Obama to Soon Have Black GOP Foe for Senate Race

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CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Republicans on Tuesday narrowed the field of prospective U.S. Senate opponents for Democrat Barack Obama to two, and virtually assured that the next senator from the Midwestern state will be black.



Either two-time Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes (news - web sites), a Maryland radio talk show host, or former deputy drug czar Andrea Barthwell will get the nod on Wednesday from the state Republican party's central committee to face off against Obama in November, party officials announced.


Both Keyes and Barthwell are black, as is Obama, meaning the senate chamber will likely have only its third black member since the 19th Century.


The 19-member committee spent the day interviewing more than a dozen potential candidates -- though Keyes could not be present because of a scheduling conflict -- before narrowing the field to two.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&ncid=703&e=8&u=/nm/20040804/pl_nm/campaign_senate_illinois_dc

a month ago.

Now Obama has seen the national spotlight and nothing can stop him.

Alan Keyes...hmmmm...he's screwed.

I can't be a hypocrite and say it's OK for Hillary to be a carpetbagger in NY but not Keyes in Ill. Still, Keyes should be required to demonstrate absolute mastery of all issues of importance to Illinoisians. Hillary went on a listening tour of NY, attended prep sessions upstate at Daniel Patrick Moynihan's cottage to learn about issues of particular concern to New York and never mixed up local issues. Keyes should be held to the same standards.

Hillary had no choice about where she could live prior to her move to New York. When she and Bill left the white house, she was entitled to move wherever she wanted.

as I understand it, he was supposed to have been a resident of Illinois by July to be eligible. I don't know how they'll get around that, but it isn't hypocritical to point it out.

Keyes ain't even an Illinois resident! He ran for Senate in MARYLAND! I've got more ties to that state than he does...and have an acceptance letter from the Univerisity of Illinois (didn't attend, though) to prove it.

If the Republicans are so against "quotas", then WTF are they doing trying to place an African-American with little to no qualifications on the card vs. Mr. Obama? Once again the MOST QUALIFIED PERSON FOR THE JOB doesn't matter, just the color of their skin, ala Clarence Thomas... If I was a senior Republican from and in Illinois, I'd be ready to bail on these fools...

on edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to source my reference for the good lady...

"Before joining the ONDCP, Andrea was president of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and a board member of the American Methadone Treatment Association. When hired for the ONDCP, she claimed she wanted to increase the focus on treatment at the Drug Czar's office.

However, since she joined, she has mostly toured the country spouting the Drug Czar's line, and almost exclusively focusing on marijuana, particularly as an attack dog to go against medical marijuana efforts, and also promoting massive drug testing of teens in schools.

She has regularly played loose with the facts (if not outright lying), dismissing all medical marijuana science as a "scam" and conveniently ignoring other facts. Additionally, rather than bringing an emphasis on treatment to the Drug Czar's office, Andrea has instead pushed the lie that the Bush administration has increased the enforcement/treatment ratio toward treatment (in fact, all they did was change the rules regarding what was counted)."

http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/2004/07/09.html

hehehe My exact thought. Not too transparent huh?

they're so obvious, it's pathetic. x(

sham. But then again, there's Bush voters everywhere.

The filing deadline is August 26, and you need to be a resident for 30 days before you can file.

By my calculations, he'll have been a "resident" for only 22, and unless the GOP has an 8-day time-machine, it'll mean even further embarassment...

Hehe I'm sure that was a Karl Rove directive.

I mean, since race is important and everything, what will the chances of those other candidates be against his "whiteness"? (sarcasm now off) :think:

They can still put his name on the ballot on August 26th without him being a resident:

Article I

Section 3.

Clause 3: No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

He doesn't even have to move until November 1.

If he wants to vote for himself (which he probably should do if he wants to stand a chance of beating the Libertarian), he needs to move to Illinois by September 5 in order to register by October 5.

If you look at the language used, the Constitution sets the minimum requirement, that the prospective Senator has to be a resident when elected. It seems individual states are free to set more restrictive guidelines.

Keyes needs to be a resident by election day.

...find an Illinoisan to run !!! And on top of that, they have to play the race card!

I live in the district that Hastert alledgedly represents. He will be out the door right behind Bush.

F**king Swine !!!!

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of the Clarence Thomas supporters. In the words of Thurgood Marshall re Clarence Thomas, "A black snake will bite you just as bad as a white one."

Any "so called" African American other then Obama could not possibly pull enough African American voters to count.

Alan is still in slavery and GWB is his Owner. For that matter, Colin and Condi, and of course their uncle Clarence, serve only their Owner too.

african-americans and the notes beside the ones that were crossed off the list before they got to keyes.

"too dark"
"too uppity"
in rove's childlike scrawl

person who would bow and yes sir to the republican master.

It would be good if Kerry plucked him from the Senate and brought him to D.C. I believe, the governor could appoint another Dem in his place after Obama resigned.

We need him in the Senate. And that's what the people of Illinois will elect him to do--be a senator. That would be too soon. AND we need Black women and men in the US Senate, as well.

pull that state and the black people up .....and help them improve their lot in life.....he has a powerful message and I would like to see him put that in action where it will help the most...but as I writing this...that could be said for the whole country.

My thinking is concerning his health and safety.

I'm convinced the GOP would find a way to do away with such a talented man. Obama is a threat to the very principles espoused by the GOP. His talent lies in communicating his ideas brilliantly and working towards making those ideas a reality.

Not since JFK, RFK and MLK (with the execption of WJC) has there been such a powerful speaker standing in the wings, who's charismatic style can help deliver Kerry's message of HOPE and HELP and a better world to the masses.

are there any other African American Republicans??

Clarence Thomas

may well make Jerry Kohn come in a distant second.

Illinois Republicans may be a lot of things, but they would prefer a Senator who represents the interests of Illinois, not the interests of Alan Keyes.

it's too late for Keyes....can someone from IL confirm this law?

And Keyes has until election day to become a resident.

Keyes especially is anti-AA. Yet he is being chosen ONLY because he has black skin.
Yep, the GOP played the race card.

This is retarded. He's not from there. He doesn't know any of the issues that affect the state. His past campaigns have all been terrible. What else does he bring to the table other than his race?

Well, they hope to chop up Obama some in hopes of preventing him from stumping in swing states for Kerry. It'll also serve them when Obama makes a national run down the road. Finally, the locals won't have to soil their hands in doing it.

You're right: Keyes is a wolf in black-sheep's clothing.

they could have chosen to woo. But they chose one of the only well known GOP black politicians. Even if he has no real ties to the state. Why? Well because Mr Obama is a popular black politician who is well regarded along racial lines. So to me they're saying "look we got one too". The cynicism just reeks. Doesn't it?

"I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there, so I certainly wouldn't imitate it."