Perennial U.S. Senate and Presidential candidate Alan Keyes will be in Wichita on November 18th November 21st to endorse Jim Anderson for the KS-04 Congressional seat. Keyes has made a full time living out of running for office. According to Wiki, “[h]e ran for President in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2008, and was a Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1988, 1992 and 2004.” Mr. Keyes was the Republican nominee challenging now-President Obama for his U.S. Senate from Illinois. Obama beat Keyes by more than 57 percent of the vote.

Today, I received this e-mail from the Anderson campaign, indicating a November 18th appearance by Keyes himself.

Anderson Invite to Keyes Event

Also within the e-mail, Anderson has inserted a graphic of the “American Independent Party” and a hyperlink to an endorsement by AIP of Anderson and “conservative values.” The AIP, which appears to be a front group for Keyes himself, lists its endorsements under the “Reagan List” and has given Anderson their full blessing, stating:

“The Reagan list includes endorsed candidates from around the nation that have sworn to uphold America’s founding principles, without regard to party affiliation. ‘America’s Independent Party endorses candidates based on principles, not party,’ stated AIP national party chairman Tom Hoefling, who has seen web traffic eclipse more than one million visitors a day to their website. He continued (sic) ‘Americans are tired of labels and promises; they want truth, (sic) and action. We need real private citizens (sic) not to those who are looking for a career in politics, but an opportunity to serve as our founders intended. Especially those who won’t lose their soul when they get to Washington D.C.; (sic) which is how we will get real change.’”

Anderson RV at Wichita Tea Party

From the looks of the e-mail and included endorsement, Anderson appears to be running under a conservative, independent party ticket. Based on my recent observations of Anderson, that wouldn’t be too far of a stretch. Take, for example, the Tea Party Express II: Countdown to Judgment rally that was held last week in Wichita. While every “conservative” candidate was represented via surrogates (excepting a short appearance by Dick Kelsey), Jim Anderson was there with a full-on RV with nice, flashy $700 banners (see report) emboldened down the side and rear. He showed up in full brass.

Also, Anderson recently spoke to the Wichita Pachyderms, an allegedly non-partisan group of Wichita conservatives, and was reportedly well received.

And, perhaps most indicative of an Independent run, Anderson, who has only filed with the FEC but not the Kansas Secretary of State, is pushing his campaign supporters to sign a petition for his candidacy. He’s attempting to garner 5,000 signatures from KS-04 voters or else the “votes for Jim won’t count.” In the state of Kansas, candidates can file either by paying a fee, which in the case of a Congressional bid is $1,760, or, if filing as an Independent, the candidate must collect 5,000 signatures and pay the filing fee. Kansas Statute 25-303(c) reads, in its relevant part:

“Independent nominations of candidates for offices to be filled by the voters of a county, district or other division less than a state may be made by nomination petitions signed by voters equal in number to not less than 4% of the current total of qualified voters of such county, district or other division as compiled by the office of the secretary of state in the case of state offices and as compiled in the office of the county election officer and certified to the secretary of state in accordance with K.S.A. 25-2311, and amendments thereto, in the case of local offices, and in no case to be signed by less than 25 nor more than 5,000 qualified voters of such county, district or division, for each candidate.”

An official ruling from the Kansas Secretary of State’s office is more succinct on the matter. According to the Secretary of State’s 2010 Election Factsheet (PDF at FN3)…

“Independent candidates may file for office only by petition. Upon filing a valid petition and paying the GEC/SOS fee, the candidate’s name will be placed directly on the general ballot.”

What’s clear is, being virtually unknown in the district and raising just under $10,000 in the last FEC quarter, Anderson has a long and hard road to hoe, especially with two current state senators in the race with notable name recognition. In the wake of the successful coup pulled off by Doug Hoffman in NY-23 for the conservative vote in recent weeks and the near win by Hoffman last week in the special, Anderson looks to be mulling his potential of making an end-run around a fatal Republican primary in order to see his name on the November 2010 general election ballot.