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Alan Keyes on Principles & Values

Republican challenger for IL Senate; previously Candidate for President


Jesus Christ would not vote for Obama

Q: "Would Jesus vote for Obama?"

A: I actually think that statement is a self-evident truth that Christ could not vote for Barack Obama. Obama voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. He has cast a vote three times to allow a practice to go on that allows infant babies, fully born and with no dispute over their humanity or anything else, to be set aside like garbage to die. The simple question I have to ask myself as a person of Christian conscience, is 'would Christ do that?' We know He wouldn't because Christ put special emphasis on the children and spent some of his harshest language about people that would harm children.

Barack Obama has said he is in line 100 percent with the agenda for gay rights, he said he would vote to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act which is aimed at making sure that gay marriage is forced upon all the states in this union. Those views are also inconsistent with the Christian conscience.

Source: Q&A with Southern Illinoisan reporter Sep 13, 2004

Can't let Obama waltz into the Senate

After careful deliberation, and on the strength of deep and contemplative prayer, I have decided to accept the Illinois Republican Party's nomination for the United States Senate.

When I was first approached with the offer to run for the Senate in Illinois, I was hesitant to agree, since I am not from the state. However, when all of these friends of mine sent me information on Barack Obama, I agreed that it just seemed wrong that somebody with his record should kind of waltz into the Senate unopposed.

What finally forced me to consider whether I not only had the opportunity to oppose him, but the obligation, was when I learned that in April 2002, Obama had cast a vote that would continue to allow LIVE BIRTH ABORTIONS in the state of Illinois. When Barack Obama embraces an extremist position on abortion that countenances even the murder of living young children outside the womb, he abandons the principles of our Declaration, and destroys the foundations of our national union!

Source: Internet press release on NewsMax Media Aug 16, 2004

Core values: life, liberty, faith, family, freedom

Dear Friends,

Thank you so very much for your calls, letters, and emails urging me to accept the Illinois Republican Party's nomination for the United States Senate. I am humbled and honored by your overwhelming pledges of support in this endeavor. After careful deliberation, and on the strength of deep and contemplative prayer, I have decided to accept this nomination.

I make to the voters of Illinois, and all those watching this race in the coming months, just one promise:

Source: Campaign website, www.keyes2004.com Aug 9, 2004

Family and home important, but Obama needs opponent

One fact is obvious to people who know me: I am from Maryland. It's not the first time that folks have approached and talked to me about the possibility of going to some state other than Maryland and running for the Senate of the United States. On those occasions, I listened, as I always try to do, politely, and I told them no. I told them no for a number of reasons.

First, I have a clear and serious objection, in principle, to the notion that people of national reputation have the right to

Source: Senate announcement speech in Arlington Heights, Illinois Aug 8, 2004

Obama is likable but his liberalism needs opposition

Like most Americans, I didn't know much about Barack Obama more than what I saw on the Democratic convention. He didn't seem to me to be some rabid threat to the future of the country. He looked like a pretty likable guy. Certainly intelligent and articulate.

And then I looked at his record. I found somebody who has never seen a spending bill he couldn't find some excuse for, and has never seen a tax increase he didn't like. We find somebody who would rather that our children were educated

Source: Senate announcement speech in Arlington Heights, Illinois Aug 8, 2004

Strengthen the foundations of political liberty

On political priorities:

I aim to strengthen the foundations of political liberty in America. I believe that it remains the destiny of the American people to uphold the right of all humankind to practice responsible self-government. Dedication to this Providential purpose is the heart and soul of what it means to be an American. I will labor to:

Source: Organizational website, RenewAmerica.us, "On The Issues" Aug 3, 2004

Christianity best; but Declaration of Independence will do

As a free people, our way of life depends upon certain moral ideas. As a matter of personal conscience, I believe that Christianity most perfectly embodies those ideas. But since Americans come from many different religious backgrounds, in dealing with issues of public policy we must derive these ideas from sources that are open to support from all the people.

Nothing meets this purpose more completely than the principles and logic of our own Declaration of Independence, so I have made it the explicit basis for dealing with the moral crisis we now face. The Declaration is fundamentally a statement of the principles of justice that define the moral identity of the American people.

We have forgotten the principle that ou rights come from God. You can't have it both ways. Either our rights come from God, as our Declaration of Independence says, or they come from human choice. If they come from human choice, then our whole way of life is meaningless, it has no foundation.

Source: Organizational website, RenewAmerica.us, "On The Issues" Aug 3, 2004

America's problems rooted in moral decline

America's most pressing problems are rooted in the decline of our moral identity. Crime, rampant illegitimacy, the deteriorating environment in many of our schools--all these can be traced to lack of respect for moral principle. Since we are in the throes of a national moral identity crisis, we can no longer follow leaders for whom the moral challenge facing this nation is an afterthought. We need leaders who can articulate a principled vision of who we are and aspire to be.
Source: Organizational website, RenewAmerica.us, "On The Issues" Aug 3, 2004

Black liberal leadership are a generation of toadies

Q: The NAACP are trying to get the president to go speak with them, but yet in an ad, they refer to Republicans as the neo-fascist "white people's party."

A: The black liberal leadership for some decades now have abandoned the fate of the black community to the likes of people who have supported policies that have destroyed the black family, that support abortion. We're looking at a generation of toadies--people who essentially are self-serving. They're doing what's necessary to keep their position in a liberal and socialist left-wing establishment that has been devastating for the black community. The president ought to go, issue by issue, through things like gay marriage and abortion, where this black leadership stands in opposition to the God-believing heart of many, many people in the black community, and he ought to confront them with the fact that they are out of step with the faith and decent values of many people in the black community.

Source: Interview on Hannity & Colmes Jul 12, 2004

Anything the government gives you destroys your liberty

People who call themselves Christians, who profess faith, who profess patriotism - we sat back and let it happen. We could make the difference, but we won't take a stand. We could make a difference, but we won't vote according to the moral conscience that God puts within us. Instead, we listen to people who say, "I'm gonna cut your taxes." "I'm gonna give you more welfare." "I'm gonna give you more jobs." Anything the government gives you is just another link in the chains that destroy your liberty.
Source: Rally for the Ten Commandments, Hillsdale, Michigan Feb 7, 2004

Separation of church and state is phony and is a weapon

The separation of church and state is claimed to be found in the Constitution. With respect to this phony doctrine of separation, they have turned our reverence for law into a weapon against our reverence for God. It is time we awaken to this fraud and reassert the truth that was right there to be seen in all our beginnings when our Founders declared, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights."
Source: Rally in Blairsville, Georgia Oct 21, 2003

Withdraws from GOP race on eve of GOP Convention

Alan Keyes withdrew from the Republican race today, on the eve of the GOP Convention.
Source: National Public Radio News Jul 25, 2000

Withdraws with 21 delegates; supports Bush & Cheney

Alan Keyes expressed his support for George W. Bush’s choice of a running mate Tuesday - and said he had dropped his own campaign for the Republican nomination.

Keyes won no primaries last winter and spring, but he had remained on the campaign trail spreading his conservative message. Asked Tuesday if he still considered himself a candidate, Keyes said, “I am not.” A campaign spokeswoman said Keyes had not yet filed withdrawal papers with the Federal Election Commission.

Keyes said he supports Bush’s choice of former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney as his running mate, adding that Cheney’s anti-abortion views mirrored his own. He said he would join other Republicans to unite behind Bush at the party’s convention.

Keyes won 21 delegates this year though the final count could change by a delegate or two. His best showing was in the Iowa caucuses, where he won 14% of the vote.

Source: John McElhenny, Associated Press Jul 25, 2000

Would think hard about being Bush VP; like “getting married”

Q: What do you think of Bush?
A: He’s a nice guy.
Q: Would you accept the Vice Presidency?
A: I’d have to think hard about it, as hard as I’d think about getting married. In political terms, wherever that person goes, you’re there. So you have to think whether he agrees on your principles.
Source: Interview on the Jay Leno Show May 2, 2000

Clinton cannot take credit for reduction in crime

Q: Do you give the current administration any credit for reduced crime rates, reduced teen pregnancy rates, etc.? A: Not at all. Because most of those improvements came as a result of the work of governors and Republican mayors like Rudolph Giuliani. So, no, you don’t give to a shameless, lying, oath-breaking president any kind of credit for an improvement in the nation’s moral atmosphere, which he has polluted with his lack of integrity.
Source: GOP debate in Los Angeles Mar 2, 2000

I’m here because I’m the choice of conservatives’ hearts

Why am I here? Because with the majority of people in the Republican Party, I’m the sentimental favorite. I’m the one you all listen to, you know I’m saying what’s in your heart. You know that I speak the truth about true bedrock conservatism, and I do it better than anybody who has appeared in these debates. And it’s one of the reasons that my colleagues did not feel that they have the strength to stand up and say, kick him out. Because they know that that would rouse your ire. But if it will rouse your ire, how come it doesn’t inspire you to get out there in the voting booth and stand with the same integrity for what you believe that I stand with here in this arena. Unless the voters start to be willing to show that kind of integrity, our cause will be lost. These gentlemen won’t win in the fall because they don’t have the courage of our convictions. And they will not effectively communicate that to the heart of the American people. And that’s what we desperately need.
Source: GOP debate in Los Angeles Mar 2, 2000

The real outsider for conservative Republicans

Q: As a candidate, are you and outsider or an insider? A: I was so far outside this process at one point that the last cycle when we held this debate I wasn’t allowed to participate in it. The only reason I’m sitting here right now is because I articulate better than most anybody in this country what’s on the heart of real Republicans and real conservatives around the country, and because I have been out there, not fighting in Washington, but fighting at the grass roots.
Source: GOP Debate on the Larry King Show Feb 15, 2000

Bring God back into the White House

Q: How specifically would you as president improve the dignity of the Oval Office and restore the moral excellence of our great nation? A: I think we ought to stop kidding ourselves here. That wasn’t Bill Clinton’s problem. It was our problem. And our problem is that we have turned our back on the fundamental premise of this nation’s life, that our rights come from God and must be exercised with respect for the authority of God.
Source: GOP Debate in Johnston, Iowa Jan 16, 2000

Address moral crisis or lose our liberty

After all these years of Bill Clinton, I think it’s pretty clear this nation’s in the worst moral crisis that it’s ever faced. We must address that crisis as a matter of top priority, or we’re going to lose our liberty. I believe that that is, in fact, the foremost, indeed the only challenge we face right now if we’re going to survive.
Source: Republican Debate at Dartmouth College Oct 29, 1999

Core Beliefs Based on ‘Unalienable Rights’

I believe that we face what is essentially one moral challenge which manifests itself in many areas. Simply stated, that challenge has to do with the corruption of our understanding of freedom, which leads to the abandonment of respect for law and individual responsibility, the twin pillars which ought to undergird true freedom.
Source: Keyes2000.org/issues/ “Core Beliefs” Jan 9, 1999

Moral bases come from Christianity via Declaration

As a free people, our way of life depends upon certain moral ideas. I believe that Christianity most perfectly embodies those ideas. But since Americans come from many different religious backgrounds, we must derive these ideas from sources that are open to support from all the people. Nothing meets this purpose more completely than the principles and logic of our own Declaration of Independence, so I have made it the explicit basis for dealing with the moral crisis we now face.
Source: Keyes2000.org/issues/ “Core Beliefs” Jan 9, 1999

Reverence for God is foundation of justice & citizenship

The Declaration is more than just an assertion of rights. It also makes a clear statement about the ultimate source of authority which commands respect for those rights.God, the Creator, is that source. Thus the effective prerequisite for human rights is respect for God’s authority and His eternal laws. If we accept the logic of our Declaration of Independence, this reverence for God is not just a matter of religious faith. It is the foundation of justice and citizenship in our Republic.
Source: Keyes2000.org/issues/ “Core Beliefs” Jan 9, 1999

Against the “gay agenda”.

“The gay agenda is the most serious threat to America’s families today.”
Source: Time, 6/29/98, p. 20, “The Drawing Board” Jun 29, 1998

#1: Restore the moral foundations of family life

“My number one priority is to restore the moral and material foundations of family life. From this three other priorities follow-overturn Roe v. Wade, abolish the federal income tax, return control of our educational system to parents at the grassroots.”
Source: 1996 National Political Awareness Test, Project Vote Smart Jul 2, 1996

Truth & right vs. wrong underlies government & society

What sense is there in winning, in success, or even prosperity if there is not truth? We are reaching the point in this society where people are denying that there is any line to be drawn between truth and falsehood, rights and wrong. If that’s the case, then our whole way of life can’t work any more--because it is based on the sense that there are certain self-evident truths, that those self-evident truths support a certain idea of human justice, which require respect for human rights, that therefore you must have elections and due process, and all the other things we consider to be the hallmarks of freedom. If there is no difference between right and wrong, then none of that is true, and there is no need to respect individual rights, there is no requirement that to be legitimate government has to be based upon consent, and the only thing that separates us from tyranny and despotism is that at the moment nobody has yet gained the upper hand.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 9 May 2, 1996

The crisis of our times is a crisis of character

The moral requirements of freedom what the Founders called self-government. Self-government begins with self-control--the willingness to postpone our material gratification to the extent necessary for economic success and the discretion to limit our passions to the extent necessary to live in peace with our fellow citizens. The real crisis of our times is therefore, a crisis of character. It is a crisis that has been caused by our inability to admit the moral requirement of freedom.
Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 15-6 May 2, 1996

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