By Rick Pearson
AMES, Iowa -- In addition to the tents on behalf of all the presidential candidates, there is at least one for a non-presidential candidate -- one-time Calumet City, Ill., resident and unsuccessful 2004 Republican U.S. Senate nominee Alan Keyes.
Keyes has said he would consider a run for the presidency if enough grassroots support exists for a candidacy. He's run for the GOP presidential nomination before and got 14 percent support in the 2000 Iowa caucuses.
In fact, a brochure being handed out at the "We need Alan Keyes for President" booth gives the background of the firebrand conservative commentator and notes his 1996 and 2000 presidential candidacies.
"It's no exaggeration to say that our very future as a country hangs by a thread," the brochure warns.
But the brochure's biography of Keyes doesn't mention a word about his disastrous 2004 Illinois Senate run, when the Marylander was imported by the Illinois Republican Party to serve as the substitute nominee to replace disgraced Jack Ryan.
In fact, Keyes helped propel another presidential candidacy, that of Democrat Barack Obama. Obama defeated Keyes for the Illinois U.S. Senate seat, getting 70 percent of the vote to the Republican's 27 percent.
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Comments
Barack Obama is running third in Iowa for the REPUBLICAN nomination for President in 08.
Some very interesting news from a poll of Republican voters recently done by the University of Iowa.
Romney topped the poll with 26.9 percent of respondents saying they intend to support him at the January caucus. He is up 10 points since the last University of Iowa poll in late March. Giuliani was well behind at 11.3 percent, down 9 points, while McCain fell an astonishing 17.7 points to 3.2 percent, putting him in sixth place...
Perhaps most surprising of all, BARACK OBAMA actually finished third as the preferred general election candidate of registered REPUBLICANS, at 6.7 percent, behind Romney (21.8 percent), and Giuliani (10 percent), but ahead of Thompson (5.2 percent) and McCain (1.8 percent).
GOBAMAin08!
Posted by: John E | August 11, 2007 2:02 PM
Alan Keyes should enter the presidential race to show the vast diversity of the Republican Party, and that the presidency is not just for middle aged male members of the majority ethnic race. In fact with Keyes the Reps will have an Italian American and an African American, a couple of Roman Caths, a Latter Day Saint, and a bucket of WASPS. That should be enough for good ol boys and their women to choose from. Who can forget how in their moment of desperation the Reps called on Alan with his fiery, hell and damnation oratory to wrest the Senate race away from that skinny dude who aint even all Black. The nerve. You go, Republicans. Alan's first speech will contain the line... "if you want a candidate who can stand up to Mr. 911, the choir boy, the great Reaganesque thespian, the war monger, and the other nondescript wannabes, I'm yer Boy!!!"
Posted by: GW | August 11, 2007 2:40 PM
Alan Keyes; No better representation of what Conservative Republicans are all about. It will be fun to read who says what in defense of his views.
Posted by: RomanB | August 11, 2007 3:12 PM
Please Alan Keyes - run!
The entertainment value cannot be overstated!
Posted by: Doug Zook | August 11, 2007 5:11 PM
Doug Zook,
I foresee a 'Willard/Keyes' ticket!
Posted by: C.Morris | August 12, 2007 12:05 PM
Does his flyer mention is lesbian daughter and how gays are destroying America according to the Rabid Republics.
Posted by: jethro | August 13, 2007 10:02 AM