Ah, good old Alan Keyes

Those of us in Illinois -- and especially here in Rockford -- have a perspective on Alan Keyes that the rest of America can scarcely appreciate.

Keyes was our Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate back in '04. He was recruited by Rockford State Sen. Dave Syverson, among others, when the winner of the GOP primary had to drop out in a sex scandal.

Keyes didn't even live in Illinois, but the Republican poohbahs seemed to figure that their own articulate black guy could fare well against Barack Obama, so they got him to move here from Maryland.

The result was a disaster. Keyes said his candidacy was "God's will," and opined that Jesus Christ wouldn't vote for Obama. He referred to Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter as "a selfish hedonist" and otherwise condemned homosexuals as evil.

Keyes quickly became a statewide joke and ended up with only 27 percent of the vote.

But lately, if you haven't noticed, Keyes has imposed himself on the hapless field of Republican presidential hopefuls in the 2008 race. His presence, not surprisingly, has been greeted disdainfully by conservative pundits who once regarded him with more fondness.

Roy Edroso surveys the situation here.

Did Dave Syverson put him up to it?

Three years ago, Illinois State Sen. Dave Syverson of Rockford played a central role in recruiting right-wing madman Alan Keyes (right) to run as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate against Democrat Barack Obama. (The GOP primary election winner, Jack Ryan, had been forced off the ticket because of a sex scandal.)

Well, of course, Keyes got a comparative handful of votes, and Obama went on to become a political superstar.

Ah, but Keyes has never been one to say die. Now he's running for president. Maybe Syverson will endorse him.

Rocker thrills the young 'uns

The ultimate irony of Rick Nielsen's triumphant appearance at the Illinois State Capitol on Tuesday was that the leader of the rock band Cheap Trick is older than the vast majority of lawmakers and staffers who hosted him.

For example, Nielsen, at age 60, is more than a decade older than State Sen. Dave Syverson, the Rockford pol who's sponsoring a resolution honoring Cheap Trick.

Somehow this doesn't compute. Aren't rockers supposed to be junior to the grownups in the political establishment? Well, there was a time when that was the case.