Posted under Alan Keyes & Constitution Party & Election 2008
Editor’s note: they are talking about this article here.
Leslie Riley
Chairman, Mississippi Constitution Party
No Thanks, Alan Keyes
Since it became apparent that John McCain would be the nominee of the Republican Party, interest in the Mississippi Constitution Party ( and I assume, the National CP, the Libertarians, etc) has been growing. I get several e-mails/ phone calls a week from folks interested in the party & who our Presidential nominee might be.
A few weeks back, the National Party sent out, & I published to my list/ the state CP site a list of potential candidates :
Dr. Alan Keyes – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Keyes
Judge Roy Moore – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Moore
Pastor Chuck Baldwin – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Baldwin
Senator Bob Smith – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_C._Smith
Dr. Jerome Corsi – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Corsi
Dr. Don Grundmann – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Grundmann
Two of these folks have, since officially pulled their names out of the running ( Chuck Baldwin & Bob Smith). And in the meantime, Alan Keyes has announced publicly that he was leaving the GOP. Much sniffing out between the Keyes camp & the CP leadership — as well as lots of rumors & speculation that Keyes would be our nominee.Let me state, for the record, that I personally would be opposed to Alan Keyes ( to the point that I can say I could never vote for him) and I will do everything I can to ensure that he does not receive the ballot line of the Mississippi Constitution Party.
The Lesser of Three Evils is still evil.
While I am glad that so many folks (at least now, before the GOP “boogey man†propaganda machine gets going ) are recognizing that the “lesser of two evils is still evil†and coming our way. And we welcome not only Alan Keyes & his supporters to our ranks, but all who want to see a restoration of the Biblical foundations & Constitutional limits of our law system & government (and the liberty that would then ensue).
However, while Alan Keyes is a great orator & has made some tremendous defenses of the unborn & family values, he has some very different foundational presuppositions than us and he stands in direct opposition to our platform & principles on a number of issues :
Alan Keyes is an internationalist who is a supporter of the continued involvement of the United States in the United Nations. He has even gone so far as to state that Michael New should have gone to prison for the stand he took in refusing to wear a UN uniform/ disobey his oath of office.
Alan Keyes is an interventionist & a globalist who is a big supporter of continuing & expanding the war on terror — including neo-conservative foreign policy & encroachments on our liberties at home. He has even expressed support for a militaty draft. (which we all know will include our daughters this time.)
When Alan Keyes ran for Senate against Obama, he expressed support for reparations.
All in all, while Dr. Keyes has been a great advocate for the pro-life cause, he is otherwise, wholly in disagreement with the Constitutionalist position. He is not an advocate of non-intervention at abroad or of smaller government at home.
Ultimately, he is a man who became famous for making a tremendous speech on social issues at the 1992 GOP convention — and who has become the darling of the Christian Right 16 years ago. (and has since lost several elections).
That hardly qualifies him to be president.
Dave K on 05 Apr 2008 at 7:48 pm #
While Keyes forcefully defends the pro-life position against the abortion lobby, he is inconsistent due to his support for the unjustified war in Iraq. It is just as strange to me to see pro-life people war monger as it is to see the anti-war types advocate abortion! The culture of death ethic sure can be an allure to some.
Gary Dunlap on 05 Apr 2008 at 8:37 pm #
I agree. I can’t support our wars especiallys since we simply can’t afford it. As an Illinois resident, his coming hear just to run for US Senate was a low point for someone who says he stands on principles. Even our opponents haven’t gone that far and that’s going some.
Richard Selfridge on 06 Apr 2008 at 7:03 am #
Hillary Clinton also did the same as Keyes when she went to New York just to run for Senate. The only difference was, she was liberal enough to pull it off and the people of New York only cared how liberal she was.
Alan Keyes foreign policy, stand with the UN and tax stands are adequate reasons not to support his nomination.
Mitch Turner on 06 Apr 2008 at 7:59 pm #
I remember when Keyes came to our 1996 convention and gave a rip-roaring conservative speech — but never said anything about the real problem, the GOP. He then went on to support Bob “Tax Collector for the Welfare State” Dole. He has known about us for a long time, yet has chosen to continue keeping those few followers he has in the GOP.
In addition, there may have been a time when he had some credibility as a conservative among the Christian right. Now, however, he is known as a perennial candidate who never wins.
Yes, we in CP would like to have a candidate with name recognition. But the recognition we want is not that of a laughingstock. I would say the same of Buchanan — they both peaked long ago, got their followers all excited about standing for principle, and then caved to the GOP. They wasted the momentum they had, and people will not get on those trains again.
And seeing as Obama already trounced him once, it doesn’t seem to make sense to run the same losing candidate now that the winner has even more money and is the media’s darling.
I’ll be at the CP convention doing anything I can to oppose Keyes. If we nominate a pro-war, pro-interventionist candidate, that will kill the CP.
RedPhillips on 06 Apr 2008 at 11:01 pm #
“I’ll be at the CP convention doing anything I can to oppose Keyes.”
Thanks, Mitch.
“If we nominate a pro-war, pro-interventionist candidate, that will kill the CP.”
I agree. Why doesn’t Keyes just pull out and save himself the humiliation of being denied the nomination of a “minor” party. Do you think there is any way he can win?