Keyes Drops Bid for GOP Nomination

B O S T O N, July 26 -- Alan Keyes expressed his support for George W. Bush’s choice of a running mate Tuesday — and said he had dropped his own campaign against Bush for the Republican nomination.

Keyes won no primaries last winter and spring, but he had remained on the campaign trail spreading his conservative message.

Asked Tuesday if he still considered himself a candidate, Keyes said, “I am not.”

A campaign spokeswoman said Keyes, a Maryland resident, had not yet filed withdrawal papers with the Federal Election Commission.

Keyes said he supports Bush’s choice of former Defense SecretaryDick Cheney as his running mate, adding that Cheney’s anti-abortionviews mirrored his own. He said he would join other Republicans to unite behind Bush at the party’s convention in Philadelphia nextweek.

Keyes, who also ran for president in 1996, apparently won 21 delegates this year, though the final count could change by a delegate or two. His best showing was in the Iowa caucuses, where he won 14 percent of the vote.

A spokeswoman had said he would consider leaving the Republican Party if Bush chose a running mate who favored abortion rights.

Keyes said Tuesday, “It won’t come to that.”

He was in Boston to support conservatives who criticized a workshop held for gay teens at Tufts University in March. The workshop was sponsored by a national gay organization but included two members of the state Department of Education’s HIV/AIDS awareness program.

Keyes said the workshop’s teachings violated the rights ofparents who believe homosexuality is immoral.