Here is a Keyes quote from March 2000:
Can’t wait to see how he explains this one.
Doesn’t the selection of Keyes also give lie to the Republicans’ claim of opposing affirmative action? I mean, does anyone truly believe he was selected on any criteria other than the color of his skin?
(On preview: simulpost with syncrolecyne)
No, no, it wasn’t affirmative action. It was a legacy hire.
Has Jack Ryan officially dropped out of the race yet? I heard he was really dragging his feet on it.
I must admit, this story just keeps getting better.
[QUOTE=rjung]
Doesn’t the selection of Keyes also give lie to the Republicans’ claim of opposing affirmative action? I mean, does anyone truly believe he was selected on any criteria other than the color of his skin?QUOTE]
I think this is pretty clever of the Republicans. They are clearly concerned about Obama after his speech at the DNC and would like to tarnish his image a bit. A white opponent could not attack him very strenuously without the possibility of being labeled racist. OTOH, a black opponent can aggressively attach Obama and avoid the racist charge.
LL
Media whore. And I’m a guy that more-or-less likes him.
He could have found himself a favorable district and run for the House ten years ago. Had he won, as a black Republican he’d have had a visible platform for his ideas, and a foundation for a career. But he didn’t want to pay his dues and tried to make himself a national figure from nothing.
Hubris.
I went back to look at that Tribune poll and, as of this posting, over 8000 people have voted and almost 85% don’t believe Keyes candidacy is a good idea. Now, this poll is obviously non-scientific and it’s a safe bet to say that most votes came from the Chicagoland area rather than the more conservative southern part of Illinois - but I can help but wonder whether these numbers are giving the GOP pause. I have to imagine that the GOP is polling right now (perhaps one of the newspapers, too?) and I’d love to see those numbers.
CNN said that Keyes was considered along with Andrea Grubb Barthwell, who last served in the Office of National Drug Control Policy. I’m thinking she may have some serious political viability (“serious” meaning “she might have an actual shot at winning something”), so the Pubbies chose Keyes to be a sacrificial lamb in a race they know they can’t win.
Robin
I don’t know what to think about Barthwell. She has made donations to democratic candidates before, is pro-choice, and was reprimanded for making inappropriate sexual comments to someone that worked for her. IIRC, she basically made fun of the guy’s homosexuality (which is weird because she is supposedly pro-gay rights).
A few weeks ago an anonymous conservative strategist said, “Andrea Barthwell? Put down the crack pipe. … We’re going to take a black, pro-choice, pro-gay-rights woman and run her as a Republican?” So - who knows? The Illinois GOP is such disarray nowadays that anything is possible.
Yeah, he officially dropped it a week or two ago.
I loved this anecdote about Keyes that a blog I read brought up. Wow.
And, after further thought, and to paraphrase Moore:
I’d suspected the Illinois GOP organization was insane, I just didn’t know how insane until now.
I repeat: Who is this Alan Keyes? (And no, I have not spent the last ten years on Mars, living in a cave with my fingers stuck in my ears. Alan Keyes is a name I have heard mentioned now and then, but that’s all. Who is he? What has he done? What is there to know about him?)
I’ll leave the Keyes biography to others but here’s a great snap of Keyes courting the youth vote.
Alan Keyes is a former US ambassador to the United Nations cum right wing demagogue and perenniel “candidate.”
To sum up- Keyes is a former US Ambassador who has run for public office numerous times (but has never won). His politics are quite conservative and he’s often lumped in with the religious Right.
Why does his name keep popping up despite not having held an elected office? Well, first of all he’s a black Republican- but blacks in the GOP aren’t that rare, so I rather imagine the real reason behind his (relative) popularity is that he is an unusually gifted orator. He’s a much more engaging speaker than the vast majority of politicians and that’s likely the key to his “staying power”.
That’s pretty goofy logic. Unless Ryan had actually said something that sounded racist (and why would he?), I don’t think anyone would have interpreted a run-of-the-mill attack as racist. The Obama/Osama thing had a certain xenophobic tinge, but I don’t know where exactly it came from.
Well, for the record, I have always said that the people of New York are entitled to set their own rules for residency, but that in my (outsider’s) view it was a foolish policy.
The people of Illinois apparently have a similar policy, and I think it’s similarly foolish.
Is it Illinois and New York law, or federal law?
Oh poppycock.
It is insulting to say that the man is a one-issue candidate. He is amoung the most steadfast Libertarian Conservatives in the Republican party and probably the parties finest speaker.
I would absolutely love it if he won, but I don’t feel to great for his chances