Alan Keyes Excluded From Presidential Debate

In the wake of the exclusion of Presidential candidate Alan Keyes from the Michigan, Presidential Debate, conservative leaders in the Wolverine State today criticized Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis, whose neutrality in the presidential race has been repeatedly called into question. "I think it is shameful that someone with Dr. Alan Keyes' experience in government and credentials in the conservative movement is being kept out of the debate," said Judy Zabik, Genesee County Republican Party Board member. "Voters in Michigan and across the country deserve to hear what this man has to say about where this country is and where it's going. He brings a principled, moral perspective to this race that nobody else brings." When Keyes officially entered the Presidential race on Sept. 14, Michigan's newly-created Sept. 11 deadline for inclusion on the party's list of recognized candidates submitted to the Secretary of State had already expired. Keyes supporters across the state have begun to gather the 11,569 signatures that are needed to assure that his name will appear on the GOP primary ballot. Under Michigan law, they have until October 23 to complete the process.However, the state party used inclusion on the Sept. 11 list as the criterion for participation in today's debate, which is being co-sponsored by the state party, CNBC, MSNBC, and the Wall Street Journal. Keyes supporters argue the party made an arbitrary rule that was impossible for Keyes or his people to meet - one with no connection to the former Reagan U.N. Ambassador's ability to qualify for the ballot. Dr. Levon Yuille, Chairman of the Michigan Black Republican Council, said, "I'm appalled that the Party of Lincoln would not include a man of Dr. Keyes' stature as part of the upcoming debate, at a time when my party is being accused of being insensitive to the black community. I think we would give our enemy an unnecessary issue that we don't need in this election. President Bush has made a concerted effort to reach out to the black community, and hopefully the Michigan Republican Party would reflect this concern and do the right thing." Yuille added, "Alan Keyes has been a stalwart national leader on a broad range of pro-life, pro-family issues for many years. He's also extremely knowledgeable in the areas of national defense, foreign policy, and economics. This debate is supposed to be about economics, I'm told. I hoped the state party would reconsider their decision and invite Dr. Keyes to participate. The perception by many that he is being kept out because of the partisan wishes of the state party leadership is very real."
Ambassador Keyes, the only African-American in the Republican Presidential field, participated Sept. 27 in Tavis Smiley's PBS "All-American Presidential Forum" debate in Baltimore, Maryland, and in the "Values Voter" debate in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sept. 17. During the Baltimore debate, which centered on issues of concern to the black community, Keyes commented that those Republican candidates who failed to attend "didn't show up at the Values Voter Debate, either--which, of course, sent a very negative message to the people who are interested in the issues that were discussed there." This week, Ambassador Keyes expanded on those remarks by commenting that "some Republican leaders obviously don't seem beholden to the people. To serve their own ambitions, they disregard the people's right to hear from all the candidates before choosing the Republican standard bearer. It's a question of the integrity and the openness of the political process. How can people make the best choice for America if they are not even allowed to consider it?"