Frank Keating Decides Against Run For President

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating said Tuesday he has decided not to launch a 2008 presidential bid, but didn't rule out a possible return to elected office.<br/><br/>Keating,

Tuesday, January 16th 2007, 9:35 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating said Tuesday he has decided not to launch a 2008 presidential bid, but didn't rule out a possible return to elected office.

Keating, 62, said he seriously considered making a run for the Republican nomination in 2008, but determined he would be too far behind candidates like U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in organization and fundraising.

"First, the train is far down the track in terms of organization, and John McCain has done a brilliant job of doing that," Keating said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters.

Keating added that Romney has the ability to "write an exceedingly large check to himself."

"I have great respect for John McCain and Mitt Romney, and at this time I'm deciding where my loyalty will go," he said.

Keating said he would throw his support behind the candidate he thought best embodied conservative economic and social values.

"I'm going to try to engage in one of the presidential campaigns on the Republican side and encourage whoever the candidate might be to move back to the traditional conservative values," he said.

Keating served two terms as Oklahoma's governor. Since his term ended in 2003, he has been president and chief executive officer of the Washington-based American Council of Life Insurers.

He said Tuesday that if U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., decided not to seek another term in office, he would contemplate running for the U.S. Senate.

"I would encourage Senator Inhofe to run," Keating said. "If he were not to run, certainly I would consider it."

Keating said he decided to consider running for president after the 2006 congressional elections, particularly the defeat of former U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., who Keating said was a favorite of social and economic conservatives.

He said there is a "palpable unhappiness" among Republicans on issues like the national deficit, congressional spending, border security and immigration.

"And, of course, the war in Iraq, which is a matter of great concern to the party and to activists within the party," Keating said.

"In my judgment, I am not the person who is in the position to be that conservative," he added. "(But) I think there will be a voice for those disaffected Republicans who think the party has strayed from its traditional base and traditional message."

Keating said he plans to remain in his position with the American Council of Life Insurers for at least another two years.