Proud at the Primary

As a North Carolinian, my voice will finally be heard. Its been a long time since the Presidential race began... too long in fact, but today the race finally came to North Carolina. North Carolina doesn't have an open primary, if your voter registration lists a party affiliation, you can only vote in that party's primary. Since I didn't switch my affiliation last month, I couldn't vote against Barack Obama today... but I got to vote my conscience nonetheless.

Ideally I could have voted for Fred Thompson today, but North Carolina doesn't let you write in a candidate, your only option is "No Preference". Well, that wouldn't be accurate, because I do have a preference, and voting "No Preference" would be as much of a lie as voting for John McCain, something I can't do as long as another conservative is in the field even though I'll have to do it this fall. I should have known what my other options were, but honestly other than knowing McCain and Ron Paul would be on the ballot (and Fred would not) I had no idea what other Republican candidates would be listed. So I was presently surprised, almost gleeful when I saw Alan Keyes' name next to a bubble on my sheet. And with the circle of a pen, I was more proud of this vote than any other primary vote I've ever cast. I didn't have to hold my nose and vote for the lessor of evils like I will in the Fall. Alan Keyes is a true Conservative who believes in our Constitution as it was written not as some liberal judge interprets it, and he's a Christian whose not afraid of the values and Christian foundation in which our country was founded. Mike Huckabee (another option on my ballot) hits one of those three points, Ron Paul might hit two, I couldn't even tell you how many John McCain gets in that test, but Alan Keyes gets all three.

My vote won't change anything, John McCain will still win the state and the nomination... but I hope there are a number of other Conservatives out there today who took a stand and made a statement. There was a Conservative on the ballot today and I was proud to have voted for him.

I find it ironic that as I type this the news media is talking about the state getting to vote for an African American candidate today. Of course they are talking about Obama, but there is another African American candidate on the ballot in North Carolina, one who actually stands for something and would be good for this country. That man is Alan Keyes, and whether he gets 100 votes or 10,000 today, I hope John McCain counts every one of them. Those votes could have gone to McCain, but instead we voted our beliefs and our conscience.

Alan Keyes: The Most Impressive Speaker I've Ever Heard

I was honored to be in attendance when Alan Keyes spoke at NC State University in Nelson Hall sometime in 2001. Having been fortunate enough to listen to and question countless authors, politicians, a world renowned botanist, and the engineer who almost stopped the Challenger explosion, I don't say that lightly. Lecturer or otherwise, I have never heard a speaker who had a better command of the issues or his own beliefs. Maybe because he wasn't running for anything at the time, or maybe because he doesn't fall into the trap of trying to contour his views to that of his audience... Dr. Keyes was an unashamed Christian, Conservative, and Patriot. I will never forget that evening, and how thankful I was to be in attendance.

Now, he's back. After failing to defeat Barack Obama for an Illinois Senate seat in 2006, Dr. Keyes recently announced his entry into the Presidential race with his first event being the Values Voter Debate this past Monday in Florida.

I like Dr. Keyes, a lot. Read the pledge on his website, and if you are a Conservative Christian, I'm sure you would like him too. The difference with Dr. Keyes and many other politicians is that he means every word of it, and won't downplay that because of who his audience is. Refreshing in light of recent leaders on both sides of the aisle.

But, I don't believe Dr. Keyes can be elected. As intelligent and impressive as he is, he had an awful time campaigning against Obama in 2006. Granted he was an outsider, having been recruited to move to Illinois just for the race by the party, who I don't believe supported him as much as they could. Nonetheless, Dr. Keyes lost the male vote, the women's vote, the independent vote, the black vote, and the white vote. He lost the vote of every income bracket, every age bracket, and on virtually every issue but moral values. Even on the war against terror, Dr. Keyes lost to Obama. Dr. Keyes did win with people identified as White, Conservative Protestants... but apparently many of them stayed home.

Yes, state elections are different than National Elections, and if Dr. Keyes was the party's nominee, I'm sure he would do better on the national stage, but I don't believe he can get there. And if he did get there, I don't believe he could beat an Obama or Hillary Clinton candidacy, and that scares me. Yes, the conservatives would show up, but would we be enough? Could Conservative Christians alone mobilize enough and turn out enough vote to counter the 75-95% vote that the Dems would get in every other dynamic? I don't think so.

Dr. Keyes has a couple things going against him. I don't believe he comes off quickly with the charm that can bridge ideological differences they way I think Governor Huckabee can. I don't believe he can get much of the media to portray him fairly or seriously, like I hope Fred Thompson can (this has yet to be determined). And he certainly doesn't have the name recognition of the so-called top tier. Dr. Keyes' unabashed Christian values will be seen as a detriment to many as he seems a little more hellfire and brimstone than Huckabee comes across.

And surely Dr. Keyes knows all of this. Surely, after years of attempts with very little traction, Keyes understands that his chances of waging a successful campaign are slim at best. Maybe John Hawkins at Right Wing News was right and "he's just not cut out to be a politician".

I don't know. Just as I mentioned in an earlier post about Governor Huckabee, its a shame that things have become so much about money. It could have been different a century ago. Alan Keyes is a throwback candidate who possibly could have been elected in an era long ago... if only he wasn't black. And now that the country might be ready to look past race in electing a President... we have found a new basis for discrimination... money and special interest favor.

I'm not saying I would vote for Dr. Keyes if the election were held today... as I've said, I'm keeping my mind open and still leaning toward Governor Huckabee. But I do wish more people like Dr. Keyes could be involved in the national debate. And I hope, no matter who turns out to be the GOP nominee, that they don't forget about Ronald Reagan's appointee to the United Nations. Dr. Alan Keyes deserves to have a seat at the table and have a voice in the next Administration.