Alan Keyes is Running for the GOP Nomination; Will Bolt if a "pro-abort" Wins
In a statement posted at Keyes' Renew America web site: Keyes told Janet Parshall, host of a nationally syndicated radio show, that he's "unmoved" by the lack of moral courage shown by the other candidates, among whom he sees no standout who articulates the "key kernel of truth that must, with courage, be presented to our people." As the above statement indicates, Keyes will probably draw the Christian nationalist narrative strongly into the GOP discussion. To the extent that the second, and arguably third teir candidates are given national stages in which to propound their views, Keyes will be present to articulate the religious right's views on everyhting from abortion to marriage equality to stem cell research more forcefully than any of the GOP candidates have to date. Not incidentally, Keyes is also Catholic The campaign's web site is: We Need Alan Keyes for President. Interestingly, in the list of speeches posted on the campaign web site, Keyes' last speech to a political group was to the national commitee of the Constitution Party in December. I wrote about this at the time, noting that Keyes clearly thought that the Constitution Party was in a position to benefit from conservative dissatisfaction with the Bush administration and the GOP in Congress. Keyes spent much of his speech blasting the constitutional doctrine of separation of church and state, and echoing the claim of the religious right, (echoed by Jim Wallis in his book God's Politics) that people of faith are being driven from the public square. I wrote:
To Keyes, the constitutional doctrine of separation of church and state gets in the way of his view that particular notions of "the authority of God" should prevail, and without them all is lost. This is a presumption underlying much of domininionism and its most visible expression, Christian nationalism. It includes a notion of "higher law," that would require judges to overrule the nation's laws in light of their religious views, or governors of states to defy judicial decisions that in their view are inconsistent with their understandings of either higher law, or the state constitution. In this regard, he denounces both former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for his role in the Terri Schiavo case; and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for failing to defy the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial court over its ruling on marriage equality.
(See the sixth paragraph from the end of the speech before the Q&A)
On Dec. 2, Alan Keyes spoke at a conference of the Constitution Party in Concord, New Hampshire. The Constitution Party, by virue of its membership, is the third largest party in the U.S. (Yes, larger than the Libertarians and the Greens.) They have, however, never snagged a candidate of sufficient notoriety to play much of a role in the presidential campaigns. But if, as remote as it may seem at this point, Keyes leads a religious right splinter in the GOP, it could be different next year.
Alan Keyes is Running for the GOP Nomination; Will Bolt if a "pro-abort" Wins | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
Alan Keyes is Running for the GOP Nomination; Will Bolt if a "pro-abort" Wins | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
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