If he runs, that is.
Keyes was tapped yesterday as the potential nominee, but, despite telling the committee that he was interested in running (and auditioning for the part from his home state of Maryland), he has only said that he'll "think it over," and will announce on Sunday whether or not he's actually going to run.
All the news stories I saw or heard on this decision indicate that the choice was bogus. The main reason the committee opted for Mr. Keyes over Dr. Andrea Barthwell, former deputy White House drug czar, was because of the need to counter Democratic candidate Barack Obama's rising-star status in national Democratic politics and the attendant media attention that comes with it.
It would appear that publicity was also the main reason Mr. Keyes threw his name into the hat for this race: he needs some. Keyes has made four failed election bids: two for president and two for Senate from his home state of Maryland. He hasn't even come close to winning any of them, and still has outstanding campaign debts from two of those four contests.
Even the solidly conservative Chicago Tribune gets it:
Perhaps most problematic for Keyes is that he has few connections to Illinois and has criticized others for carpetbagging. In 2000, conservatives courted Keyes to drop his presidential bid and run against Hillary Rodham Clinton for U.S. Senate in New York, but Keyes blasted the idea and ripped Clinton.
"I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness to go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there. So I certainly wouldn't imitate it," he said on Fox News on March 17, 2000.
What Keyes does get by trying and failing to win elective office is media exposure. Each campaign gives him a little more, and he usually parlays that into increased publicity for himself: his radio show (now gone dark), his television show (ditto), etc. He also tends to raise his speaking fee after each new wave of publicity. The desire to squeeze out a little more cash on the lecture circuit would certainly explain the little charade we saw enacted yesterday, with the committee announcing Mr. Keyes as their next candidate for the U.S. Senate, and Keyes announcing he wanted a little time to think it over. (He'd best think fast, because unless I've completely mis-read the Illiois Election Code, he has to establish a permanent residence in Illinois by the end of this month to get his name on the ballot in November.) Again, the Tribune:
But members also became aware that Keyes might not take the nomination if the committee voted for him. The 53-year-old insisted that before accepting the nomination he must have the full support of House Speaker Dennis Hastert and U.S. Sen. George Allen of Virginia, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, several Republican sources said.
Keyes also wanted assurances of financial backing for the race.
Some high-ranking Republicans said they feared he was only seizing on the high-profile vacancy as a way to resurrect his talk-show career and book sales.
Even before the meeting, Keyes was coy about whether he would take the nomination if it were offered, saying that he was there to "consult with (the state Republican Party) about the best way to go about making" the nomination. "I'm here to chat with them about how best to pursue it," he said.
Which brings me to this suggestion for the Obama campaign. Ignore this loony loser. Don't soil your knuckles or waste your brilliance on him. Alan Keyes hasn't had an original idea in his life, he has no serious policy positions worth discussing, and he has no reasonable connection to the state of Illinois or its people. He's supposed to be a brilliant public speaker, but all the rhetorical bullshit he cares to bring can't disguise the fact that he's a raving loon who wants to turn this country into a theocracy. To hear his positions described as representative of "Illinois values," as I did on my local NPR station this morning by a spokesman for the committee who beshat Keyes upon the citizens of Illinois, turns my stomach.
As far as I'm concerned, Obama has already said everything that needs saying about Mr. Keyes:
I think he'll need to explain how he can best represent the people of Illinois, not having ever lived here. ...What I have seen of Mr. Keyes' record, I think is not in tune with even the Republicans here in Illinois.
Don't waste your time on this carpet-bagger, Sen. Obama. You keep doing what you've been doing, and take the time you'd have needed to devote to a legitimate opponent and use it to help other Democrats down the ticket.