Back during the first Bush administration, the President invited some civil rights leaders to meet with him at the White House. They set a precondition — that neither Alan Keyes nor Thomas Sowell be present at that meeting.

The Wall Street Journal was incensed that the elder President Bush agreed to these preconditions. It turns out, Keyes can make mincemeat of the intellectual lightweights who call themselves black “leaders.” Keyes is both savvy and fearless, and is wholly undeterred by the name-calling that black “leaders” direct at other blacks who dare to disagree with them.

So you can imagine how I felt when I learned that Alan Keyes is running for the United States Senate from the state of Illinois and did my homework. This is an incredible historic opportunity for the Republican Party, and if the Republicans have any sense– they will make the most of it by backing Keyes to the hilt. I, for one, a white woman from Illinois, am doing a virtual scrub of his websites–and I’m going to campaign for him full-on; full steam ahead.

Some may see Alan Keyes as a much needed black Republican in Congress. That is not to be sneezed at but what’s more important in the long run is that he is a man who knows what he stands for, who is not afraid to take stands on a whole range of controversial issues — from abortion to foreign policy — and is articulate enough to go toe to toe with any Democrat. In addition, he doesn’t shy away from bringing his Faith In God into his Public Life. This man has values.

Because the Republicans are at their weakest and most confused on racial issues, as a Senator, Alan Keyes will introduce some sanity and backbone into the Republican leadership on this issue. Both blacks and Republicans could benefit from that.

The black vote today goes automatically and overwhelmingly to the Democrats, just as the old “solid South” voted Democratic for more than a century. But nothing political is eternal and Democrats today have to scramble to try to win victories in the South, which they once took for granted.

Blacks are similarly taken for granted by the Democrats — and get remarkably little out of the deal as a result. But it takes an alternative to change people’s minds, and the Republican alternative has been presented badly to black voters, when it has been presented at all.

For reasons unknown, those Republicans who have tried to make inroads into the solidly Democratic black vote have too often tried to do it by offering what the Democrats are offering. But those blacks who want what the Democrats are offering are going to vote for Democrats, not Republicans acting like make-believe Democrats.

The painful irony in all this is that the Republicans have a better track record and better future prospects on issues that affect blacks, including civil rights. Unfortunately, too many Republicans today are defensive about their civil rights record, simply because they are unaware of history and all too aware of media spin.

A higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats have voted for every major civil rights milestone — from the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery to the post-Civil War civil rights laws to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Casey Stengel used to say, you could look it up.

On today’s issues — especially education, jobs, and crime — the Republicans have more to offer blacks as well as whites. Democrats are too much in hock to the teachers’ unions to allow the fundamental changes needed to give black children a decent education, which is increasingly the ticket to a decent life. Democrats are too much in hock to other special interests like the environmental extremists and trial lawyers, whose activities have the net effect of destroying jobs for everyone.

On crime — a major concern in black communities — Democrats appoint the kinds of liberal judges who are quick to turn criminals loose and slow to impose the kind of serious punishment needed to take them off the streets and deter others.

Democrats have inertia and racial demagoguery on their side. Republicans need Alan Keyes who talks sense.

Yes, I like it. Backbone and sanity. And old-fashioned values. He’s got my vote.

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