A reason to vote for Keyes in your states' primary

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Conservative Columnists
Don Feder (archive)

March 20, 2000

Draft Keyes as Bush's runningmate

If conservatives want to elect George Bush and guarantee that a Bush presidency is worth the effort, they should immediately launch a movement to draft Alan Keyes as the his running mate.

This is not without precedent. In 1920, Warren G. Harding was -- like Bush -- the establishment candidate for the GOP nomination. Massachusetts Gov. Calvin Coolidge captured the nation's imagination with his no-right-to-strike-against-the-public-safety speech.

Republican reformers started a Coolidge for vice president boom at the convention. When faced with a groundswell, Harding took Silent Cal as his running mate. Something similar happened at the 1944 Democratic convention, when FDR bowed to the will of delegates and let them choose Harry Truman as his running mate.

Bush needs Keyes, and not just to fire the right. If Republicans are wise, they will make morality the overriding issue of this campaign. No one is better at articulating this message than Keyes.

I caught him on C-SPAN the weekend before Super Tuesday. After delivering a consummate speech (aren't they all?), the ambassador took questions.

An earnest young black man announced that he's part of a group trying to counter inner-city violence. What would Keyes do to get guns off the streets? he asked.

"Guns don't need control," Keyes countered, "people need control." He then launched into an appeal for inculcating values in our children. As he spoke, the camera cut to the questioner, who solemnly nodded his head. Keyes has a genius for reaching people -- all kinds of people.

Asked why he always brings up abortion, Keyes explained that, in the 1850s, a political leader who didn't discuss slavery at every opportunity would not have been doing his duty. That, said Keyes, is why he never speaks without addressing the great moral question of our day.

Conservatives could begin by contacting delegates to the GOP nominating convention, most of whom will be chosen at state conventions this spring or summer, and selling them on the idea.

At the same time, there'd be a drive to generate publicity and bring the movement to the attention of delegates who can't be reached directly. Keyes partisans could introduce resolutions at everything from precinct-level meetings to state conventions, urging the party to nominate Keyes for vice president.

Naturally, the Bush campaign will resist a Keyes draft. They don't want the governor perceived as beholden to the right -- even though, absent overwhelming support from conservatives and the Christian right in the primaries, today John McCain would be working on his acceptance speech.

Given his natural inclinations, Bush will pick a running mate who's nominally conservative, nominally pro-life, perhaps even nominally Catholic (someone like Illinois Sen. Peter Fitzgerald). Conservatives must let him know that nominal isn't acceptable.

Bush can't count on Al Gore to mobilize the right for him. (Clinton didn't do it for Dole.) But there's hardly a conservative in the land who wouldn't march into hell with a song on his lips for Alan Keyes.

As the first black man to run on the national ticket of a major party, Keyes would give Bush an inestimable boost with minority voters the Democrats always take for granted.

Keyes' Catholicism and social conservatism would also appeal to family-minded Hispanics, who voted overwhelmingly for California's defense of marriage act on Super Tuesday.

George W. Bush is a decent man who has to strive to be mildly interesting. As Stuart Alexander, a Keyes partisan from Raleigh, N.C., explains, the governor needs a hammer to pulverize the party of moral decay. In 1964, an ex-actor gave a speech for Barry Goldwater ("A Time for Choosing") that electrified the nation. It came too late to do the senator much good, but it catapulted Ronald Reagan into the California governorship two years later -- the first step on the road to the White House.

What would the outcome have been if Goldwater had had Reagan on his ticket or if Dole had a running mate who would have compansated for the senator's shortcomings as a communicator?

With Keyes as the party's vice presidential candidate, let half of the voters hear 5 minutes of one of his speeches at some point during the campaign, and Bush will be a shoo-in.

©2000 Creators Syndicate, Inc.






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The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
 
Well I was part of 9.8% in OK, and I worked my arse off for it :). McCain got about 10%.

I actually would relish a Bush/Keyes ticket as long as GW ate lots of fatty pork and named Ronald McDonald as surgeon general.
 
:D LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm afraid that it won't happen. One unwritten rule in politics is get a running mate that will get you votes. Next rule is, Forget the first rule if he's going to make you look bad. Keyes mere presence on a platform and his stand on ISSUES makes any of the others look somewhat foolish. I this age of "sex appeal", "money", and "economy", its about impossible for an issue oriented man to make friends in politics with other politicians. I sure hope that I'm wrong though.

Got an idea....Lets send soft money by the way of chocolates, and gift certificates for free happy meals to Mr. Bush along with a nice note that we will vote for him in the election IF he chooses A. Keyes for VP running mate.
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"But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one." -Jesus Christ (Luke 22:36, see John 3:15-18)



[This message has been edited by EQUALIZER (edited March 20, 2000).]
 
I voted for Keyes in our primary.But a Bush/Keyes ticket is a pipe dream. Keyes is pro life..and has said that he could not support a pro choice candidate. Not to mention a clash of egos.Most Presidential candidates want a VP that is fairly subserviant and non controversial.Who was it that said...the office of Vice President is'nt worth a bucket of warm spit!
 
I voted for Keyes in the OK primary. Now we need to elect him to be the spokesman for the NRA. No man of conviction will ever be the president in this nation again.
 
Keyes is entertainment people, thats all. He is not a politician, much less a Presidential candidate. He is Rick Flair in a suit. Any attempt to legitimize Keyes will result in a disater for the Republican party. It is time to grow up and stop beliving in Santa Claus, God Given Rights, and other anachronisms. If you want to win you have to be meaner, sneakier, and more ruthless than your opponents. In this case it means dropping all pretentions and voting for George W Bush. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by supporting kooks.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Any attempt to legitimize Keyes will result in a disater for the Republican party.[/quote]

Republicans... Democrats... Not much difference these days. Maybe there needs to be a disaster in the Republican party to straighten them out.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>It is time to grow up and stop beliving in Santa Claus, God Given Rights, and other anachronisms.[/quote]

Boy, I'd hate to see what would've happened if our founding fathers stopped believing.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Don't shoot yourself in the foot by supporting kooks.[/quote]

If there's anyone I'd consider a "kook," it's a politician that's willing to negotiate and compromise with my rights.

By the way, I also voted for Keyes in the primary.

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Bulldawg: NRA, GOA, TSRA, Shiner Bock Connoisseur.
Bulldawg's Firearms Page

[This message has been edited by Bulldog (edited March 21, 2000).]
 
"Keyes is entertainment people, thats all". - And what are the rest of these bozos? There's not a Statesman in the lot.

"He is not a politician, . . ." - My respect and trust for Keyes just doubled.

". . . much less a Presidential candidate". -
See my answer the No. 1, with the additional question "Who, within anyone's living memory, was?"

If we don't put pressure on Bush for Keyes, no matter how forlorn, we'll end up with Libby "no one needs assault guns" Dole as VP.

I've already refused a plea for contributions from the Bush camp until I see Keyes on the ticket. I also made it plain that that was because of Keyes' 2nd Amendment stance.

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The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
 
You and Keyes can sit next to each other on the bus to the "re-education camp" when Gore-Feinstein get elected, and discuss the importance of principle.
 
Peace p220fortyfive,

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by p220fortyfive:
He {Keyes} is not a politician . . . .[/quote]

This alone is an excellent reason to vote for Alan Keyes.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
It is time to grow up and stop beliving in Santa Claus, God Given Rights, and other anachronisms.
[/quote]

Thank you for clearly illustrating your anti-Constitutional bent.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Don't shoot yourself in the foot by supporting kooks.
[/quote]

Who is the kook? The man who follows the dream of the Founding Fathers or the man who scoffs at that dream from the security of the great country those Founders created.

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James R. McClure Jr.
Sir Knight of Columbus
Democrat candidate for Indiana's Ninth congressional district
 
Actually, the suggestion of Keyes as an NRA spokesman is good; Might be a little too principled for LaPierre to tolerate, though...

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Sic semper tyrannis!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>You and Keyes can sit next to each other on the bus to the "re-education camp" when Gore-Feinstein get elected, and discuss the importance of principle.[/quote]

Personally, I have no intention of attending any of these "re-education camps." Even if "re-education camps" were established, who's gonna get me in there? I sure as hell ain't goin'.

Go ahead and praise your big-money Republicans all you want, but remember, it was the elder Bush who signed the bill which severely restricts what firearms are imported into this country. We can't even get a Glock in .380 because of this bill (not that I'd want one).

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, if the people of this country would quit screaming "WASTED VOTE!" and would vote for who they believe in, we'd be in a much better place today.

But noooo... Everyone has to vote for so-and-so because he looks good, or so-and-so because he's a successful business man, or so-and-so because the media likes him.

You may think that folks who vote for the underdogs are a part of the problem, but in my opinion, those who continue to vote for the lesser of the two evils, even though they may truly believe in the underdog, are part of an even bigger problem.

If we keep electing the lesser of the two evils, we'll just keep experiencing the gradual degradation of our rights as we have been for the last several years.

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Bulldawg: NRA, GOA, TSRA, Shiner Bock Connoisseur.
Bulldawg's Firearms Page
 
There are those who believe that voting for a third party candidate, or voting for a lesser known candidate, will have little or no effect on the general election in November.

The problem is, and the truth is, the amount of voters willing to vote. If 50% of the voters that are registered voted for Keyes, He would be President. Heck, if 50% of the registered voters voted for me, I would be President! (And pass a Federal Law requiring at least one automatic weapon in every home {two, if you're a liberal}).

Remember our forebears; don't complain it can't be done, just go out and do it!

"General Washington, it's too cold to cross the Deleware sir, it can't be done, can we wait until April, sir?"

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When guns are outlawed, I will be an outlaw.
 
Hello, President Gore.

Bye, bye RKBA.

You will turn in your ALL of your guns when you are told to, or you will get a generous dose of CS gas, then you will have your guns taken as you gasp for air.

Hello, Alan? Pat? Harry? What happend?
Well, I still have my principles.
 
I hope CS gas is what the algore faction uses, when they come to get our guns. Please remember to cover the CS round with a blanket or towel saturated with water. Please remember that any surplus gasmask from the army-navy store is proof against CS. Please remember to correct for gasmask eyepiece distortion when firing.

sword
 
I did vote for Keyes in GA's primary. Went down to the county and absentee voted, as I was out West snowboarding with my son during spring break on Super Tuesday.

I don't want Keyes for VP - I want him for Supreme Court Justice!
 
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