Ryan had to leave the race. No one stepped forward to run against Obama. Keyes put himself out there to be the guy that would get beat and beat bad but to at least put up a fight. He knew he would lose but he wanted to cause Obama the most pain he could. And if some scandal had taken Obama out at the last minute, maybe Keyes could have won it and there'd be a Republican in that seat right now. I didn't see you stepping up to the plate to take one for the team in Illinois.
Obama won in a LANDSLIDE. Keyes has never won an election. Keyes is largely reviled in the GOP.