ArchPundit

He’s lying or he’s mentally ill. 

Chicago Tribune | Keyes remains hot GOP topic in lieutenant governor race

During a forum before the
Tribune’s editorial board, Steve Rauschenberger, one of the contenders
for lieutenant governor, said GOP governor candidate Judy Baar Topinka
was to blame for Keyes’ candidacy because she was head of the state
Republican Party at the time. But Topinka’s running mate, Joseph
Birkett, noted Rauschenberger was one of the first to push Keyes’ name
as a candidate.

More…

Rauschenberger, a state senator from
Elgin who is the running mate of Chicago businessman Ron Gidwitz, said
Topinka tossed Keyes “under the bus” immediately after the GOP state
central committee selected him to challenge Barack Obama. Keyes,
selected as a replacement after Jack Ryan dropped out of the race, was
beaten by a historic margin.

“She was state party chairman,”
Rauschenberger said. “If you accept leadership of the party and your
party calls a candidate, finding a TV camera to make sure you said that
you’ve washed your hands of your own nominee is not what I call
leadership.”

But Birkett, DuPage County’s state’s attorney,
said Rauschenberger was instrumental in suggesting Keyes to his good
friend and state central committee member, state Sen. Dave Syverson of
Rockford. Rauschenberger later employed top Keyes’ campaign staff
members for his now discarded bid for governor.

“To blame Judy
for all the problems of the party is just unfair. It’s just unfair,
Steve,” Birkett said. “And she is not to blame for Alan Keyes or a lot
of the other problems with this party.”

Later, Rauschenberger
attempted to distance himself from Keyes, saying he only suggested his
name but had no involvement in the campaign. He acknowledged, however,
that he donated $500 to Keyes’ campaign and publicly supported him.

Rauschenberger said Topinka “spent most of her time as state party
chairman talking about the right-wing wackos, as she frequently refers
to them publicly. … And that just happens to be about 65 percent of
her own party base. That’s not unifying.”

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! I recruited a complete loon to run for the US Senate and it’s all the fault of the woman who tried to stop me from jumping off the cliff. 

But really, let’s look at a line that will come back to haunt Rauschenberger for a long time to come:

Rauschenberger said Topinka “spent most of her time as state party
chairman talking about the right-wing wackos, as she frequently refers
to them publicly. … And that just happens to be about 65 percent of
her own party base. That’s not unifying.”

There are inelegant turns of a phrase and then there are just downright damn funny things politicians say. This is the latter.  So 65 percent of the Illinois Republican Party are right-wing wackos.  All right. 

Even better, according to Syverson, without Rauschenberger’s role, there is no Keyes in Illinois

Some in the party said privately that they view the Keyes candidacy as
Syverson’s baby and they’re preparing to hang a Keyes defeat squarely
on the Rockford senator.

Syverson said Rauschenberger suggested they pursue Keyes, and that
the move was backed by Fitzgerald. Syverson said he and U.S. Rep.
Manzullo, R-Egan, were the first to reach out to Keyes, an account
confirmed by Manzullo spokesman Rich Carter.

“Rauschenberger called me and bounced the idea off of me,” Syverson
said. “I called Manzullo. Manzullo was ecstatic about the idea.
Manzullo called Keyes. And I called Keyes. We both talked to him. We
shared our concern and asked whether he’d be willing to come and help
Illinois through its difficult time.”

RAUSCHENBERGER SAID the notion of picking Keyes was planted by Dan
Proft, president of the conservative newsletter Illinois Leader.
Rauschenberger said Proft, who worked for Jack Ryan’s campaign, called
him and suggested Keyes after the Democratic National Convention
propelled Obama to superstar status.

“He said, ‘Why don’t we find somebody who could go toe to toe with Barack Obama?’,” Rauschenberger said.

How could poor Steve know Keyes was a loon?

This link might give you a few people who predicted pretty much what happened–it includes me

Who would have thunk that a guy who handcuffed himself in a television studio to get attention for being excluded would be a bit erratic?