ALAN KEYES, MR. RADIOACTIVE

Realclearpolitics.com ^ | 10-11-04

[SJackson]

Monday, October 11 2004
ALAN KEYES, MR. RADIOACTIVE: Just how bad is Alan Keyes doing in the Illinois Senate race? Let's just say it's hard to imagine him doing any worse. In the three latest polls taken during the past week, Keyes is drawing between 20-24% of the vote while Obama is pushing close to 70%.

To be fair, this was never really about Alan Keyes beating Barack Obama. The minute Jack Ryan dropped out of the race the GOP strategy shifted from winning to trying to field a credible challenger who could do two things: 1) keep Obama occupied and 2) run strong throughout the state to protect down-ballot Republicans from getting swamped. Keyes is failing miserably at both.

Today's Washington Post reports that Obama is so unconcerned with the threat being posed by Alan Keyes that he's now touring the country raising money and campaigning on behalf of John Kerry and other Democrats:

In the past week, Obama has mailed checks totaling $260,000 to Senate candidates in 13 states, including $53,000 to the do-or-die campaign of Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.). He donated $100,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $150,000 to party organizations in key states, including Florida, Wisconsin and Colorado.

Carrying his verbal assault on President Bush beyond state lines, Obama will fly to Los Angeles this week for a Democratic fundraiser and address rallies in Colorado and Nevada for John F. Kerry. In a close presidential race where turnout could prove decisive, Obama said in an interview that he is talking with Kerry advisers about where he can be most effective in the campaign's final days.

"Turnout is huge," Obama said after a Saturday morning rally in the hard-fought presidential battleground of Wisconsin. "If there are selective things that we can do that can be helpful, then we want to do them. The Kerry people are still making determinations as to what states remain in play. Safe to say we will probably have a couple more travel days this month."

Back in Illinois, Keyes is operating in complete isolation. He's alienated almost all of the Republican party operatives throughout the state, starting with his wild-eyed rhetoric about Barack Obama's pro-abortion stance (the "slaveholders'" position, similar to a terrorist, etc) and his attack on Dick Cheney's gay daughter (Keyes called Mary Cheney a "selfish hedonist").

Many members of the Illinois delegation, including the Chairperson of the Party, Judy Baar Topinka, condemned Keyes remarks as "idiotic" and called on him to apologize. (To make matters worse, rumors have been swirling about the sexual preference of Keyes' own daughter for a couple of weeks now. Keyes has refused to comment)

This is how bad it has become: the other night at a GOP fund raising dinner Keyes caused a stir by showing up unannounced - but more importantly, I was told, uninvited. At the dinner a sitting member Congress, speaking semi-privately to the guests at one of the tables, jokingly referred to Keyes as a "lunatic." Everyone at the table laughed and shook their heads in agreement.

The damage Keyes is doing to the GOP in Illinois, however, is no laughing matter. He will be lucky to win 25% of the vote in November and he's become not only a drag on the ballot for Republicans but a weapon for Democrats.

I'll give you a quick example. Beth Coulson is the State Senator from my district. She's a moderate Republican in a moderate to left-leaning district and always a top target of the Democrats. Here's a copy of the latest flier from the Illinois Democratic Party:

Keyes may very well cost Beth Coulson her seat, and perhaps a few others as well. And on November 3rd Alan Keyes will be sitting comfortably on a plane back to Maryland and the Illinois GOP will be in a bigger hole than they were in before Keyes arrived to help dig.

MOTHER TERESA: Can't resist this blurb on Teresa Heinz Kerry from Friday's Tucson Citizen:

In the middle of her [Heinz Kerry's] speech, Bush supporters chimed in with a chant of "four more years." Kerry supporters countered with "four more weeks."

Heinz Kerry told the Bush supporters, "I respect your positions, but you must have manners."

Adele Conover, 54, a science writer and Kerry supporter who had backed Howard Dean, described Heinz Kerry's talk as "sensational."

"She treated them like they were children," she said of how Heinz Kerry talked to the Bush supporters.

Those Bush supporters are just so uncouth, aren't they Teresa?

[Doohickey]

No, but he's pulling about the same percentage that I would have if the GOP had called me here in Virginia and asked me to bag it to Illinois to run for the Senate.

[beckett]

It doesn't matter what "legal strategies" pro-reparations groups employ. The sheer dollar amount of a full reparations program rises to trillions of dollars. You are woefully mistaken if you think Congress and the Executive could possibly sit idly by while some court somewhere depleted the national treasury of that amount.

Don't let the "legal strategies" of demagogues scare you. Activist judges have done great harm to this country over the years, as you have noted, but they cannot just take over the jealously guarded purse strings of Congress and dole out trillions of dollars to a whole class of Americans on the basis of skin color.

Slave reparations will never happen. Keyes and his buddies are just demagoguing to a particular group, which is a very sleazy thing to do.

[MrLiberty]

I wasn't worried. I don't doubt that Alan will open his mouth again and immediately after he does, he will drop another 2 or 3 points in the polls. I do however think that Keyes cannot drop below 20. At least 20% of Illinois will still vote for him no matter what comes out of his mouth.

Whether it's giving black Americans tax-free status for an unspecified amount of time or labeling half of America terrorists, count on Keyes to always stick his foot in his mouth.

He's been doing it since the 2000 primaries, in which he accused the press of being racist and that's why they weren't covering him as much as Bush and Keyes. Keyes didn't stop to think that MAYBE, just MAYBE, they weren't covering him because he couldn't get above 5% in the polls. We heard the same whining from Kucinich in the primaries earlier this year. Both parties have their fringe candidates and they should largely be ignored, in my opinion.

[MrLiberty]

I meant Bush and McCain, not Bush and Keyes.

[Mini-14]

Keyes has destroyed what little was left of his reputation by entering into this disastrous campaign, where we learned he wants slave reparations, the final nail in his coffin.

Not quite... his last nail for me was his announcement of suupport for reinstating the military draft.

[EternalVigilance]

The author of this anti-Keyes hitpiece does what he doesn't intend to do, namely expose the arrogant condescension and lack of principle of many members of the Washington and Illinois GOP 'elite' leadership.

Herein lies the rotten core of the severe problems the GOP in Illinois and in the country are experiencing.

Win or lose, there is an internal political bloodbath on its way within our party. Count on it.

The conservatives in this party have played nice, in the face of great provocation, for four years.

Novemeber third is coming, and I for one will not forget the shameful way the party hacks have treated conservatives.

[EternalVigilance]

You hit the nail on the head.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

I think it would cause chaos, yes. But I also think there is a real threat that courts will eventually rule in favor of reparations anyway. The courts are corrupt.

More likely, though, is that the courts will rule bit by bit against corporations rather than the government. That way the people will just think, "Oh well, it's not my problem."

Keyes will have no effect on the issue one way or the other. But even if he did, his idea is only to exempt them from taxes. You must factor in the point that a certain percentage of them pay little or no taxes now, so it would only be as they are productive that they would be reaping any kind of benefit, and that would only be temporary.

[unspun]

One huge difference, betweek Keyes and Kucinich, in case you haven't noticed, is that Keyes is right on the most important issues, whereas Kucinich is wrong.

[EternalVigilance]

The fact that you will effectively give aid and comfort to Obama simply because you disagree with Keyes on a couple of issues does not reflect well on you.

Obama is a stone-cold socialist who will make Hillary look like a conservative in the Senate.

Foolish in the extreme.

[JesseHousman]

Well, it looks as though Osama bin Bama will be the next Senator from Illinois in the great tradition of Carol Mosely-Braun!

Illinois can sure pick them can't they?

This cat is about as close to a communist as Harken, et al.

[EternalVigilance]

You are a very observant individual, and your remarks on this thread are excellent.

[MrLiberty]

Keyes is wrong on the drug war, he is wrong on trade, and he is wrong on Dick Cheney's daughter.

He's kind of like a black Pat Buchanan. What a totally terrible candidate. I don't think the Republicans could have picked a worse one. They could have picked any Republican state rep and he would have gotten 40% against Obama, but now Keyes is going to go down in flames and take the Republican party of Illinois with him(although they're already pretty screwed themselves). You know it's true.

[saradippity]

And I wonder how many black,conservative Democrats may switch tickets and vote for Keyes. I happen to think there are many bright blacks who have been waiting for someone they believed held their moral position that they believed they could trust. White Republicans were never able to overcome the propaganda delivered by the Democrats and have always been suspect whatever their moral position.

In the mid-eighties I had many black acquaintances and we would talk politics. They were against abortion,homosexual activities,easy divorce laws and easy access to aid for single mothers. When I would ask them why they weren't supporting the Republican candidate for governor since he held the same positions as I did,they were silent. I knew they liked me too much and were polite enough not to want to insult me to say that they couldn't trust me because I was white as was the condidate,but I knew that was it in a nutshell.

I hope and pray that those blacks,like my acquaintances, will hear the compelling ring of truth stated by one of their own and cross the party line. It would serve all us well,especially the Republican Party.

[MississippiMan]

Has Keyes taken some radical positions or something that I've missed, or is he just being lambasted because he's the first plain-spoken conservative to come along in years? If the latter, what a sad commentary.

MM

[Non-Sequitur]

Has Keyes taken some radical positions or something that I've missed, or is he just being lambasted because he's the first plain-spoken conservative to come along in years? If the latter, what a sad commentary.

Depends. Do you consider positions in favor of exempting the descendants of slaves from income tax and in favor of national service, military or other, for all youths radical?

[EternalVigilance]

Obama's even worse than Harkin, and that takes some doing.

I once wrote a book about Commie Tommy and his far left extremism, one that was based on very indepth research, so I know whereof I speak.

[EternalVigilance]

Alan has certainly taken a couple of positions that are off the Republican reservation. But the vast bulk of his positions are straight up the middle of the mainstream of the GOP. People need to get some proportion, and not allow themselves to be swayed so easily by the MSM and the RINOs who would rather see the socialist Obama in office than Keyes.

And there are plenty of them here, including in the inner circle of the Illinois GOP party chair...these are the people that she intends to promote into leadership to take the party even further left. They have admitted publically they intend to vote for Obama.

[Mini-14]

The fact that you will effectively give aid and comfort to Obama simply because you disagree with Keyes on a couple of issues does not reflect well on you.

I have not provided "aid and comfort" to Obama. As far as I am concerned, Alan Keyes has provided "aid and comfort" to Obama by damaging the Republican party further than was already done by the closet Democrats in the Republican Party.

[saradippity]

If President Reagan would have been engaged in the same interview that Keyes was in and as a response to the same question have said with a wink and a smile "shouldn't that really be a question for her Dad"? I would still have voted for Reagan but with misgivings. I would have thought what kind of chicken sh.t answer is that,or,is he losing his mind?

Ideally,Keyes could have said:"you heard what I said,now go figure it out yourself". Ah,but that we were all gifted with the gift of "advance hindsight"!!