Prior to Jack Ryan dropping out of the Senate race in Illinois, I knew faintly who Alan Keyes was, but hadn't paid much attention to him. But when the GOP in Illinois began scrambling for a black candidate to face off against Barack Obama, I got a quick edumacation on the subject of Mr. Keyes.
First, I was puzzled that someone from Maryland would presume to waltz into Illinois and think he can represent this state's interests and needs in the Senate. I didn't like it when Hillary Clinton did it in New York either - and much to my surprise, neither did Alan Keyes!!!
In March 2000, Keyes had denounced Hillary Clinton for campaigning for a United States Senate seat from where she had only recently established residence, "I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there, so I certainly wouldn't imitate it."
Hmm. The plot thickens.
So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when Keyes came out swinging, denouncing Dick Cheney's daughter amongst other gays as "selfish hedonists and claiming that Jesus Christ (who I assume Keyes loves and respects, being a devout Catholic) would never vote for his opponent, Barack Obama. But Keyes stopped shy of saying that Jesus would in fact, vote for Keyes. I imagine Keyes must have spoken to Jesus directly, but since Jesus has Sprint for a cellular carrier, the call dropped before He could let Keyes know that for sure, Alan's got His vote.
Everyone has a right to his/her own beliefs, whether or not they offend me or anyone else. And no one can say Alan Keyes doesn't stand behind his beliefs (although it appears he's free to flip-flop on the political ones). I don't have a problem with any of that.
My problems with Keyes are as follows:
1) Forcing his personal religious beliefs onto the public. This is not okay with me and never has been. Religion is personal. No one has any business trying to force their religion into public policy. Period. End of story. Your religion helps define who you are, but your religion has no part in dictating who I am or what I can do.
2) Taking advantage of this Senate race and the media attention to advance his own agenda. Keyes, while being honest, has to know that his remarks would offend millions of Illinoisans, millions of potential VOTERS. Yet he continues with his remarks (which oh so conveniently garner tons of media coverage), knowing it cannot help him win the race.
Mr. Keyes, you can do whatever you want on your own time and money, but don't dare to assume that you can represent the people of Illinois, because in general we don't much favor gaybashing bigots who presume to know what Jesus wants. I can't speak for everyone, but I can speak for most of the people I know, and even the Illinois GOP is disavowing your existence faster than you can say "Who Would Jesus Vote For?"
To win Illinois, Alan Keyes would have to get God to throw the city of Chicago and its collar counties into Lake Michigan. (a move which a sizable chunk of Central and Southern Illinois might be ok with) I for one cannot wait for this race to be over so we don't have to hear about Keyes' grandstanding anymore (in this particular arena anyway.)
Cheers to a resounding Obama victory,
Donna
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I agree that Keyes isn't in this race to win - he has to know he can't win. He just wants attention and that is detracting from Obama's campaign - Obama spends more time on the road talking about Keyes than his own plans. I also love that Illinois Republicans are scratching their heads right now going "uh, is Jack Ryan still around?". They've all but disowned Keyes. The only thing good that will come out of this whole debacle is that the Republicans in Illinois will get a good ass-whuppin for opening the door to someone like Keyes. There's no hiding the fact that their choice was poorly thought out, and superficial (racially motivated) and that won't go unnoticed by voters in the future.
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