Keyes to victory . . . not

Maybe Alan Keyes won't help Republicans at all, especially downstate, according to the Capitol Fax writer, Rich Miller, in Keyes to victory -- not!::

"Democratic US Senate nominee Barack Obama would have probably lost Sen. Forby's district this November to a candidate like Jack Ryan (without the baggage). Obama's probably too liberal for those folks down 'yonder. He's a Chicagoan, and they don't like outsiders too much. And, let's face it, he's also black, and that's not a region known for its openness to the ideas of racial harmony. Keyes may have some of the right ideas for Forby's district, but he, too, is an outsider, and he's also black. I just don't see how Keyes brings people to the polls down there."

Keyes, who has been described as a right-wing version of Al Sharpton, may resort to negative advertising by "playing the rhyme card" against his articulate, liberal opponent, noting that "Osama" and "Obama" are exact rhymes, whereas "Keyes" rhymes with "trees."