Today's the day that Illinois Republicans are meeting to decide on a replacement for Jack Ryan in this fall's Senate race, and a new name has suddenly appeared on the list of possible candidates: Alan Keyes, the conservative from Maryland who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2000. On the positive side, he had his own cable TV show ("Alan Keyes Is Making Sense"), and his opinions on various issues are well known, from abortion (he don't like it) to affirmative action (he don't like it) to gun control (he don't like it) to families (he do like it). On the negative side, he doesn't actually live in Illinois (legally, he doesn't have to reside in Illinois until election day), and has never been elected to any office, despite his presidential runs and unsuccessful runs for a Senate seat in Maryland. Still, Republicans seem ready to embrace Keyes if he decides to run, and Barack Obama is quoted as saying, "We'll be happy to debate whoever they put in."