In the "Gee, Was Chicago Short on Black Candidates?" Department

Alan Keyes says he will definitely run against Dem rising star Barack Obama (from CNN):

Keyes had been critical of former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's run for Senate from New York in 2000, saying he "certainly wouldn't imitate her" by running for office from a state where he didn't live.

But Sunday, he said he changed his mind after reviewing the voting record of his opponent -- Barack Obama, a state senator and considered by some a rising star in the Democratic Party.

"I'll tell you by the time I got through the records, I was convinced that somebody had to run against Barack Obama," he said.

As a result, "I must leave the land of my forefathers in order to defend the land of my spirit, of my conscience and my heart -- and I believe that that land is Illinois."

So the answer is NO. Illinois isn't short of blacks who could run. It was just short of blacks who would want to appear as white and privileged as Mr. Keyes is in his loyalty to the GOP.

Still, this is better than Washington State where the GOP challenger for state auditor was found to have 19arrest citations.

If my nose were not so blocked by respiratory infection-induced snot, I suspect I could smell the desperation.

Heh, I want to see Keyes in another mosh pit.