Conservative Alan Keyes thinks big in race for Illinois senator

By JON SINGER

Illinois Senatorial candidate Alan Keyes is a stick of dynamite in the political world. It's not that he's trying to cause friction, it's just that he's a passionate man in a political climate where silence and ambiguity are the rule of success.

Keyes doesn't care about image, just issues. He wants his voice heard, no matter the cost in the polls. And it's hurt him. Most recently, Keyes lost a Republican Presidential nomination bid in 2000 to fellow Republican George W. Bush. In the past, he lost the Maryland Senate race two times, in 1988 and 1992.

The 54-year-old thinks the silent road is a defensive measure.

"[Politicians] are protecting the ability to say things to people that would draw them in on a false basis," Keyes says. "So you want to hide what you really think, don't show too much of this and that."

Keyes believes that openness is ideal, and that if people know who he is, they will either vote for him or against him. But either way, it's an genuine and educated vote.

"I'm simply trying to give people a clear idea of what I think about issues that are important so they have a real choice," Keyes says. "They will know where I stand."

An outspoken politician is a media darling, however. Keyes has had his share of sound bytes played back, like his comment on hedonism on Aug. 31 that a media member turned into a critique of Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter, Mary, who is a lesbian. But Keyes doesn't answer to the media. He answers to himself and to God.

"I make sure that what I'm saying is something I would believe to be both true and so far as I can think it out, acceptable to God," he says. "If it's true then I don't think that I should be worried about it. I still believe deeply at the end of the day that that combination of truth and integrity will win the day."

But will Keyes' theory work this time? Democratic opponent Barack Obama is heavily favored and shown as lead runner in Illinois polls.

"My hope is that I can persuade people that may not be ordinarily persuaded. They may hear arguments they've never heard before," Keyes says. "Politics has gotten to the point where it's so much about one liners and gut reactions from people, and that's not really a judgement. And it's subject to all kinds of manipulations"

"What I try to do is present people with some kind of argument, and if they find it persuasive, they change their mind," Keyes explains. "The other night I was giving a presentation and someone came up and shook my hand and said, 'You know, I haven't thought of abortion that way and I've changed my mind.' So you can change people's minds and I think that's what part of the intention should be with political discourse."

HEART OF THE ISSUES

As a Christian and Roman Catholic, Alan Keyes believes social issues are of utmost importance.

"The first and foremost thing is that we need to bring the country back to it's right moral foundation and to the acknowledgement of God's authority that was essential in terms of the founding principals of the country," he says. "I think that becomes the basis for re-asserting liberty in the true sense so that you can apply that liberty to economics and to the pursuit of social welfare."

"I think that at the end of the day if a people are formed in the fear of God, then you can trust that that people will in its choices and actions will do what's right."

But how can such major change happen in a politically-correct America? How can a politician change the minds of people? Keyes thinks the first step is to prevent the government from making things worse.

"The first agenda bill of moral things is to keep the government from destroying moral identity," Keyes says. "That's why I think it's important to reverse this Roe vs. Wade thing, which is a positive contribution to the corruption of moral identity. It's also important to defend traditional marriage. So first you stop government from doing harm."

BEGINNINGS

Keyes had interest in politics since he was a teenager. The John Kennedy assassination got his attention, and the Civil Rights movement thereafter.

"By the time I was in high school I was interested in public affairs and thinking that at some point I would be heading into government," Keyes says. "I didn't think specifically in electoral politics, but of something with government and public policy."

Keyes' first move came after he graduated from Harvard University.

"I was in the foreign service and appointed under (President Ronald) Reagan to ambassador to the U.N. economic social council," Keyes explains. "When I finished that work with the foreign affairs, I was out at the American Enterprise Institute and it was at that point where I first got involved in the electoral politics."

In a similar situation to his 2004 Illinois Senate bid in which he is replacing dropout Jack Ryan, Keyes' first Senate run was as a replacement candidate in 1988. He lost that year to Democrat Paul Sarbanes.

THE HEAT IS ON

Keyes now faces the final stretch of a short campaign. Keyes and Obama are fighting to be just the fifth black senator in U.S. history. And this is the first race in which both candidates are African-American. But Keyes is quick to point out ideological differences between the two.

"I think it's really a contrast, first in moral terms … that means on issues of abortion and marriage and the innocence of our children," Keyes says. "I think that leads to greater respect for liberty. Because if you have confidence in the moral character of the people, then you will trust to the people – not the force of the government – to achieve things in every area of life: economic, social, things of that kind. I think that's the fundamental difference between Barack Obama and Alan Keyes. I believe in self-government. He believes in government."

"So it's a question of morality first and then it's a question of, really, who believes in freedom," Keyes says. "Whether it's somebody who essentially takes a socialist view where government power and coercion are used to do everything, or somebody like myself who takes the view in economics and taxation and education (that) we really need to be giving the greatest latitude to responsible freedom."