Posted on 12/31/2007 5:47:12 PM PST by Graybeard58
CEDAR RAPIDS — "You're about to experience a Pentecostal service," Pastor Jeff Schmitz told a visitor at the First Pentecostal Church in northeast Cedar Rapids.
Tonight's regular service at the church included a guest sermon from Alan Keyes, reminding the faithful he's again mounting a long-shot bid for the Republican presidential nomination. And while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee might be the only ordained minister in the race, politically active Christians have another option in Keyes.
Taking the microphone about an hour into the service, Keyes sang and preached for nearly another hour, casting his candidacy as a revival of "the freedom that comes to us through our surrender to the will of God."
According to Keyes, the issues usually cited by more secular candidates in either party can only be solved spiritually.
He blasted "the myth of separation between church and state," compared the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to "the holocaust of abortion" and said even health care can be solved largely through moral discipline.
"We eat too much and exercise too little," said Keyes. "The key to bringing down our health cost is the very thing we've been talking about — the moral responsibility."
Keyes, a former United Nations ambassador and State Department official in the Reagan administration, also mounted presidential bids in 1996 and 2000. The last of his three unsuccessful Senate bids came in 2004, when Keyes, who lives in Maryland, was drafted by Illinois Republicans to face Democratic presidential Barack Obama after the Republican nominee withdrew due to a sex scandal. Keyes polled 27 percent of the vote in that race.
"The question before the nation today is whether America still believes," he said. "If there is no god, we have no liberty."
Keyes declared himself a candidate in mid-September, when most of his rivals had been campaigning for at least a year. But he said more than a political office is at stake.
Keyes and Gingrich aren’t going to be in the running. I would choose Huckabee above the Mormon.
I’ll try for Hunter or Fred, but they may be gone by the time Texas comes around. I’m still trying to come to gripes with Iowa and New Hampshire picking whose president. I would think Florida, Texas, California, even New York would have more say in who gets to stay and go.
I would have loved to have been in that service. Keyes is a top-notch speaker. I can’t imagine how cool it’d be to hear him not only speak live, but to sing as well. Whew.
I voted for him in the primaries a few years back.
I love the man, but I’ll be voting for Fred this time around....
Ping for later
Do you think he lost because he was bashed in this forum, or because he was a long shot to begin with, his campaign was poorly run, and he made a number of statements that were seen as inconsistent and/or hypocritical?
That's not what I said. He lost because he only got 27 % of the votes. My point was and is that he was far and above Obama.
Happy New Year to you and yours...... Hope you have a great one.
The perpetual candidate....... LOL. Next you’ll see him on some obscure 3rd party ticket as their candidate with ballot in a few states....
Keyes is a good man. I have resepct for him even though I don’t agree with somethings ... he’s still a good man and better than the others running.
“Reparations”, was pandering and dishonest on Keyes part as he knew it would never happen. Allow me to reiterate: Any charge made against Keyes wheter it has validity or not, he’s still 100 times better than Obama.
Agree. Reparations is pandering and very dishonest. Still of the bunch running, he would be better.
Happy New Year to you & yours as well, deport!
Yes, being a candidate and complaining about what should be done is a lot easier than winning an election and actually having to accomplish something.
Fairly profitable, as well...
Uh no thanks. We already got one religious blowhard in the race.
He lost because his rhetoric drove away Illinois independents and libertarians.
Stop making excusing for Keyes. He is not public office material.
Keyes is quite happy about being excluded from the debates. That way, he can claim he was “disenfranchised” by the media and ask his sheeple to donate even more money to him.
Yea, I'll second that. I always vote for him in the primaries, but I doubt he'll ever get the support or funds needed. It's a shame.
I guess for now I'll just hope Thompson can work a miracle this month. :)
Is that what I'm doing when I say he lost because he only got 27% of the vote?
He is a good, entertaining speaker, but not POTUS material. Probably more of a Christian motivational speaker type.
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