I Tried
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Larry from Belleville had a question about Keyes position on contraception. Keyes disappointed.
And no, I’m not from Belleville, but
2004
Keyes Fatigue
One thing about Alan is he is such a nutter that when he is only certifiable, most people following the race closely think he is sedate. But think about coming into the Senate Debate last week without following the race daily and the New Republic’s Tom Frank paints a picture of how the average voter has to be viewing the race (I’m blowing away fair use, because it is too funny)
In the Illinois Senate race, Barack Obama leads Alan Keyes by a margin so wide (over 50 points, according to one poll) that a debate between the candidates must–almost as a matter of science–help narrow the campaign. But that would be to underestimate Alan Keyes. As people know, Keyes is candid, eloquent, and intellectually consistent. He argues rather than spins, allowing his logic to take him where it will. He panders to no (earthly) constituency. And he may well have pulled off the impossible last night: lowering his poll numbers even more. Obama is an unconventionally gifted politician, but even an incompetent one–let’s go farther, actually: even a dolphin or trained seal–could have done better last night than Alan Keyes. All Obama had to do yesterday was play the Earthling card; Keyes took care of the rest.
But it gets better
Here is Keyes last night on abortion, explaining how it differs from capital punishment: “Abortion is intrinsically, objectively wrong and sinful, whereas capital punishment is a matter of prudential judgment, which is not in and of itself a violation of moral right.” Not terribly conciliatory, but Keyes was just getting started. When Obama lamented his opponent’s “rhetoric”–citing Keyes’s equation of abortion rights with the “slaveholder position”–Keyes objected:
In point of fact, I don’t call people names. I make arguments, and in point of fact it is the slaveholder’s position. The slaveholder took the view that black people were not developed enough to be treated as human beings and therefore could be bought and sold like animals. People looking at the babe in the womb take the view that that child is not developed enough to be treated as a human being and therefore can be killed at will.
Soon to appear in a book with a title like Things It’s Probably Better Not To Say. Having been handed a gift like this, Obama had only to repeat the word “slaveholder”: “Essentially, what Mr. Keyes does is equate a woman who’s exercising her right to choose–in extraordinarily painful circumstances–with a slaveholder.” The see-what-I-mean defense was enough. And Keyes kept making it possible.
But he’s been saying this for years. This is exactly what he did in 1996 and 2000.
Earth and not-Earth are a recurring theme:
Asked how, given his characterization of homosexuality as an “abomination,” he would react to being told by one of his children that he or she was gay, Keyes took offense at being accused of “statements that I didn’t make.” “I do not say that homosexual relations are an abomination,” he clarified. “The Bible says so.” He then offered a lengthy indictment of unions “where procreation is in principle impossible,” calling them “irrelevant,” and said that any legislation regarding “private friendships” is a “fundamental degrading of those private friendships.” Keyes looked satisfied after this, as if he’d taken everyone on a thrilling ride to Jupiter. Obama, for his part, calmly came back with, “To answer your question … I would love that child and seek to understand them and support them in any way I could.” It is hard to imagine a parent–even a parent who deplores homosexuality–balking at Obama’s return to the home planet.
I’ve been complaining that no one is picking up on how Keyes goes off on non sequiturs which Frank picks up. I’m not blaming the press, there’s so much material out there.
When Obama asked Keyes to defend his call to repeal the Seventeenth Amendment, Keyes began his response with a happy lack of politesse: “I think that the question actually illustrates the ignorance that I’ve noticed of your understanding of the American Constitution and its background,” he explained, before going on for a while about “more and more important issues … being more and more decided by distant bureaucrats.” This allowed Obama to note that, actually, he teaches a class in Constitutional law.
Before the debate was over, viewers had heard the following snippets and phrases from one of the two candidates: “the persecution of our Christian citizens,” “social self-destruction,” “the use of the body in this way is … an abomination,” “no one has the information necessary to avoid incest,” and “gun-control mentality is ruth-less-ly absurd.” Guess which one.
Applying the breaks
This is, of course, why Keyes loses votes every time he speaks. It’s obvious. But Keyes is also a vital contributor to social cohesion in America, because, somehow, he makes us realize we are all–regardless of our political beliefs–Obama. It’s not because we disagree with Keyes, or even because we find stridency inherently suspect. Most of us have used our reasoning to reach unexpected conclusions once in a while. Sometimes the results are weird–“It follows, therefore, that we should abolish bricks and live in trees!”–and we reexamine our premises or toss the thoughts altogether. Other times they may be logically valid–“Stubbing my toe hurts, and being burned at the stake hurts, so, actually, both Joan of Arc and I have experienced pain”–but so likely to give offense that we keep them to ourselves. In other words, we recognize that life among other people often requires applying the brakes. Alan Keyes, to his credit, does not. This makes him more courageous, more consistent, and more interesting than most of us. Fortunately, it also makes him unelectable.
So for the last week here, let’s enjoy Alan before he heads back to Maryland.
He’s Good, I Have to Give Him That
I’m not a fan of the Governor, but talk about hitting an issue at just the right time, Blagojevich has found 30,000 doses of flu vaccine and is seeking permission to import them.
Kerry should give him a big kiss.
Renner Racks up The Peoria Journal Star Endorsement
Woodford County GOP Chairman Jim Booth says he hasn’t met the man. Neither have we.
You’d think he’d get a starring role in the (valid) critiques about downstate Dems being Chicago based after this:
His whereabouts are a legitimate campaign issue for a couple of reasons. Since his engagement to a Guatemalan lawmaker, a former dictator’s daughter, Weller has sold his home in the district and bought a condominium near downtown Chicago. He also owns property in Nicaragua. His rental of an apartment above a garage in Morris meets the legal definition of residency but not the moral commitment.
Rios Montt’s daughter isn’t just a family member, but a trusted political lieutenant. Her support of her father would be one thing if it was some sort of denial about what he is about, but she is an active member of the party and key ally to her father. She is a part of the political machine that has tried to return a murderous dictator to power. That is highly relevant.
Tari has some momentum. Make sure if you are in the 11th to help with the ground game.
Cegelis Complaint
Christine Cegelis’ campaign will be lodging a complaint with the State Board of Elections later this morning. The Complaint is available here.
Dan Johnson-Weinberger is the election lawyer in this case.
They are reasonably asking for state review and further investigation. The complaint doesn’t allege any conspiracy theory, though individual action by employees of the Board is not excluded from consideration.
Renner Radio Ad
Here. Take a Listen
Rockford Register Star
The president does not seem to learn from experience. He has shown himself to be a man who cannot admit error, and, therefore, cannot change course even in the face of disaster. He will not listen to advice he doesn’t want to hear, and he will not absorb facts that lead logically to conclusions he doesn’t want to acknowledge.
Incredibly, he still insists that the war in Iraq is going well. He vows to persevere on the same disastrous track. He will not concede that his rationale for going to war was mistaken, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary. Instead, he keeps shifting the rationale to justify the war.
HE WILL NOT HOLD people accountable for a poorly planned occupation and poorly managed war. The troops — too few in number from the beginning — were not properly equipped for the mission. The situation grows more perilous and the death toll of American soldiers rises almost daily.
Now This is a Surpise
I didn’t expect the Sun-Times to endorse Kerry. But they did.
The president’s handling of the past year in Iraq — his dismissal of those who warned him about the difficulty of reorganizing the country, his neglect of deep problems that are costing American lives there — made us doubt his ability to bring our involvement there to a successful conclusion. And we became concerned by the secrecy of his subordinates such as Dick Cheney and John Ashcroft, coupled with an unnecessary disregard for some of our most cherished civil liberties.
Sweet on Bean/Crane
Points out the stupidity of carpetbagging complaints by GOP.
My main thing is that regardless of how tough this race is, how annoyed is Hastert to be worried about having to watch even the most minor answer regarding Crane’s tenure.