Rehnquist Hospitalized
ArchPundit
I, of course, wish him well, but let’s add number 2 million as to why to vote for Kerry
ArchPundit
The Sum of the Problem
Make no mistake. Keyes will be leaving soon, but the true believers around him will be with us for a long time to come.
It’s Not That the Mailers are New
It’s that the Dems are promoting Alan Keyes in more of their literature than the Republicans.
This might be a new low ? not for the Democrats who, like the GOP, often use misleading mail pieces to skew elections.
It might be a new low for the Republicans whose U.S. Senate candidate is considered so unattractive, he’s being promoted by the Democrats.
Denial Isn’t Just a River In Egypt
Steve McGlynn finds himself with his head buried in the sand:
Stephen P. McGlynn, a Belleville lawyer and the state GOP co-chairman, said Keyes had been the victim of a media smear campaign. He predicted that Keyes’ attention to moral issues would win converts among undecided voters, particularly in the southern half of the state.
Daily Southtown Obama Endorsement
I’d love to hear if there are any Illinois papers that endorse Keyes. I’d be shocked.
Rather than a political candidate seeking votes, Keyes comes off like a guest lecturer intent on telling typical Illinoisans they lack moral fiber and must mend their ways. After his visit with our editorial board, we were hard-pressed to imagine him serving in a deliberative body like the Senate, which requires civil discussion and give and take. He has decided to present himself as an opponent of abortion rights and “special rights” for gay people, in contrast to the average Illinoisan, who believes the government should stay out of our private lives.
The GOP gave the voters a candidate with little knowledge about the state and not much to say about the issues that are particular to Illinois. He may win some votes from anti-abortion voters, but the polls show he will be lucky to get more than a handful of votes.
We think Illinois voters should cast their votes for Barack Obama, the candidate whose views are most like theirs. And while we fully expect Obama to look for a position higher than the Senate some day, we urge him to keep as his top priority service to the people of Illinois.
I Tried
Larry from Belleville had a question about Keyes position on contraception. Keyes disappointed.
And no, I’m not from Belleville, but
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.