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Fox News Channel's Brit Hume had pointed out that "there are other black political figures, Republican and Democrat alike -- Jesse Jackson and Colin Powell being signal examples -- who have not experienced this problem."

To this, Keyes elaborated on his theory that the media is racist, saying, "If you're not in the mold that's supposed to correspond to what you folks say is 'black,' what you claim are supposed to be the attributes of the race, then you're shut out." Jackson is liberal, and Powell is pro-choice, he said.

"J.C. Watts gets a lot of positive media coverage, and he's an African-American, very conservative, pro-life," I asked when Keyes returned to the mike. How did that square with his theory?

"The very question is a racist question!" Keyes exclaimed.

But, I said, "You're the one that brought up race."

"No, No!" said Keyes, "You brought it up. When I [began running for President] several years ago, I would go into forums just like this. I would talk about the issues: the moral challenges we face, the issue of abortion, and so forth. I would get out and the first question asked of me by reporters would be a racial question. You guys can't see anything but my race."

But, I pointed out, Keyes himself brought it up this time around. "You accused us of being racist at the last debate when we were filing our stories," I said.

Keyes said that the media's hostility toward him stems from the fact that, "I refuse to play the role of a racial politician. And because I refuse to play the role of a racial politician, you are refusing to take seriously my impact, and the strong constituency that I've built in the Republican party, and the things that I articulate better than anyone else in this country today.

"I am sick and tired of having individuals who will ignore that reality in order to do what? You do to me what you did to my ancestors! ... Well, I'm very proud of my heritage. And I'll tell you something, heritage gives me ability to stick to the issues that matter most to this country right now. And I think you ought to pay attention. Not only to what I say, but to the fact that I am in fact gaining in New Hampshire," Keyes said.

He brought up the poll again, noting that the week he placed third in a New Hampshire poll (which was thus presumably no longer "phony"), the media started labeling it a "two-man race."

That was a stretch -- and not only because polling had suddenly become a legitimate science in his eyes. I said, "The reason people acted like it was a two-man race was because all of a sudden John McCain was ahead of Bush -- and that was the news."

"Excuse me, sir," Keyes said, "You're ignoring a phenomenon that is actually taking place. And you're doing it, as I said in the debate, because blackout means black out. And if I'm doing well in a non-racial way, you don't want to let the American people know about their own people. You didn't let them know about the Alabama straw poll. Now that wasn't reported around the country!"

"Because only two people participated in the straw poll!" I said. Keyes and Hatch had been the only ones to show; the event was a joke.

"That's a lie, sir!" Keyes exclaimed. "Everybody's name was on that ballot! And people had organized throughout the state of Alabama! They didn't show up finally because had we the state sewn up and they knew it!"

Keyes was growing angrier by the second. "You ignore my successes, just as you ignored my ancestors' successes," he went on heatedly. "You ignore it and then you report it so people can think badly of me. And then you want to tell me you're not a racist!"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm telling you I'm not a racist, Mr. Keyes. I'm telling you I'm not a racist."

"You better think about it, my friend!" Keyes said. "You better think about what you're doing!"

OK, I've thought about it. Keyes has become unhinged and unreasonable. He's an even more inconsistent and paranoid egoist than I even could have remotely conceived before. And he's remarkably unqualified to be president.
salon.com | Dec. 6, 1999

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