THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 25, 1995 TAG: 9503250338
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: OWINGS MILLS, MD. LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Alan Keyes says he's running for president because he believes America is in crisis. It's not about money, he says, it's about the disintegration of the family.
Keyes, who will announce his candidacy for the GOP nomination Sunday in San Diego, hammers home his message during his daily three-hour talk show on WCBM, a 10,000-watt station outside Baltimore. It is carried by a handful of other stations.
His talk show hits all the topics popular with conservatives: abortion, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, the Clintons, Democrats and taxes.
On his radio show this week, Keyes had this to say:
On GOP presidential frontrunner Sen. Bob Dole:
``We talk about leadership. Will somebody explain to me how we can expect Bob Dole to stand up to Bill Clinton and the Democrats when he can't even stand up to his own colleagues in the Senate to get our agenda through?''
On whether restricting welfare will increase abortion:
``Whether you are choosing to have a baby out of wedlock or choosing to get an abortion, what is really wrong in that situation is that there is something deeply wrong with your moral compass and you need some help.''
A rare black Republican in national politics, Keyes has run for office twice, losing U.S. Senate races in heavily Democratic Maryland by wide margins in 1988 and 1992. Yet he's achieved a fair amount of visibility in Republican politics.
Keyes, 44, was an assistant secretary of state in the Reagan administration. He also was a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Keyes
by CNB