Keyes looks to rescue GOP, announces run for president

Keyes looks to rescue GOP,
announces run for president
Former Reagan diplomat says he's unmoved
by lack of moral courage displayed by others

After two previous runs for U.S. president, former Reagan diplomat Alan Keyes has announced he's again seeking the White House in the 2008 election, and he'll take part in Monday night's Republican presidential debate here.

Keyes told syndicated radio host Janet Parshall he's "unmoved" by the lack of moral courage shown by the other candidates, among whom he sees no standout who articulates the "key kernel of truth that must, with courage, be presented to our people."

He added, "The one thing I've always been called to do is to raise the standard ... of our allegiance to God and His authority that has been the foundation stone of our nation's life" – and he decried the lack of "forthright, clear, and clarion declaration" from the current crop of presidential contenders.

As a result, Keyes said, "We're putting together an effort that's not going to be like anything before, because it's going to be entirely based on citizen action. We're going to be challenging people to take a pledge for America's revival," and elevate them from spectators in the political arena to participants.

Keyes, a columnist for WND through last year, ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in 1996 and 2000. He sought an open U.S. Senate seat in Illinois in 2004, and was soundly defeated by Democrat Barack Obama who is also currently running for president. The 2004 race was the first to pit two blacks against each other in a Senate race.

Keyes calls himself a seasoned statesman, spending 11 years with the U.S. State Department. From 1983 to 1985, he served as ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, where he represented America's sovereign interests in the U.N. General Assembly. He became President Reagan's assistant secretary of state for international organizations in 1985.

Proudly proclaiming he's a "genuine conservative," Keyes is well-known for his defense of unborn children. On his RenewAmerica website, it's noted Keyes "confronts the culture of death with compelling and inspiring reasons why abortion must be banned from our land."

It adds "Alan's stated purpose in life, like that of America's Founders, is to provide a secure future for our posterity."

As WND reported in 2004, Keyes raised some eyebrows when he came out in favor of giving descendants of black slaves an exemption from federal income tax.

"When a city had been devastated [in the Roman empire], for a certain length of time – a generation or two – they exempted the damaged city from taxation," he told reporters.

In a statement from his campaign, Keyes said his proposal "has the advantage of letting people help themselves, rather than pouring money into government bureaucracies that displace and discourage their own efforts. It takes no money from other citizens, while righting the historic imbalance that results from the truth that black slaves toiled for generations at a tax rate that was effectively 100 percent."

Continued Keyes: "I have also made it clear that while I believe that the descendants of slaves would be helped by this period of tax relief, my firm goal and ultimate objective is to replace the income tax, and thereby free all Americans from this insidious form of tax slavery."

Monday's night's Values Voter Debate in Florida is being moderated by WND Editor Joseph Farah.

In addition to Keyes, Republicans participating include Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo and John Cox. Candidates who declined are Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.

The debate at the Broward Center for the Performing Artsis produced by ValuesVoter.org, a group which says on its website "Our American values are the values that existed before time and were articulated in America's founding document on her birthday, the 4th of July, 1776."

The three-hour event begins at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, and will be broadcast live on Sky Angel and Dish Network channel 262, and will also be streamed live on websites including ValuesVoterDebate.com and the American Family Association.