Black To Black

By vouchey in News on Aug 3, 2004 2:17PM

Two-time presidental candidate, and two-time Maryland U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes is the current nom du jour the Illinois GOP is tossing about for U.S. Senate candidate.

"It would be a classic race of conservative vs. liberal,'' said state Sen. Dave Syverson, a member of the panel looking for a candidate to go up against Obama. ''It would put this race on the map in this country -- just for excitement.''

Yeah, but that's not really what Syverson and other Republicans are thinking. It's no secret that part of Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Barack Obama's appeal is that not only is he smart and good-looking, he's being propped up to lead the next generation of African-American leaders. What better way to combat that appeal with your own African-American leader?

Keyes has no pretention to the throne once held by Malcom X and Martin Luther King -- and once held somewhat by Chicagoan Jesse Jackson, Sr. But he's a smart guy, speaks well, and has really thought through his conservative stances. In other words, any debate between Obama and Keyes would be lively, interesting, and would have to be taken seriously. And, because of the strange, mysterious ways of American racial politics, Alan Keyes' blackness would take some of the air out of Barack Obama's positioning as America's next Black, progressive leader.

A much better choice than Mike Ditka, Chicagoist thinks.