Update (8/5/04): Illinois Republicans pick Keyes.
Things are getting curiouser and curiouser, Alice.
The U.S. Senate race in Illinois is taking on intriguing possibilities. The Democrats’ new “weapon” is Barack Obama, who some people seem to believe is different from all the other liberals, will be facing either Alan Keyes or Andrea Barthwell, both of whom are black and Republican. According to Keyes’s web site, the Illinois GOP’s vote is going to be a close one.
Barthwell is the former Deputy Director for Demand Reduction in the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Most people have probably heard of Alan Keyes, who I think is the better choice. Barnwell has a brewing scandal to deal with at the moment.
In front of her staff, Andrea Grubb Barthwell made repeated comments about the sexual orientation of a staff member and used a kaleidoscope to make sexually offensive gestures, according to the findings of a March 19, 2003, “hostile workplace memorandum” prepared by drug policy office staff. The Associated Press obtained the memorandum.
We don’t need that right now.
So far, there have been four black U.S. senators: three Republicans and one Democrat. Will Republicans continue leading the way, or will Democrats soon get their male counterpart to Carol Moseley Braun? We’ll see. In the meantime, complete your history lesson:
Republicans
Hiram Rhodes Revels (in the photo — he looks so dignified, doesn’t it?)
Democrat
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Alan Keyes is wonderful. I voted for him when he ran for President.
Unfortunately, Alan Keyes has his own skeletons: allegations that he misused campaign funds for his own salary (though technically legal at the time) during his Senate campaigns in Maryland.
Even though I despise her sexual harassment skeleton, Barthwell is the better candidate for Illinois under the circumstances for several reasons:
(1) Alan Keyes ain’t from Illinois. We Illinoisans will be pickier about carpetbaggers than New Yorkers were.
(2) Barack Obama alone got more votes in the Democratic primary than all the Republican primary candidates combined. That must be on the Illinois GOP’s mind. Which leads to
(3) The only way the GOP has a chance to take Obama down is someone who can siphon off votes and money from Obama’s multi-culti coalition. A moderate Republican can do so (as shown by other GOP statewide politicians), a conservative one cannot this year. Barthwell can cut into Obama’s support among blacks (Keyes’ past opposition to South Africa sanctions during apartheid will hurt him even more), suburban white women, and independents of various races. That ain’t a feat that Alan Keyes can pull off in Illinois
(4) Alan Keyes is too conservative for this seat, as Illinois rarely picks conservative Senators. Retiring Sen. Peter Fitzgerald is conservative, but has a strong independent streak and regularly battled with GOP leadership.
(5) When he ran for the presidency, he only got about 4% of the Illinois vote
Personally, I liked Jack Ryan (and didn’t think he should’ve dropped out of the race – so what if he took his wife to a sex club? Yawn). Given the scenario, the GOP will lose this seat – and possibly its Senate majority – unless it puts up Barthwell. Whoever gets the nod, the Republican Party must put into a keynote slot at its national convention and they give the speech of their lives (both are known as good speakers, although Keyes is better).
Another thing I’m sick of is Barack Obama. I live in Illinois and I don’t like the idea of party bosses handpicking a pretty little fellow nobody outside Chicago ever heard of and the general media annointing him without so much as a by-your-leave. I think he is an invented bit of fluff.
I think it is a ridiculous thing to imagine that somebody like Alan Keyes isn’t electable because he is a man of Principle, while the press already has Obama in the White House and nobody even knows what the hell he stands for!
Party bosses? The Democratic machine was behind Dan Hynes (son of politician Tom Hynes) in the primary, and then Blair Hull (who led in polls and then torpedoed after those domestic violence allegations vs. his ex-wife). There was a revenge factor though: some black folks were livid that Tom Hynes didn’t back Harold Washington back in the day, and were primed to settle the score – against his son. Ah, Chicago politics!
Two things for sure. Barack Obama is the luckiest dude in U.S. politics. Two key opponents have gone down in scandal? I ain’t even a Republican (independent). However, y’all need to fire Judy Baar Topinka as your party chair, for allowing six weeks to lapse in making this selection.
Although I’m not a fan of carpet-bagging politicians (e.g., Hillary in NY), I think Keyes in IL would be very intriguing. In the 2000 primary, I was two weeks away from being swayed by McCain until he exploded with the “Bush is Anti-Catholic” rhetoric when Bush went to speak at Bob Jones Univ. in South Carolina. Uhhhh… I’m Catholic, Mr. McCain, and so is Jeb (FL Gov) Bush’s entire family. And McCain kept on harping on it for two weeks. It showed his notorious hot head, and I wasn’t fully enamored with bush yet at the time. So I casted a protest/principled vote for Alan Keyes in that election.
Oh, just to see Keyes verbally spank Obama in the debates would be totally worth it. Hee-Hee.
I’d love to see Keyes win, but given that he is not an Illinoisan I find that unlikely. I’m just sorry they didn’t have the guts to go with Oberweis — or that Ditka didn’t jump into the thing when he had the chance.
But then again, the last guy I was really hyped about in Illinois was Pat Salvi back in 1996 — a high school classmate of Rick Santorum and the older brother of one of my high school classmates (we’re all alums of Carmel High School in Mundelein, Illinois). And we saw how badly that conservative candidacy went.
I s’pose I shouldn’t be shocked to see only half the picture, but, for the record, these guys were mostly elected before “civil rights” could be uttered as a legitimate political issue.
Revels: 1870
Bruce: 1875
Brooke: 1966 (and he’s from “Liberal” hotbed Massachusetts at that
What have the Republicans done lately?
sorry molotov i guess from a local standpoint you are right, but my take was the national party.
Judy Barr Topinka – wasn’t she at the Gay Rights Parade this year? Yes she was… here is a self-serving link back to our blog about it.
Anyway the truth of the matter is I’m voting for neither. I’m LP…
But Alan Keyes is a man of principle. Pretty sure I at least got that right.
I really like Alan Keys problem is he has too much common sense to be president.
I’d love to see Alan Keyes in the Senate! What a wonderful CONSERVATIVE man. Regardless which ones wins the Republican nomination, there will be two black Republican candidates running for the senate. There is also a man in Georgia who will most likely win that seat.
Yahoo just put up a news link:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=683&ncid=716&e=10&u=/ap/20040805/ap_on_el_se/illinois_senate
The Illinois State Republican Party has officially asked Keyes to be their Senate candidate! Keyes states that he wants to take a few days to seriously consider the offer. Should be reeeeeeally interesting if he accepts.
Yah beat me by 3 minutes, Glittering Eye (hee-hee).
Alan Keyes…..”speaks a little Russian and ancient Greek”
I’d much prefer to vote for a man who speaks ancient Greek than for a man who speaks “flip-flop”.
Who is going to bring up the hypocrisy? Of Keyes that is. ABC-7 in Chicago found this Keyes quote from 2000 about Hillary Clinton’s run in New York: “I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton’s willingness go into a state she doesn’t even live in and pretend to represent people there, so I certainly wouldn’t imitate it.”
Expatlse – If true, you make a good point. Hypocrisy is hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is hypocrisy. But it’s pretty difficult for Democrats to complain about it at this point cf. Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel, etc. I doubt it will be a campaign issue.
Dave, I agree. Democrats proposed that prior residency doesn’t matter and the people have spoken.
What’s good for the goose…
I am sure the carpetbagging will be an issue. Since when do the dems refrain from crucifying someone just because they have done the same?
I love Keyes. I hope he accepts.
I do not think the GOP is going to win this one. Obama will kick butt. The GOP should spend there money elsewhere, where there is an actual chance to win.
Hard to kick butt if one gets tore up in debate. Watch for Obama to avoid a real debate, or two, by any means necessary.
Whether Alan Keyes wins or not, the race should be an interesting one to watch given that there hasn’t previously been two black men duking it out for a Senate seat. The whole carpetbagging issue re: Hilary was pretty silly anyway, and was just one more thing to tack on to the reasons why she shouldn’t have, but was pretty much expected to, win her seat. An answer from Alan Keyes on it would be great, and of course so would many answers on many things from Obama. Does anyone know what the guy stands for?
I don’t buy into the notion that being conservative loses black votes in and of itself. If not for Jesse Jackson telling people to vote Democratic from the pulpit, conservative social policies would garner support from far more than 10% of the congregation. The fear must be incapacitating with regards to economic issues for a liberal of any color to win the votes of those who are socially conservative.
>I s’pose I shouldn’t be shocked to see only half the >picture, but, for the record, these guys were mostly >elected before “civil rights” could be uttered as a >legitimate political issue.
There was surely debate with regard to amending the Constitution on those points. I have no reason to believe that such debate was in any sense illegitimate.
>Revels: 1870
>Bruce: 1875
Revels served part of a term, and Bruce a full term. At that point the state legislature of Mississippi selected its Senators. Southern Republicans were doing something that may have made even some of them bristle since they were living in a reconstructed South where segments of the population that had been confederates could not vote but likely still made their voices heard.
>Brooke: 1966 (and he’s from “Liberal” hotbed Massachusetts >at that
That was when Massachusetts was still classically liberal, then. If not for the Kennedy mystique, Massachusetts probably wouldn’t get the bum rap as a hotbed and simply be a bed.
>What have the Republicans done lately?
Herman Cain was almost nominated from Georgia, for one thing, which would have been a cruise to election, like Obama appeared to have scored.
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