Yeah, because he wasn't doing so well against Ryan. If you want to know what a politicians internal polls are telling him about the race look at how often he wants to debate. Remember how right before the RNC Kerry put out a demand for a debate a week. Remember when Gore did the same thing. The guy behind always wants more debates, and the guy ahead always wants less.
Until the debates actually happen they aren't a done deal. If Obama has any political savvy at all he'll find a way to get through this campaign without any debates, not because of how good Keyes is but because of raw political math. At this juncture the Keyes campaign is underfunded and under organized, the smart move by Obama is to avoid giving Keyes any shot at equal time. While he might lose some points for being chicken it won't be nearly as many as he risks for being brave.
There's one scheduled for Oct 12th, another for Oct 21 by the League of Women Voters, another on Oct 26 by the City Club of Chicago
You have a lot of anti Keyes ya da ya da and are giving it to Obama. And you didn't even know there are going to be debates. Everyone knows that debates may be crucial, except you.
You sure you're in tune with FR? Doesn't sound like you belong here.