Dances with Butterflies

Comparing Barack Obama to Cassius Clay (and Alan Keyes to Sonny Liston) was an inspired (if obvious) metaphor by this blog since (this blog has just learned) "Obama has a b/w photograph of a brash, young Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) standing over the body of vanquished former heavyweight champion Sonny Liston on his office wall," reports Insight on the News.

Keyes has started jabb(er)ing immediately, claiming his opponent is trying to downplay the need for debates. Alan Keyes says he would like to keep to a schedule of six debates that Obama proposed in June, taunting Illinois next black hope: "When he was facing Jack Ryan, he was Abraham Lincoln. When he was facing an empty chair, possibly, he was Muhammad Ali,' said Keyes, referring to the world-champion boxer's willingness to fight all challengers. 'I step into the ring and what happens? Well, all of a sudden, he's running out of the ring, looking for the ropes, sizing up the number of exits.'

Obama picked up the Muhammad Ali boxing metaphor:

"The guy's been here for two days,' Obama said. 'A lot of people in Illinois don't know who he is. He's coming off two failed Senate races in his own state as well as two failed presidential races. My understanding is when Muhammad Ali was making some of his statements, he hadn't already lost four times. . . . At this point, the schedule is getting short, and we are not going to have my schedule and the schedule of my campaign dictated by somebody who just arrived two days ago."

Counters Keyes: "I was hoping for something more from Obama. I hoped he was as interested in ideas as he'd led us to believe." . . . Then Keyes says Obama's privileged exotic background does not give him much in common with other Black Americans. This blog was hoping for something more from Alan Keyes.

Round One: Keyes peppers Obama with jabs about his vote for live-birth abortions.