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Article: 'ONLY ONE THING KEEPS ME AWAKE AT NIGHT AND THAT'S THE CONSCIENCE THAT SAYS, "YOU'VE CROSSED GOD TODAY"' Despite his national reputation, Keyes struggles to find niche Series: RACE FOR THE SENATE: Alan Keyes
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- October 10, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2004 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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An Alan Keyes speech is as much opera as sermon.
It starts softly, with a lament to the breakdown in America's
family structure. The volume rises with warnings about abortion and
gay marriage. Soon he pounds the lectern to the beat, his head
tilting side-to-side to punc-tu-ate each word.
"You can hear it: there are highs and lows, a cadence, a symphonic
structure -- it builds to a climax ..." says Keyes' best friend Marlo
Lewis, who heard Keyes sing opera when they were grad students at
Harvard in the '70s.
To his faithful conservative followers, he is Pavarotti. To those
who support separation of church and state, abortion and gay rights,
Keyes' voice is nails on a chalkboard.
The polls ...