Text 649, 90 rader
Skriven 2004-08-04 16:30:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Illinois
================
Alan Keyes would make a wonderful Senator.  I look forward to the Senate 
race.

=================================

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,127975,00.html

Ill. GOP Senate Candidates Down to Two 
Wednesday, August 04, 2004


CHICAGO — After weeks of searching for a U.S. Senate candidate, Illinois 
Republicans have narrowed their choice to two black politicians, a 
development that all but assures Illinois will produce the fifth black 
U.S. senator in history. 

State party chairwoman Judy Baar Topinka (search) said Republican 
leaders would interview Alan Keyes (search), a two-time presidential 
candidate, and Andrea Grubb Barthwell (search), a former deputy drug 
czar in the Bush administration, on Wednesday and then choose one to 
take on Barack Obama (search), a black state senator from Chicago and 
Democratic rising star.

Their choice would set up the first U.S. Senate election with two black 
candidates representing the major parties. Only four blacks have ever 
served in the U.S. Senate — and only two since Reconstruction: Edward W. 
Brooke (search) of Massachusetts and Carol Moseley Braun (search) of 
Illinois.

GOP leaders picked Keyes and Barthwell after a daylong meeting Tuesday 
where they met with an eclectic group of more than a dozen potential 
candidates and settled on the ones they thought could best articulate 
the issues.

Republicans, who have struggled to find a replacement candidate since 
Jack Ryan dropped out over embarrassing sex-club allegations in his 
divorce records, said race wasn't their motivating factor in choosing 
Keyes and Barthwell.


"These two were selected because of their strengths, not because of 
their color," said state Sen. Dave Syverson, a member of the Republican 
State Central Committee. "Voters are smarter than that. That clearly 
wasn't the intent."

Neither candidate has deep political ties in Illinois. Keyes has never 
lived in the state and ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate twice from his 
home state of Maryland. He sought the presidential nomination in 1996 
and 2000, and worked in the State Department for several years.

Under state law, Keyes would only have to take up residence by Election 
Day.

Barthwell, a physician from suburban Chicago, was deputy director of the 
Office of National Drug Control Policy from 2002 until last month, when 
she quit to explore the Senate run.

Syverson said Keyes did not want to talk to reporters Tuesday night, and 
he could not immediately be reached for comment.

Barthwell said she did not think the committee made her a finalist 
because she is black.

"I don't think that this committee is playing any kind of race card 
here," she said. "I think they have looked at the candidates and the 
strengths they can bring to it and how they position themselves on the 
issues."

The candidates have sharply different political views.

Keyes opposes abortion and gay rights, wants to replace the income tax 
with a national sales tax, and calls affirmative action a "government 
patronage program." Barthwell, a medical doctor, has a history of 
supporting Democratic politicians and has publicly opposed marijuana for 
medical uses in her role as deputy drug czar, but her positions on other 
key issues are largely unknown.

Republicans have suffered a string of disappointments since Ryan dropped 
his Senate bid. Party leaders repeatedly tried and failed to enlist a 
big-name candidate to run for the seat of retiring GOP Sen. Peter 
Fitzgerald — former governors, state senators and Chicago Bears great 
Mike Ditka have all declined.

Whoever is chosen now will have just three months to raise cash and 
campaign against Obama, who has captured national media attention, 
raised more than $10 million, and gave the keynote speech at the 
Democratic National Convention.

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