Posted on 08/07/2004 7:24:44 PM PDT by Graybeard58
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - At one point during last week's Republican leadership gathering in Chicago, the debate over conservative activist Alan Keyes grew so contentious that journalists standing outside the closed doors heard - and reported - the shouting.
The Illinois Republican State Central Committee later barred reporters from the entire floor where they were meeting to choose their party's new candidate for the U.S. Senate.
But with Keyes' candidacy likely to become official Sunday, it will be much tougher for Republican leaders to hide the internal strife in their divided party.
On Wednesday night the committee formally asked Keyes - a former United Nations ambassador and two-time presidential candidate who has never lived in Illinois - to run against Democratic candidate Barack Obama for Illinois' open Senate seat. All indications are that Keyes will accept, kicking off his campaign Sunday at a Chicago-area rally.
Keyes will replace Jack Ryan, whom Republicans nominated in the primaries for the Senate. Ryan bowed out of the race last month amid embarrassing sexual allegations.
While Keyes' candidacy solves one problem for the GOP, it generates another: His far-right views on most major issues will, once again, highlight the deep fissure in the Illinois GOP between moderates - like former Govs. Jim Edgar and James Thompson - and the more conservative wing, which has been trying for years to move the party rightward.
"The state party is divided in the same way the national party is divided. The difference in Illinois is that the more moderate branch tends to run the board," noted political scientist John S. Jackson of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. "The hard-right decided they wanted this ... but it will magnify the fault lines" with moderates.
Shouts and silence
The first rumblings of that fault line were heard through the cl
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Mine too but I still don't think he can win.
He gave me two answers,
Everybody knows his name so he makes Arkansas famous, and
"Ol' Bill comes to our barbeque every year"
Later, of course, they elected WJC who surely made them famous...I bet he was just a hoot at those barbeques.
"Rumors and disinformation will abound until Keyes steps forward and corrects the errors"....
Dr. Keyes may not have a problem with that.
Keyes doesn't expect to ask national leaders for a specific amount of money, but he wants their help attracting big-name Republicans, such as U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., or former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani, to headline fund-raisers or possibly sponsor events for him during the Republican National Convention, the national Republican strategist who said Keyes would run said on condition of anonymity.
tame, when you get a chance, would you mind addressing the points I raised in #256? I'd be interested in hearing your views.
Before you preach to us, perhaps you should take it up with Alan Keyes; he's had plenty of nasty stuff to say about George W. Bush.
Does it make you feel good to say crap like that? You know it's a lie; people on these threads are NOT pro-abortion.
And nobody here believes Obama is the best candidate, nor are they voting for him.
It's pretty telling that all you have to "support" Keyes with is attacks on other conservatives.
I have a friend who is good friends with Keyes, and I will ask him to have Keyes give a direct response.
I think there are some who dislike Keyes so much they'd rather see Obama win. I don't know why --- because there is seldom the perfect candidate --- you can look hard enough and find something with just about any --- so I don't know why some are dwelling on any flaw they find with Keyes.
Nor, do I, (or President Bush, fot hat matter) have a problem with using someone like McCain in fundraising, so long as we are bringing to our RIGHT cause rather than be brought over to their LEFT cause.
Then how does the media get by with it --- they would have to be criticizing Hillary for having done that at the same time --- are they actually saying Hillary should not be the NY senator?
I have a friend who is good friends with Keyes, and I will ask him to have Keyes give a direct response.
Could you please respond to my #256 if you have time?
Surely you don't really think that all the people on this board who have problems with Keyes are pro-abortion or liberal?
And many blacks are a lot more conservative than they generally vote. We need more people like Keyes. He might not be a soft-spoken type --- but I doubt soft-spoken would help much.
Good......chuck the RINOs into the fissure.
I don't care about your feelings. Sorry, we are in the middle of a political war. There isn't room for emotion controlling our decisions.
I have no reason to question your beliefs. There are others amongst Alan's constant critics that I can't say the same for.
Politically, I agree with Alan Keyes, but I feel that several of the things he's done have been hypocritical and perhaps even immoral.
I disagree. You have elevated questions of process to the level of morality, while ignoring the gross hypocrisy of his critics. The place reeks of it, now more than ever.
On the hypocritical and/or immoral side, you can put his playing the race card during the last election...
A couple of outbursts, in the face of the kind of abuse you all dish out, and in the middle of thousands of such battles over the course of a decade, is understandable to me. It's not for you, I understand, because you expect perfection from Alan, while demanding it of no one else.
...the fact that he's currently apparently planning to run in a state where he doesn't reside after excorciating Hillary! for doing the same thing in 2000...
Hyperbole in the pursuit of going after Hillary is also a forgivable sin amongst most FReepers, and most Republicans.
...and the money he apparently owes for his previous campaigns and taxes.
Does he owe it to you? If not, it is none of your business.
I happen to think that someone who promotes a higher moral standard ought to pay his/her bills - if you take goods or services from others without paying, after you've said you'd pay, what is the moral difference between that and stealing?
He owes money to friends, friends who have shared the burden of advancing conservatism far more than you have...folks who have paid a far higher price to restore our free republic than a single one of Alan's shrill detractors. When you have sacrificed as much as them, and as Alan himself, perhaps your constant criticism will mean something to me.
There's also the part about him not supporting the President or the GOP...
Now you're back to downright lying. Alan has done plenty for his Party, far more than most any political figure in America. He has kept a tireless pace in the last decade traveling this country promoting conservative ideals, drawing crowds for Republican and conservative organizations, and raising money for them. He has been a staunch supporter of the President, even in the face of some serious disagreements over domestic policies. The White House has thanked him for that on many occasions. Alan was one of the first in this election cycle to unequivically endorse the President's relection.
...but he (or at least his supporters) get upset when he doesn't get the support they think he should get from the GOP or the administration.
They get upset because of the gross double standards applied by RINOs. They get upset because they are forced to endure scathing attacks for years on end from hypocritical folks in the Keyes-bashing brigade. Quite understandable. It upsets me too.
Recently, Dr. Keyes has been rather supportive of the President, but that hasn't always been the case particularly before 9/11, (I am not a Bush Republican!), although there were also slings & arrows thrown during the short-lived "Making Sense" television show in 2002.
Thank God for some voices that don't just go along to get along. This country, and our Party, is infected with enough political whores and hacks.
Personally, I voted for Keyes in the 1996 and 2000 primaries, and GWB definitely wasn't even in my "top 5" list of GOP candidates, but the comments Dr. Keyes made about George Bush during the Bush-Gore campaign and immediately after the election are what turned me against Keyes. Especially while the Democrats were accusing Bush of "stealing the election", we didn't need all that criticism from the right.
You are tweaking history. Your version isn't true. The Keyes organization was working hard for the President through the November election in 2000. Alan didn't criticize George W. Bush during the general election. Policy differences arose later that caused some (you guys have always overblown those criticisms to a ridiculous proportion) disagreements. Big deal.
It was not in keeping with Reagan's "11th commandment" - I've noticed that those who criticize Keyes are breaking said commandment, but Keyes doesn't seem to be held to the same standard if he's criticizing other Republicans. More hypocrisy. There was also a distinct smell of sour grapes.
Ah, but you all are keeping that so-called 'commandment' perfectly. I see.
I'd like to see Republicans win in every state, including Illinois. I think that the debates between Keyes and Obama will be great, and I hope they get a lot of airplay.
Finally, something we agree on...and frankly, at this point, that's all we have to agree on.
But don't deceive yourself - Keyes comes with lots of baggage, and the liberal Illinois press will certainly air it, just as they did Ryan's divorce papers.
Y'all are setting the pattern. If they're watching, all they have to do is do as you do.
Again, please note that none of my objections to Dr. Keyes have anything to do with his political beliefs.
Can't say the same for most of the Keyes bashers. Their ideology, or lack thereof, leaks out all over the place. Your mild-mannered 'I'm a conservative' demeanor is a marvelous tool for them. If you really are what you say you are, and I have no reason to doubt it, you are unfortunately being used constantly to help defeat conservatism.
Actually, that's not the point of using McCain.
There aren't enough people on the RIGHT in most places (and Illinois seems to be one of those) to win an election. To win, some people in the middle need to be brought on board - those are the people McCain appeals to, and that's why he would be used, if he agrees.
I believe that much or all of the campaign debt has been characterized as salary to senior campaign staff, not debt owed to external vendors, etc. I suspect that, from what I know of Keyes senior staff, this means that the debt mostly represents years of salary to Keyes' top couple of people, who worked without receiving pay during most of the presidential campaign years, because they weren't in it for the money and could fortunately afford not to receive it. Without such generous people, there would have been no campaign. Due to our beloved campaign finance laws, such debt can't be forgiven - that would be an illegal contribution - and must be carried just the same as bills from outside vendors. But it is not true that the presidential campaign debt consists of legions of unpaid and long-demanded bills. I believe that claims the campaign debt was "settled" refer to all the remaining vendor bills, etc.
Again, I don't know all this for sure, but believe it is substantially true. If it is not true, we will no doubt eventually see articles about the starving children of printers and hotel owners ruined by the Keyes campaign.
I offer all this as a caution against taking these numbers at face value. The FEC system is not a friend of grass-roots conservative political campaigns.
What? Like "I endorse the reelection of President George W. Bush"?
Why can't you folks just bite the bullet and follow Alan's example?
Thank you for that clear explanation, David.
You have succinctly stated what I have only been able to hint at because I did not feel that it was my place to explain.
I appreciate it.
The point still stands: So long as a candidate like McCain support my conservative candidate/goals rather than pull me to his candidates/causes then no harm is done.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.