Obama vs Keyes: Mercy Please

Barack H. Obama was born in 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas. When little Barack was just two, his father received a job in the Kenyan Economics Ministry, and moved away to live in Nairobi. When Barack was attending Columbia University, pursuing Bachelor's degree in Political Science and International Relations, his father died in a car crash in Nairobi. He received his law degree from Harvard University, and became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. In 1996, he ran for Illinois state Senate, in the 13th district, where he faced no opposition. He ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, in 2000, but lost in the primaries by a two-to-one margin to Bobby Rush. In 2004, during the primary season, Obama faced opposition from six opponents, but thoroughly trounced them all to receive his party's nod to run for U.S. Senate. This past July, Obama delivered the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention. Obama, who is loved by the state of Illinois, and is seen as the fastest rising star in the Democratic Party, resides with his wife and two daughters in Chicago, where he is a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago, and continues to fight for justice, labor, public health, and welfare.

Born Alan L. Keyes, in 1950, in New York City, he received his Bachelor's degree in Government Studies from Harvard University, in 1972, and his Ph.D. seven years later, also from Harvard. He is the president of several Conservative Political Action Committees, including Black Americans PAC, and the Life & Liberty PAC. In 1988, Keyes ran for U.S. Senate, and lost the race, receiving 38%, and in 1992, receiving 29% of the vote. In 1996, he took his successful(?) career in elected office to run for the Republican nomination for President. Keyes, of course, lost to Bob Dole, because Bob Dole is Bob Dole, and Bob Dole is not going to let Bob Dole get beaten by Bob Dole's opponent, Alan Keyes. Bob Dole! Carrying a zero-for-three record in elected office, including a loss in a presidential primary, into the 2000 election, he ran a fourth time, and lost again, miserably, finishing third, behind second-place John McCain of Arizona, and then Texas Governor, and now appointed president of the United States, George Walker Bush. Alan Keyes currently hosts a nationally syndicated Conservative talk-radio show in Maryland, The Alan Keyes Show, and has been eating crow August 8, 2004 when he decided to run for an elected office outside of his home state of Maryland, because he criticized Hillary Clinton for running for the U.S. Senate in New York, in 2000, when she moved from her home state of Arkansas. Keyes normally resides in Maryland with his wife, Jocelyn, and three children: Francis, Maya, and Andrew; but is currently officially living in Illinois to be eligible to run for U.S. Senate. His stated purpose in life, "like that of the founding fathers, is to provide a secure future for our posterity" (Keyes).

In early-August 2002, Barack Obama announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate in Illinois, but only if Carol Moseley-Braun were to decline to run. On January 24, 2003, Braun-Braun backed out, which allowed Obama to seek the seat. Obama resisted the push for war before and after the invasion of Iraq, in the March of that year, and seemed to concentrate on bringing out urban blacks and Liberal Democrats to turn out to support him. Things weren't looking good for Obama, until he had his rise to fame late in the primary season (late-February through mid-March), and surged ahead of all six challengers, after lagging behind in mid-February. This victory was not easy. Obama faced many scathing remarks from people in his own party. Perhaps to most potentially damaging was the name "Barack Osama" if something like this gets traction, it is really hard for someone to get elected. In Parties, Politics, and Public Politics in America, Keefe and Hetherington say that this kind of squabbling between party members during the primary season, "Increases intraparty strife and factionalism" (66). His sweeping victory saw him claiming 54% of the electorate to second place finisher, Dan Hynes, who captured 23% of the vote (Mendell). Upon gaining his party's blessing to run in the general election, Barack's poll numbers went nowhere but up, against then-Republican candidate for the Senate seat, Jack Ryan. However, rising poll numbers had less to do with Obama, and more to do with the personal life of his opponent.

The Republican side had far less competition in their primary, which saw Jack Ryan emerging as the dominant figure in the party to lead them on to victory in November. In the spring, Jack Ryan's ex-wife, Jeri Ryan (of the popular television programs Star Trek: Voyager and Boston Public) came out with disclosures about their marriage. Apparently, Ryan had made indecent proposals to attend sex clubs in New York, New Orleans, and Paris. One indecent proposal that was not made, ironically, was accepting an offer from Robert Redford to "take" his wife for one night, in turn for $1,000,000. As these allegations became more prevalent, Jack Ryan had to bow out to allow another Republican to run for the seat. With the foul aftertaste of scandal in the mouths of a bewildered Republican party, they set out in a search for a candidate who would deliver a victory. Who is someone in Illinois who the people love, and could easily win? DIT-KA!

Summer was upon the nation. The days were getting longer and hotter. Scientifically, the rate of acceleration of hours of sunlight hours in which the Republicans went without a candidate was increasing. This is when the GOP turned to the hope of former Chicago Bears tight end, and NFL coach Mike Ditka. Mike Ditka, or "The Coach", was more loved in Illinois than a book of Texan sayings by Dr. Phil McGraw. After deliberating for about a week over whether or not to accept the Republican nomination, Ditka had to humbly decline the offer. With time running out, and continuing on with my football expressions, the Republican party of Illinois threw a Hail Mary, and went after a Maryland Republican.

This is the point where the Republicans finally decided that the state didn't have any republicans to run for office, so they decided to go for Alan Keyes, from Maryland. The Terrapin finally accepted the nomination in early August, after receiving letters from Illinois Republicans who urged him to run. Keyes left his talk-radio show to pursue the senate seat in the Land of Lincoln.

While the Republicans were scrambling to find their candidate, the Democrats were booming ahead in the polls. The climax of Obama's campaign had to have been in July, when he delivered the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, in Boston, Massachusetts. The speech was one of optimism, "Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation." Obama spoke of national unity, a national unity that seems to speak to both sides, because both sides are included in his speech:

Now, even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us-the spin-masters, the negative ad peddlers-who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, 'There is not a Liberal America, and a Conservative America-there is the United States of America! There is not a White America and a Black America, a Latino America, an Asian America-there is a United States of America. The Pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states, red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats. But I have news for them too: We worship an awesome God in the Blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We coach little league in the Blue states, and, yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who oppose the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America'

Finally, Barack ended his speech with a shining beacon of hope, when he spoke about hope:

In the end, that's what this election is all about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope?...It's a hope of slaves sitting around a fire, singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for new shores; the hope of a young Naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a mill-worker's son, who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid, with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him too. Hope in the face of difficulty! Hope in the face of uncertainty! The audacity of hope!

This electrifying speech bumped Barack Obama to the status of, "fastest rising star" in the Democratic Party. With this kind of status, it would be hard for anyone to beat him.

Entering the race in early August, a Survey USA poll gave Barack Obama a 67%-28% edge. This is comparable to a five-goal lead going into the third period of a hockey game. The race was essentially over. How could Alan Keyes rebound from a crippled state Republican Party, and the shadow of being an "out-of-stater" looming over him? Keyes would do it with wild accusations! "Christ would not vote for Barack Obama." These are the words of a desperate man fighting for a hopeless cause. Actually, Alan Keyes used this quote to attack Obama on his pro-choice stance on abortion, but was taken the wrong way because hearing the quote out of the context of the issue of abortion would make the listener think that he were referring to all the issues, which would make them think, "Jesus died 2,000 years ago. How does he know who Jesus would vote for?"

As for the issues, Obama and Keyes hold traditional party lines. On abortion, Obama is pro-choice, and Keyes is pro-life. On the legalization of gay marriage, Keyes is against it, while Obama is for it. As for jobs, Keyes supports tax breaks on corporations and small businesses to increase the ability to...hire more jobs? (I never understood how that is supposed to work...and neither has the economy). Obama supports government spending programs and closing loopholes for corporations who are sending jobs overseas. Obama is against private school vouchers, while Keyes is for them. One issue the two agree on is the importation of safe prescription drugs from Canada-they're both for it. On just about every issue both candidates are on their respective party's side of the line. Major issues were ones like gay marriage, the war in Iraq, health care, jobs and the economy, etc. But none really mattered too much, since Obama was just very likeable, and had the race all wrapped up in the early summer (Obama issues; Keyes issues).

The race ended on November 2nd (when else would it end?), with Barack Obama capturing the nomination by a 71%-26%, a 45% margin! This victory for Obama can be attributed to, first, Obama's overall appeal to the entire electorate, capturing a clear landslide victory among Democrats, and grabbing a healthy chunk of Republicans. Keefe and Hetherington say, "Landslides occur because numerous partisans desert their party" (226). That would accurately describe the shellacking that Alan Keyes received from Barack Obama, on Election Day.

When the returns came in late Tuesday evening, and it became clear that Barack Obama had won, it was the culmination of a miracle ride. In ten months, Barack went from a political no name to the fastest rising star in his party. On the Sunday after the election, Senator-elect Barack Obama appeared on Meet the Press with Tim Russert, and spoke of his "rising-star" status in the Democratic Party. When Russert inquired about whether Barack would serve the full six-year term in the Senate, Obama replied,

Absolutely. You know, a little--some of this hype's been a little overblown. It's flattering, but I have to remind people that I haven't been sworn in yet. I don't know where the rest rooms are in the Senate. I'm going to have to figure out how to work the phones, answer constituent mail. I expect to be in the Senate for quite some time, and hopefully I'll build up my seniority from my current position, which I believe is 99th out of 100.

Barack basically said that he will spend time in the Senate, build up a reputation, and one day hopes to run for president of the United States of America, or so one can only hope-the audacity of hope!

Works Cited/Consulted

Amy, Douglas J., Real Choices/New Voices. 2nd ed. New York: Columbia UP, 2002.
Keefe, William J. and Marc J. Hetherington, Parties, Politics, and Public Policy in America. 9th ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2003.
Keyes US Senate. 30 Nov. 2004. http://www.keyes2004.com/
Obama for Illinois. 30 Nov. 2004. http://www.obamaforillinois.com/
Mendell, David. "Obama Routs Democratic Foes." Chicago Tribune 17 March 2004, 30 November 2004 http://www.obamaforillinois.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC={3003DBAB-64B6-4DCE-901A-6E42E444239D}&DE={D4ADC847-74E6-4C40-A385-0E1B8DEF1F2E}
Wattenberg, Martin P. Where Have All the Voters Gone? Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2002.

Vice President Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama
Bobby Jindal for Vice Presidency? McCain-Jindal Ticket?
Hillary Clinton for Vice President