News from Chicago

My sister-in-law sent this to me. She's a volunteer for the Obama campaign in Chicago:

Keyes arrival in Chicago has become quite a joke. People are talking about the neighborhood that he chose to live in, the apartment he chose. No matter what, he would never be accepted here - he is Republican but more importantly he is an outsider and I cannot begin to explain what that means. Outsiders are just not welcome.

I hope this helps, as my words cannot capture the details, so here goes...

Keyes marches alone at Billiken Parade... and gets ambushed
Monday, August 16, 2004
By The Leader-Chicago Bureau
CHICAGO -- At the 75th annual Bud Billiken Parade in Chicago Saturday, the only Illinois Republican candidate or official who showed up was its newest ambassador, U.S. Senate candidate of six days, Alan Keyes.
Billed as the largest African-American parade in the nation, with 1.2 million people lining the route in 2003 and 25 million television viewers, the Billiken Parade and Picnic were originally created to give underprivileged children a day of fun.
But it was not fun for Keyes and his small band of volunteer supporters, who withstood the backlash of Democrat Senate candidate Barack Obama's popularity as, for the first time in U.S. history, two African-American candidates for U.S. Senate faced an African-American crowd.
Keyes marched without any Republican Party support. Flanking him in front and back were nary a Party official to be seen, nor were there any GOP floats, signs, or stickers.
Party Chairman Judy Baar Topinka sent a car on behalf of her State Treasurer's office, but she herself did not participate in the parade.
"Where was the Bush float? The GOP Cook County float? Jim Edgar? Jim Thompson? Any GOP committeemen?" angrily wondered one Keyes marcher. "All their talk of reaching out to this community is meaningless."
Republican Communications Director Jason Gerwig told IllinoisLeader.com he had no answers regarding GOP participation or nonparticipation in the parade.
"I'm not at my desk and don't have my notes on that event in front of me," Gerwig responded.
Sunday's Chicago Tribune captured the tone of the event:
Keyes... was greeted with a resounding chorus of jeers and boos that bordered on outright hostility.
"Go back to Maryland!" and "Down with Keyes!" were the most common refrains....
By contrast, Democrat Barack Obama was treated to a king's welcome, with thousands of parade-goers hoisting blue-and-white Obama signs, wearing Obama stickers and shrieking in pure joy as his float passed by. They serenaded the Hyde Park Democrat with chants of "O-Ba-Ma! O-Ba-Ma! O-Ba-Ma!"....
So when Obama's political challenger appeared Saturday, the reception was not pretty. Over the first couple of blocks of the parade route, Keyes got a few down-turned thumbs and groans of dissent.
But as the crowds grew thicker and Keyes inched closer to a sea of Obama supporters, spectators grew more aggressive in denouncing him. As Keyes tried to shake hands... a woman ran up to him, lifted an Obama sign above her head and screamed repeatedly into Keyes' face: "Obama for president! Obama for president!"
Another man briefly grabbed Keyes' arm and advised Keyes, "Take your [expletive] back to Maryland."
Yet others were courteous, shaking Keyes' hand and flashing a smile at him. A few requested his autograph, and he obliged in each instance.
Indeed, through all the mayhem, Keyes kept a smile on his face....
"Keyes represented the GOP proudly," said Republican Young Professionals co-founder Doug Ibendahl. "Even when people were booing him, he would shake their hand."
More than boos were heard. "You’re a puppet to white people!" shouted one spectator. "You're an Uncle Tom!" yelled another.
A woman held a sign up to Keyes that said, "Hey, Sambo, go back to Maryland."
The Trib concluded:
Lee Walker, a Keyes supporter who directs a conservative Chicago-based think tank, observed that Keyes could have been forgiven had he ducked out of the parade when things got tough. "He's not running from all this, and I think folks will eventually realize that," Walker said. "You have to give him credit for courage."