Kass puts the issue into a rather good perspective:
I am willing, though, to condemn him for something–he’s a selfish loon.
And he’s foolishly played right into the hands of the Illinois Republican Party establishment, in a desperate political fight over the future of the GOP between conservatives and the combine Republicans who’ve been in bed (not literally) with Chicago Democrats for years.
For those not realizing the likely outcome, Keyes is first choice of Democrats everywhere. I thought, along with many others, that the floating of his name was a joke because we are standing exactly where I figured we’d be after he became a nominee. And I thought the Illinois GOP would see that too. When Syverson, or Jack Roeser, or Rauschenberger say they didn’t expect this, they are either stupid or lying. There could be nothing in his Keyes background that wouldn’t cause one to expect the disaster that he has brought.
One can make reasonable arguments for many (not all) of the general positions he argues for, but he doesn’t do that–he turns up the volume and makes himself a caricature.
Do you remember all the fuss JBT made when Jack! dropped out that all candidates will be carefully screened and vetted?
One phone to a random telephone number in Maryland would have told the GOP everything they needed to know about Keyes.
Some vetting!