I think you nailed it when you said he personalizes things. He says very unkind things about good people, and he is far from gracious - and many people, whether they agree with him in substance or not - don't like that.
I have noticed the same sort of personalization from some of his strongest supporters here. Maybe that's a coincidence, but it seems more likely that people who are drawn to Keyes' style are people who see no problem with it - because maybe they're that way, too.
You folks have been ever so gracious and kind, of course...
Yeah, I'm sure he has at times. It's an easy thing to do sometimes and, well, sometimes, I just can't restrain myself. LOL. I usually try to avoid it, though, because I know that there's always a cost involved.
And that's what I think we're dealing with here.
That, and I sense that there's also a somewhat related problem. I think that Keyes could improve his image by actually going out of his way to acknowledge some mistake that he's made in the past, some error in a prior judgement, some change in a position. I think it would be helpful to his image for him to say not just that he has a new position on something, but that his prior position was flawed. I think a lot of people need to be reminded that Keyes is aware that he is fallible, that Keyes is aware that he is still growing and that Keyes is aware that he is as human as the rest of us.
That may sound crazy, but I think it would help in his case. ;-)