It would never be better in the long run to have Obama elected. We need every pro-life, pro-gun, pro-America, pro-conservative judge vote we can get in the Senate. Reparations will never come up for vote. The other much more important issues do every session.
Obnoxious loud-mouths like Keyes give Republicans a bad name, and invariably push a lot of fence-sitting voters over to the Democratic side in races across the nation. We do want Bush, and not Kerry, naming the judges the Senate will be voting on, right?
Fortunately, I think Bush is pretty safe at this point, since the Kerry campaign seems to be imploding (but it ain't over 'til its over, and another major terrorist attack on U.S soil, and resulting stock market slump, could still flip the balance). But it's a dangerous business, giving Keyes and his ilk a free pass on outrageous statements that garner national negative attention under the Republican banner.