murphy is a political and media consultant. And I should trust the judgement of Mike Murphy because...?
Posted on 08/13/2004 8:00:47 PM PDT by RWR8189
Why is Alan Keyes a bad candidate? Let me count the ways . . .
MY ESSAY berating the Illinois Republican party for enlisting Alan Keyes as their Senate candidate has generated a hefty pile of emails from Keyes's many cyber-fans. Since the letters all ask the same questions or make the same points, I thought a brief response was due. The missives fall into two categories. The first goes something like, "Hey Wise guy, we get the fact that you can't stand AMBASSADOR Keyes, but you didn't give us one single legitimate reason why it is a bad idea for him to be the Republican candidate in Illinois."
Dear Respect the One Former Office Alan Keyes Held,
I thought the Keyes weakness is painfully obvious, but here goes: The job of a political candidate is to attract people to a party's political philosophy and bring victory to the party on Election Day. In two U.S. Senate races and two presidential campaigns, Alan Keyes has done the exact opposite: shown a great ability to stampede voters away from his candidacy like a herd of panicking animals fleeing a huge volcanic eruption. Even Keyes' cable TV chat show, with its unforgettably Orwellian title, Alan Keyes Is Making Sense was abruptly cancelled for low ratings. When voters listen to a successful candidate they get a strong feeling that this person can do the job and make life better. When voters listen to Alan Keyes, they get the perception, "wow, this guy is stone cold nuts" and they run home to hide their children. We Republicans are the free
My larger point is this: the desperate Illinois GOP chose Keyes not because he is a serious or legitimate candidate, but because he is black. Watching my party debase a Senate nomination with such a cynical and stupid move embarrasses me as a proud Republican.
THE SECOND CATEGORY of email, like Keyes, has a spicy Old Testament flavor:
"Dear Secular Satan, you and your godless pals at the NY Times don't get it. Alan Keyes is a beacon of moral clarity in a time when dark forces portend a holocaust upon the innocent unborn. Trash like your so-called article doesn't belong in The Weekly Standard. It is an honor and credit to the GOP that Amb. Keyes is running with such great courage and . . ." etc, etc.
Dear Reverend,
I agree, opposing abortion with great rhetorical clarity is indeed Keyes's keystone issue. The dilemma is Keyes hails from in the Victory Through Superior Decibels wing of the pro-life movement. Closely linked to the Victory Through Shocking Fetus Pictures faction, this view holds that you win the abortion argument by beating the other side, and all others, over their figurative heads until they finally submit. I think that approach only helps pro-abortion activists isolate and vilify pro-lifers. It moves the cause backwards, not forwards.
Keyes is only two days into his campaign, and he already has invoked "God" as the subject of many a campaign sentence. We'll see how the happy sinners of Chicago respond.
Mike Murphy is a political and media consultant.
Keyes is an American who believes in the COnstitution of the United States as written (in English) - It's a shame there are so few republicans who can say the same.
"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to sustain ourselves, according to the Ten Commandments of God"
-- James Madison
Very well said.
Keyes is a self-rightious bag of wind.
He's almost as unlikable as John F. Kerrystein...but not quite.
Murphy is like a lot of practical men: he can be oblivious to what is in front of him. Keyes will keep Obama from posing as a white man's black man.
I agree with the article. Keyes might have some powerful conservative convictions but he is so self-righteous, intense and confrontational that he turns most people off. He is a best an oddity, a political freak show in the Republican party.
I think that you should send your comment to that Murphy dude that wrote the article.
Trying to "win the abortion battle" os abouts as stupid an objectives as I can think of. One the other side we have zealots of Planned Parenthood and NARAL. In the middle we have the largely mortal indefferent majority. Their only contribution is to accept the diktat of our national papacy, ie. the United States Supreme Court. Only emotion can make any difference on this fight.
Mike Murphy is a political and media consultant. And I should trust the judgement of Mike Murphy because...?
Don't judge Keyes so harshly so fast. After the depates your comments will be more in tune with the current situation.
Pleasssseeeee!
I can't wait for Amb. Keyes to cut Ossama bin Obama to size. When did this guy move to the US? 5 years ago. Keyes will expose him for the fraud he is.
"We'll see how the happy sinners of Chicago respond."
Their response is the only one that will count, in Nov. Everything else is merely hot air, if not fresh fart.
He's a guy who picks unnecessary skirmishes and battles.....which will lead him to lose the war. In addition, he's a human porcupine, bristling and pouncing on anyone who disagrees with him on anything (and he has non-negotiable positions on at least 10,000 issues).
Men like Murphy signed the Oath of Allegiance to Henry VIII and sold the soul of the country away-- all very practical.
Isn't Mike Murphy the guy who ran McCainiac's campaign in 2k and had him running around telling the conservatives in the Rep Party to shove it?
Keyes won't win, but I prefer him to anyone named Didrickson, Ryan, Thompson or Topinka.
Murphy is a political consultant who helps Republicans figure out how to win elections.
Keyes doesn't use political consultants, which is precisely why Keyes has never won a single office for which he's campaigned.
There probably is not a single more important issue in this country today than the daily murder of thousands of unborn American citizens, boys and girls, denied the right to live. If if takes someone like Keyes to remind us of this fact than I would vote for him. People like Murphy might be good at sitting around pontificating about unimportant issues, but as a typical 'neo-con' he is more liberal than conservative.
The first time I saw Keyes, I was riveted to the TV. What a great speaker!!! His speach was awesome! Then he went into the abortion/unborn thing, and I changed the channel.
I wish him well, but us libertarain types get really turned off by specific religeous opinions. Not spiritual things.
Note: Hannity today said he believes that most Americans are basically libertarian in their beliefs. As in, leave us alone, and stay out of our personal lives. He's correct.
One of Keyes' problems is that he and his supporters spend as much time criticizing the Republican Party as they do the enemy.
If Keyes is going to do well he is going to need the votes of a lot of Republicans. Not only are anti-Republican comments counterproductive, they are an ungrateful slap in the face of the party that handed Keyes the nomination on a silver platter.
Everyone has known from the "get-go" that Keyes has little chance of winning.
This is a great opportunity for him to bring up some of the more (ahem) "sensitive" issues.
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