Top Chicago Journalists Agree: Obama Should Legitimize Keyes

This morning, both of Chicago's page-two columnists, John Kass of the Tribune and Mark Brown in the Sun-Times, feign 'disappointment' that Obama is not going to wallow with Keyes in six debates.

Naturally these daily columnists are disappointed -- Keyes relationship with the press is purely cooperative. The media provide him with a forum for his views and he provides them with bizarre statements and shocking quotes to publish. It is a system that has worked well for both parties.

But for this process to work -- for yet another iteration of Keyes' reactionary views to be 'newsworthy' -- someone has to take Keyes seriously as an Illinois Senate candidate. By refusing to engage Keyes in six debates, Obama merely shows that he is not going to be the first person outside of the IL-GOP central committee to take Keyes' candidacy seriously.

So of course the media-types are upset with Obama -- those post-debate columns would have just written themselves.