Post by Motorcity on Aug 9, 2004 17:06:59 GMT -5
Keyes Enters U.S. Senate Race in Ill.
By MAURA KELLY LANNAN, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO - Launching his first full day of campaigning for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, Alan Keyes said Monday he's the true representative of the Land of Lincoln, even though he's never lived in the state.
Keyes, the two-time presidential hopeful and East Coast conservative, is already focusing his campaign on the clear contrast between his own views and the liberal positions of his opponent, Democrat Barack Obama.
"The whole question is of whether it is right for the state of Lincoln, the state that in some way created the great heritage we have in this country of great principle, should send someone to the Senate in the United States who doesn't believe in those principles," Keyes said on WLS-AM before heading off to another interview, at least his third of the morning.
Keyes, a Maryland resident who made two failed Senate tries in that state, announced Sunday he had accepted the Illinois GOP's request to be its candidate. He said he knew he faced up an uphill battle, but he had reviewed Obama's record as a state senator on abortion, guns and taxes and decided someone had to challenge him.
"He has never seen a spending bill he couldn't find some excuse for and has never seen a tax increase he didn't like," Keyes said. "We find somebody who, in the tradition of a lot of the liberals, would rather that our children are educated in schools controlled by impersonal bureaucracy than in schools under the influence and control of the parents who love them."
Keyes opposes abortion and gay rights, wants to replace the income tax with a national sales tax and calls affirmative action a "government patronage program." Like Obama, he is black.
Obama said in a statement Sunday that as Keyes travels the state, he will find that "families here are concerned about quality jobs, making health care more affordable and ensuring our children get the best education possible."
The race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Peter Fitzgerald will be the first U.S. Senate election with two black candidates representing the major parties.
Keyes replaces Jack Ryan, who withdrew from the race amid embarrassing sex club allegations in his divorce records. Keyes emerged as a candidate only recently, after a host of high-profile Illinois Republicans declined to run, from former Govs. Jim Edgar and James Thompson to former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka.
Under federal law, Keyes has until Election Day to establish Illinois residency.
Dropping into the race is an uncomfortable position for Keyes, 54, who criticized Hillary Clinton for moving to New York to make her 2000 Senate run.
On Monday, Keyes told WGN-TV in Chicago: "Hillary Clinton went into New York on a quest of personal ambition. That's not what I'm doing here."
Keyes told Republican leaders he would turn to his national base of supporters, as well as to national party leaders, for financial help in the race.
On Friday, he paid off the rest of his tax liabilities in Maryland, where he at one point owed $7,481, according to the state comptroller's office.
Obama already has a strong advantage in the race. He has raised more than $10 million, gave the keynote speech last month at the Democratic National Convention and is running in a Democratic-leaning state.
Keyes
Obama
By MAURA KELLY LANNAN, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO - Launching his first full day of campaigning for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, Alan Keyes said Monday he's the true representative of the Land of Lincoln, even though he's never lived in the state.
Keyes, the two-time presidential hopeful and East Coast conservative, is already focusing his campaign on the clear contrast between his own views and the liberal positions of his opponent, Democrat Barack Obama.
"The whole question is of whether it is right for the state of Lincoln, the state that in some way created the great heritage we have in this country of great principle, should send someone to the Senate in the United States who doesn't believe in those principles," Keyes said on WLS-AM before heading off to another interview, at least his third of the morning.
Keyes, a Maryland resident who made two failed Senate tries in that state, announced Sunday he had accepted the Illinois GOP's request to be its candidate. He said he knew he faced up an uphill battle, but he had reviewed Obama's record as a state senator on abortion, guns and taxes and decided someone had to challenge him.
"He has never seen a spending bill he couldn't find some excuse for and has never seen a tax increase he didn't like," Keyes said. "We find somebody who, in the tradition of a lot of the liberals, would rather that our children are educated in schools controlled by impersonal bureaucracy than in schools under the influence and control of the parents who love them."
Keyes opposes abortion and gay rights, wants to replace the income tax with a national sales tax and calls affirmative action a "government patronage program." Like Obama, he is black.
Obama said in a statement Sunday that as Keyes travels the state, he will find that "families here are concerned about quality jobs, making health care more affordable and ensuring our children get the best education possible."
The race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Peter Fitzgerald will be the first U.S. Senate election with two black candidates representing the major parties.
Keyes replaces Jack Ryan, who withdrew from the race amid embarrassing sex club allegations in his divorce records. Keyes emerged as a candidate only recently, after a host of high-profile Illinois Republicans declined to run, from former Govs. Jim Edgar and James Thompson to former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka.
Under federal law, Keyes has until Election Day to establish Illinois residency.
Dropping into the race is an uncomfortable position for Keyes, 54, who criticized Hillary Clinton for moving to New York to make her 2000 Senate run.
On Monday, Keyes told WGN-TV in Chicago: "Hillary Clinton went into New York on a quest of personal ambition. That's not what I'm doing here."
Keyes told Republican leaders he would turn to his national base of supporters, as well as to national party leaders, for financial help in the race.
On Friday, he paid off the rest of his tax liabilities in Maryland, where he at one point owed $7,481, according to the state comptroller's office.
Obama already has a strong advantage in the race. He has raised more than $10 million, gave the keynote speech last month at the Democratic National Convention and is running in a Democratic-leaning state.
Keyes
Obama