Posted on 09/01/2004 5:54:31 AM PDT by Fulbright
Alan Keyes, the Republican candidate for a vacant U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, said Tuesday that Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary is a "selfish hedonist" because she is a lesbian.
His comments came during an interview with SIRIUS satellite radio.
Keyes said: "The essence of ... family life remains procreation. If we embrace homosexuality as a proper basis for marriage, we are saying that it's possible to have a marriage state that in principal excludes procreation and is based simply on the premise of selfish hedonism."
Asked whether that meant Mary Cheney "is a selfish hedonist," Keyes said: "That goes by definition. Of course she is."
Developing...
Man enough to stick by his words at least.
I'm sure that's exactly what he believes. However, it's not really a smart thing to say about the VP's daughter. Add that to his not meeting with GOP officials in IL, and you have a formula for someone marginalizing himself.
The RNC has given up on the state for now and in the future. Land of Lincolners should move out. It's abandon ship time.
Problem is, he's going to bring all potential candidates who are social conservatives down with him.
I'm wondering if giving Keyes the "opportunity" to run against a almost unbeatable candidate is a sly way to purge the Republican Party of conservative leadership.
I'll wait for the transcript, thanks.
The man oozes moral clarity but may be the dumbest politician I've ever seen.
But I believe we should see what the candidates are saying and debate the merits of lack there of.
I guess this means that Dr. Keyes isn't expecting any help from the administration for his campaign.
"I'm wondering if giving Keyes the "opportunity" to run against a almost unbeatable candidate is a sly way to purge the Republican Party of conservative leadership.
"
I doubt it very much. I have no idea why Keyes was picked. He cannot win in IL. Further, he is a loose cannon. His stupid statement about Cheney's daughter is going to be picked up by the media, I guarantee.
In fact, this morning on CNN, Cheney's wife and the other daughter were interviewed, and the question about Keye's idiotic statement was raised. They deflected it well, but you're going to see more and more about this.
Feh!
He'll never be elected to anything, but yes, he does stick to his words allright.
You win the prize!
Whatever. But he's right. Much more could be said, but he's right.
Dan
"This thread topic was yanked last night by Jim himself."
Jim sure seems to have a very protective stance concerning the Keyes run for office. Don't say anything, unless it's nicey-nice or he pulls the thread.
"Jim sure seems to have a very protective stance concerning the Keyes run for office. Don't say anything, unless it's nicey-nice or he pulls the thread.
"
I'm sure Jim had some other reason for pulling the thread. I didn't see it, so I can't say for sure. Now, it's a news story, and I expect this thread to remain.
The media will have a field day with this. And Bush will stay away from Keyes for sure now.
But I'm still voting for Keyes.
-- Joe
P.S. Isn't it amazing how being called a 'hedonist' is one of the worst things you can say now?
The man oozes moral clarity but may be the dumbest politician I've ever seen.
That about sums up my view of him, too.
"Isn't it amazing how being called a 'hedonist' is one of the worst things you can say now?"
I don't know about that. I do know that Keyes probably should have kept his mouth shut in this case. It won't affect anything, really, since he's pretty much guaranteed to lose this election, but it's press fodder.
Keyes was egged on last night by the interviewer, it was gotch politics at its worst, but he made an error in the campaign. Here's what I wrote on my blog last night,
"Keyes' greatest weakness as a politician is that he doesn't know how to evade a question. In fact, when I think about it, everytime a debater has accused him of trying to dodge a question, they've been a liar, Keyes doesn't seem to know how.
"Keyes could have answered the question by referring to an answer similar to what he gave at the City Club of Chicago where he said that gay marriage wasn't about how we feel about a particular individual, it's about marriage.
"People will disagree with gay marriage, but if they think Keyes is cruelly and personally anti-homosexual, they'll have trouble backing Keyes.
"The danger that Keyes gets into is that people will think that his stand on homosexuality is without compassion for real people. This is the trouble Michael Dukakis got into in 1988 when he answered Bernie Shaw's question about whether he'd favor the death penalty for someone who raped and murdered his wife and Dukakis gave a monotone answer.
"Keyes should refer back to his answer on homosexuality at the City Club. He asked his audience if there was anyone there who wasn't a sinner. Getting no responses, he asked how many of them would like to have all of their other virtues and abilities dismissed because of their faults.
"Keyes went on to say the following, "There's no contradiction between defending the institution of marriage and understanding that even when you look at somebody and you know that they're in sin you can still remember that they are children of God, because God remembers and you treat them as such and respect them for those that He would always value in them..."
"These are word to live by and campaign by."
http://www.adamsweb.us/blog/index.php?blog=2&title=a_keyes_blunder&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
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