Larry Sabato’s most recent take on Keyes:
September 7, 2004 Update:
It is no longer worth pretending that this is even a competitive contest. Alan Keyes’s recent attack on Vice President Cheney’s lesbian daughter as a “selfish hedonist” has made Keyes persona non grata, even among many Republicans. We are changing the outlook on this Senate seat to solid Democratic, and we would not be surprised to see Barak Obama hit 70 percent of the vote. The Illinois GOP made a terrible mistake in plucking Keyes from Maryland for this contest, and it has set the party back years.