Obama-Keyes: The Rematch

Jesse Walker | April 15, 2008

We've seen this coming for a while, but tonight it becomes official. The Permanent Candidate plans to leave the GOP this evening:

Former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes has chosen April 15 to make a major announcement of his intentions, following indications he has broken with the GOP....

Keyes added that he is looking to the Constitution Party as a possible home for his future efforts in politics, including a potential run for president in the 2008 general election.

"No other 'third party' is as well-established as the Constitution Party," said Keyes. "They've been around since 1992, and have built a significant grassroots presence among patriotic, Constitution-minded citizens--with a registered membership of over 350,000. Conservatives have a home in the CP that they can find nowhere else, given the decline in the Republican Party's credibility as a voice and vehicle for conservatism."

In other words, Alan Keyes still hasn't raised enough money to pay off his old campaign debts. Give, give, give!

Fun fact: The California affiliate of the Constitution Party is the old American Independent Party. If Keyes becomes the CP nominee, then a party formed to serve as a political vehicle for George Wallace will ride into November with a black presidential candidate. Progress!

Comments

|4.15.08 @ 10:15AM|#

Aren't they heavily associated with the John Birch Society? Think, Alan, think!

Guy Montag|4.15.08 @ 10:24AM|#

Damn! I was hoping for a Sen. Obama vs. Alicia Keys story! i swear, that confrontation is coming soon.

|4.15.08 @ 10:28AM|#

Well, Keyes is probably as much of a bigot as Wallace. So it makes sense.

|4.15.08 @ 10:31AM|#

Still trying to figure out how support for reparations for slavery is being "Constitution-minded", but to each their own.

Guy Montag|4.15.08 @ 10:39AM|#

JCJ,

I missed Mr. Keys expressing racism in the past. Got anything on that?

Oh, you said "probably". Okay.

|4.15.08 @ 10:44AM|#

"No other 'third party' is as well-established as the Constitution Party," said Keyes. "They've been around since 1992...

[sputters]... Libertarian Party, 1971. Funny, I thought this was the "Alan Keyes" that was well-read. Huh.

Also note that a high proportion of Californians registered in the American Independent Party think they're registering "Independent". Only a small portion of Libertarians are Librarians, with a slightly larger fraction that are Libertines -- and those aren't very good at it.

|4.15.08 @ 10:53AM|#

Only a small portion of Libertarians are Librarians

I know seven. I'm doing the best I can. Stop criticizing me.

|4.15.08 @ 11:01AM|#

I'm confused. This says the Constitution party has 350k registered members, but the other day when Bob Barr was on Washington Journal, they said the Libertarian party had 250k. Does the Constitution party really have a higher membership than the LP?

Guy Montag|4.15.08 @ 11:07AM|#

Does the Constitution party really have a higher membership than the LP?

Perhaps they are competing on price, with their dues being the loss-leader?

Robert|4.15.08 @ 11:11AM|#

Considering their affiliation with higher-enrollment parties such as the AIP, I don't doubt the Constitution Party's having a larger enrollment than LP. Some of the state Constitution Parties sought to affiliate with Perot, but after he formed the Reform Party instead, a lot of the members didn't change enrollment, and some even thought Perot had run away from them. So the Constitution Party's state affiliates got a big membership and enrollment boost in the 1990s. (By "membership" I mean rolls maintained by the party itself, and by "enrollment" I mean rolls maintained by the boards of elections or equivalent gov't election machinery.)

|4.15.08 @ 11:18AM|#

Keyes leaving the GOP makes me think about going back.

Neil|4.15.08 @ 11:22AM|#

Keyes has about as much chance of winning as B. Hussein after bittergate!

|4.15.08 @ 11:29AM|#

I don't believe the CP has 350K active members. I suspect they never drop a name from the rolls.

I can't find current LP strength. 250k sounds low for an election year. I'd like to see where we're at come Nov.

|4.15.08 @ 11:44AM|#

What, no interest from the LP? Keyes has at least as much name recognition as Barr or Gravel.

Mad Max|4.15.08 @ 1:03PM|#

"If Keyes becomes the CP nominee, then a party formed to serve as a political vehicle for George Wallace will ride into November with a black presidential candidate. Progress!"

If you think that's interesting, what about the political party which supported the Fugitive Slave Act, whose *Northern* wing endorsed the *Dred Scott* decision, and which ran the Southern states for years on a "Jim Crow" basis. This party is now seriously considering a black candidate for President. Progress!

|4.15.08 @ 1:56PM|#

Keyes has about as much chance of winning as B. Hussein after bittergate!

Get your talking points from Limbaugh, do we?

Syd|4.15.08 @ 2:06PM|#

It's good that Keyes has found a way to get fewer votes than every before.

thoreau|4.15.08 @ 4:33PM|#

As was said above, in CA the Constitution Party is called the American Independent Party. A few anecdotal conversations make me suspect that a certain number of people are registering as American Independent because, well, they are American and they consider themselves Independent, i.e. neither Democrat nor Republican.

I can't say what fraction of members are in that category, but if some percentage of independents in California register as AIP, that's got to be a bump to their membership.

|4.16.08 @ 12:11AM|#

Jesse is right. He still hasn't paid off old debt. He's a joke.

|4.16.08 @ 1:44AM|#

Good riddance, asshole. If only a few thousand more anti-libertarian sociocons would bolt, there might yet be hope for the former Party of Lincoln...

|4.18.08 @ 9:01PM|#

Constitution Party?

Put the Libertarian Platform and a Bible in a blender and set on Puree.