Local politics ain't all Daley

[muckefuck]

The Illinois Republicans are not just guilty of tokenism. They are guilty of last-minute scraping-the-bottom-of-the-barrel tokenism.("Lexington", The Economist, Aug. 12th, 2004)

That pretty much sums up my attitude to the carpetbagging, self-aggrandising, political failure from Maryland that the local GOP has begged to run a sacrificial campaign against the unstoppable Barack Obama. (Even Huey Long's "caught in bed with" possibilities might fail to knock him out after that DNC speech.)

So far, everything he's said has rubbed me the wrong way. He stakes out absolutist positions on such non-controversial topics as, oh, say, abortion, and then defends them with incendiary rhetoric worthy of Le Pen. This morning, the radio reported that he had likened women who seek abortions to "terrorists". In today's Tribune, Eric Zorn reveals Keyes' stated reason for running in Illinois for the hollow fiction that it is. Moreover, Keyes himself unveils a 180-degree turn on slavery reparations, calling for tax breaks in order to compensate African-Americans "for all those years when your labor was being exploited." (Note to Keyes: News might have traveled slow to Maryland, but here in the Midwest, slavery ended 140 years ago. There are no former slaves in your constituency outside of recent immigrants from Sudan.)

It's worth checking out his proposal (or, at least, what little leaks into the article--God, how I hate the Trib!), since it's the most reasonable plan for slavery reparations I've yet seen--which only goes to show how completely nonsensical the whole idea is. For instance, he makes clear that the credit would only apply to the descendents of former slaves--but how do we figure out who they were? And what about mixed bloodlines? Does someone who had, I dunno, five out of eight great-grandparents on the plantation get a bigger credit than someone who had only two? What if they're mixed race and can "pass" for white? Will it be means-tested, or does sorry disadvantaged Oprah Winfrey get her refund, too?

Comments

[lhn.livejournal.com]

At this point, I'm probably going to write in Jack Ryan. He wasn't my favorite candidate, but it serves as a protest against the stupid reasons for his being forced out of the race. And, of course, it lets me vote against Obama (who's a smart, articulate advocate of policies I mostly disagree with) without voting for Keyes (whose candidacy is just embarrassing-- was there no Republican state rep who would do the run just for some exposure?).

[spookyfruit.livejournal.com]

It's not good for your career to lose. Unless you're Keyes. In which case, you're more of an entertainer than a pol anyway.

-sf-

[mollpeartree.livejournal.com]

princeofcairo thinks they should have made Judy Barr Topinka run, since (apparently) it was her brilliant plan to dump Ryan in the first place.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Actually, I like that idea. Obama will win with or without my vote and I'd like to find some way to send a message to the Illinois Republicans regarding what a bunch of dunderheads they are for dumping a popular, likeable, worthwhile candidate on a lame pretext just because he wasn't a party hack.

[gopower.livejournal.com]

Prior to Keyes' entry, I was floating the idea for a Ronald Reagan write-in campaign. It had the virtue, I thought, of making a protest against the Illinois GOP's incompetance and general lack of principles without getting caught up in any Jack Ryan baggage. Or heaven forbid, voting for Obama or, worse, a libertarian.

While Jack! was surely treated unfairly, frankly the only interesting thing about his candidacy was his alleged interest in sex clubs.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

A co-worker--a natural Obama voter, I would've thought--told me he had no interest in the guy until he found out he was going to sex clubs. Then he was all ready to vote for him.

He was joking, of course, but I really get the impression that the general public could've cared less about the allegations.

[gopower.livejournal.com]

Reminding the public that Jack had had sex (and wanted to have more sex) with Seven-of-Nine is not the biggest black mark most people could think of.