State GOP narrows Senate hopefuls to 2
August 4, 2004
BY SCOTT FORNEK AND LYNN SWEET Staff Reporters
And then there were two.
But only one of them has the support of the most powerful Republican in Illinois.
Republicans searching for a U.S. Senate candidate to go up against Democrat Barack Obama narrowed their search Tuesday to two African Americans -- former White House deputy drug czar Andrea Grubb Barthwell and two-time presidential hopeful Alan Keyes.
The surprise announcement came late in the evening, after nearly seven hours of interviewing candidates and wrangling over their pluses and minuses.
Earlier in the day, a top aide to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert told the Chicago Sun-Times that the Plano Republican likes Keyes for the spot.
"He would support Keyes, Alan Keyes for the Senate," Hastert spokesman John Feehery said, calling the former State Department official and radio and TV personality "a very smart person."
"He is very passionate about the issues. He is a great leader."
Keyes has not said he will seek the nomination but has discussed it with GOP leaders. His name first surfaced as a potential replacement for Jack Ryan on Monday afternoon in an online Sun-Times report. After a series of high-profile candidates flirted with running only to later drop out, some party insiders and journalists questioned the seriousness of a Keyes candidacy.
But at the Republican State Central Committee meeting Tuesday it was clear that panel members were serious about Keyes.
At one point, a heated debate was audible from behind the closed doors where the committee was meeting at the Union League Club in the Loop. A voice was heard yelling about Keyes.
"We don't quite have white smoke yet, but we had a very spirited discussion," state GOP Chairman Judy Baar Topinka said later, comparing their selection process to that of a pope.
"We've come down to two very, very good candidates," she said. "And we will meet tomorrow where we're going to call them back to participate with us as a group."
Keyes agreed to fly in from his home in Maryland to address the committee today. Barthwell was one of the 13 hopefuls who made their cases to the panel Tuesday, but she will get another chance today.
Some party insiders were surprised at the selection of Barthwell as a potential replacement for Ryan, who stepped down amid allegations he once took his wife to sex clubs. Barthwell has been the subject of a series of embarrassing revelations.
Republicans learned she contributed to Democrats and voted in Democratic primaries until 2001 when President Bush called her to ask her to serve as a deputy director at the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
And an internal probe found she "engaged in lewd and abusive behavior" by joking about an underling's sexual orientation.
"Are you f------ kidding me?" one GOP strategist close to the negotiations asked when told that Barthwell was in the top two.
Even more surprising to some was the ideological differences between Keyes and Barthwell. Barthwell has told the Sun-Times she supports abortion rights and opposes Bush's proposed amendment banning gay marriage.
Keyes is a staunch opponent of abortion and gay rights.
But Topinka insisted "they are not necessarily on the opposite ends of the political spectrum."
State Sen. Dave Syverson, a panel member from Rockford, conceded the two clearly differ.
"It shows the diversity of party and the diversity of the state central committee," Syverson said.
He insisted the committee did not choose the two because both are African Americans, like Obama.
If Keyes or Barthwell is chosen, it will be the first time in history the two major parties fielded black candidates in a major contest.
"It just turned out to be that way," Syverson said. "We don't look at color the way the Democrats do. We look at the candidate and where they stand on the issues and their ability to articulate the issues," he said.
State Sen. Kirk Dillard, a panel member from DuPage County, said he is undecided between the two, but argued both have pluses and minuses. He said Keyes' celebrity status and speaking ability could help overcome the fact that he lives in Maryland and has no real connection to Illinois.
Dillard said Keyes is convinced that the media glow Obama received for his keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention has elevated the race to a national contest.
"Since we're elevated to a national race, he believes so strongly that this is crucial for the future of America that he would be willing to come to Illinois and run this race against Barack Obama," Dillard said.
Dillard said Barthwell is hampered by her lack of political experience, but said "she also has a tremendous life story to tell," including overcoming addictions to alcohol, cocaine, prescription drugs and marijuana 20 years ago and rising to become a member of the Bush administration.
Hastert's aide, Feehery, said that residency will be no greater problem than it was for Hillary Clinton, who moved to New York so she could run for the U.S. Senate.
Aurora dairy owner Jim Oberweis tried to ease the committee's concerns about the commercials he aired in the primary attacking Bush's immigration reform proposal. But a source close to the talks said he hurt himself by demanding that he get commitments for financial resources and White House support.
