Keyes vs. Obama in Illinois Race
Alan Keyes, the conservative political commentator who twice ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for president, agreed on Sunday to run against a rising Democratic star to try to protect an open Senate seat from Illinois. "We do face an uphill battle, there's no doubt," Mr. Keyes told cheering supporters at a rally in this Chicago suburb. "So I'm not going to stand here and with tremendous ease promise you a victory. But I'll tell you what I will promise. I will promise you a fight." Mr. Keyes will face State Senator Barack Obama in the campaign to replace Senator Peter Fitzgerald, a Republican, who is retiring. Both Mr. Keyes and Mr. Obama are African-American, seemingly assuring Illinois of producing the fifth black elected senator. [
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