I hope that someone does some good exit polling on election day, it would be most helpful to find out if people voted for Keyes because he was a Republican, wasn't Obama, or because they agreed with his campaign.
My guess is that the voting numbers will be higher than people expect, and 2/3rds will respond that they voted for Keyes because of his values.
If, however, that doesn't happen, then it bodes bad for social conservatives in the party. And to be honest, that outright scares me.
I don't think so. If it's a blowout, I think it'll be viewed as an aberration due to his pontificating political style, not as a failure of conservative candidates. And I think he'll do much better than the polls in the mid 20s. Though he may cost Republican's some votes, I just don't think that many top line Republican voters will split their tickets.
I'm voting for Keyes only because I cannot, in good conscience, not vote, period - I don't think it's right to look the other way. I can't just pass even though I find Keyes an amazingly inferior candidate. I will fight to the end. After all, I'm a Texan.
Remember The Alamo!