Jan Ireland
Alan Keyes and Barack Obama, on "carpetbaggers" and abortion
By Jan Ireland
© Opinion Editorials
Barack Obama's keynote speech at the Democrat national convention recently was the crest of a wave. A judge's decision to make his former opponent's "sealed" divorce records public left Obama the lone candidate in the Illinois US Senate race — but not for long.
Alan Keyes, former UN Ambassador and twice presidential candidate, was recruited to run against him. Keyes has been at the forefront of the Ten Commandments rallies around the nation. He works to return America to its founding principles.
Obama's supporters are already shouting "carpetbagger" because Keyes currently lives in Maryland. But that's a charge that just won't stick.
The "carepetbagger" label comes from Keyes's criticism of Hillary Clinton, who in 2000 chose New York for her Senate run — a place she had never lived, and in which she had shown little interest.
Keyes told Fox News then, "I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness to go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there, so I certainly wouldn't imitate it."
Keyes recognized Mrs. Clinton's crass desire for a power base for future campaigns. She stepped on other candidates, who had been waiting nicely in the Democrat line, for her own political plans. But Alan Keyes has done nothing like that.
Keyes and his family were approached by the people of Illinois. On abortion, Obama is even more liberal than the two current Johns running for president on the Democrat ticket. Jill Stanek, new columnist for World Net Daily, covered the Keyes speech for the Illinois Leader (See "Obama's Waterloo — Live Aborted Babies?").
Keyes explained, "What finally caught my eye, however, what finally arrested my attention and forced me to consider whether I not only have the opportunity to oppose [Obama], but the obligation, was when I learned that he had actually, in April 2002, apparently cast a vote that would continue to allow live birth abortions in the State of Illinois."
Democrats had no doubt initially hoped to frame this Illinois election in racial terms. Obama's first opponent was white and privileged, and Obama's convention speech contained hints of the racial advantage he still intends for blacks to claim. It accused that sometimes "color" votes aren't counted; and that his interracial parents had an "improbable" love.
But Alan Keyes is also black, and he is oblivious to skin color. He prefers instead the quaint idea that people should be judged by the content of their character.
Abortion is becoming an issue in the nation again, and Democrats are on the wrong side. More and more voters are against abortion. And live birth abortion — where tiny aborted babies live for a time outside the womb — is the most heinous of the abortion acts. It repulses all.
Obama is young, charismatic, accomplished. Some say there are presidential whisperings. He might even be called the Democrat "great white hope" in this race.
But it is conservative Alan Keyes that is the embodiment of the hope of Martin Luther King, Jr. — that people will be judged by the content of their character, rather than the color of their skin.
This race already commands national attention because it is between two blacks. The winner as a black US Senator will have extra visibility and influence. The voters of Illinois will have to choose which issue is more important — "carpetbagger" or live birth abortion. Often the tiniest ... issues matter most.
© Jan Ireland
© Opinion Editorials
Barack Obama's keynote speech at the Democrat national convention recently was the crest of a wave. A judge's decision to make his former opponent's "sealed" divorce records public left Obama the lone candidate in the Illinois US Senate race — but not for long.
Alan Keyes, former UN Ambassador and twice presidential candidate, was recruited to run against him. Keyes has been at the forefront of the Ten Commandments rallies around the nation. He works to return America to its founding principles.
Obama's supporters are already shouting "carpetbagger" because Keyes currently lives in Maryland. But that's a charge that just won't stick.
The "carepetbagger" label comes from Keyes's criticism of Hillary Clinton, who in 2000 chose New York for her Senate run — a place she had never lived, and in which she had shown little interest.
Keyes told Fox News then, "I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness to go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there, so I certainly wouldn't imitate it."
Keyes recognized Mrs. Clinton's crass desire for a power base for future campaigns. She stepped on other candidates, who had been waiting nicely in the Democrat line, for her own political plans. But Alan Keyes has done nothing like that.
Keyes and his family were approached by the people of Illinois. On abortion, Obama is even more liberal than the two current Johns running for president on the Democrat ticket. Jill Stanek, new columnist for World Net Daily, covered the Keyes speech for the Illinois Leader (See "Obama's Waterloo — Live Aborted Babies?").
Keyes explained, "What finally caught my eye, however, what finally arrested my attention and forced me to consider whether I not only have the opportunity to oppose [Obama], but the obligation, was when I learned that he had actually, in April 2002, apparently cast a vote that would continue to allow live birth abortions in the State of Illinois."
Democrats had no doubt initially hoped to frame this Illinois election in racial terms. Obama's first opponent was white and privileged, and Obama's convention speech contained hints of the racial advantage he still intends for blacks to claim. It accused that sometimes "color" votes aren't counted; and that his interracial parents had an "improbable" love.
But Alan Keyes is also black, and he is oblivious to skin color. He prefers instead the quaint idea that people should be judged by the content of their character.
Abortion is becoming an issue in the nation again, and Democrats are on the wrong side. More and more voters are against abortion. And live birth abortion — where tiny aborted babies live for a time outside the womb — is the most heinous of the abortion acts. It repulses all.
Obama is young, charismatic, accomplished. Some say there are presidential whisperings. He might even be called the Democrat "great white hope" in this race.
But it is conservative Alan Keyes that is the embodiment of the hope of Martin Luther King, Jr. — that people will be judged by the content of their character, rather than the color of their skin.
This race already commands national attention because it is between two blacks. The winner as a black US Senator will have extra visibility and influence. The voters of Illinois will have to choose which issue is more important — "carpetbagger" or live birth abortion. Often the tiniest ... issues matter most.
© Jan Ireland
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