Running Alan Keyes

I would love nothing better than to see Alan Keyes elected to public office. I've been a fan of Keyes for-- let's see, it must be eight years now, since I lived in New Hampshire and voted for him in the primary.

I listened to the primary candidates' debate on the radio that year, and decided on Keyes based on what I heard in the debates. It wasn't until after I cast my vote that I saw a picture of Keyes and discovered that he happened to have dark skin. So no one can accuse me, as this morning's commentator on NPR did, of wanting Keyes to run just because he's "black". (I apologize for not catching the name of the commentator-- I was a little busy with the baby this morning.)

However, as much as I love Alan Keyes, I would not want him to be elected in a state he doesn't even live in. I have this funny little hang-up about people being represented by those who actually live among them. That's why I was so opposed to Hillary Rodham Clinton running for Senate in New York-- she just came into a state she'd never lived in, and ran for office there. I find it incredibly hypocritical that people like the NPR commentator, who seemed to have a liberal point of view, would think it was OK for Clinton to run in New York but not for Keyes to run in Illinois. Sauce for the goose, you know...

I would also really love to see the reaction of people who, like many liberals, think "blacks" can only be represented properly by "blacks", to an election where both of the candidates are "black". But again, Keyes is not the man for the job, no matter how qualified he is, if he doesn't live in Illinois.

UPDATE: Looks like he decided to run after all. Sigh. I'm a math teacher, I should be used to nobody listening to me.