For the U.S. Senate race, it doesn’t matter what political party you follow – the choice candidate is Barack Obama.

Obama has emerged as the top candidate under some unusual election circumstances: High-profile contenders were squeezed out of the race because of the exposure of embarrassing disclosures.

After scandals forced Republican primary winner Jack Ryan to drop out of the race, the Illinois GOP recruited Alan Keyes of Maryland to take his place in the running.

Since then, there has been little question to who will fill the Senate spot. Even before that, however, Obama has proved his capabilities above and beyond that of his opponents.

Now, as Obama faces off against the ultra-conservative, he stands out from Keyes in more ways than one.

Obama has made higher education a priority in his campaign. One of his biggest proposals is a call for an end to federal loan programs that work through banks and private lenders who charge high interest rates. The government should fund those loans and, by taking out the middle man, about $4.5 billion would be saved every year. He also wants the government to increase the maximum annual Pell Grant by $1,000, raising it to $5,100.

On the other hand, Keyes believes higher education issues should be handled on the local level. If by local level, he means the state level, we’re in a bit of trouble. State universities can now barely get year-to-year increases from the state government to repair ailing building structures and update technology. If the federal government doesn’t step in sometime soon, the future of higher education may be in jeopardy.

Obama joined the General Assembly in 1996 and in that time has strong contributions on his record. He has made progress on issues such as mandatory videotaping of interrogations and confessions in death-penalty cases. He has expanded health insurance coverage for children of the working poor, passed laws to track racial profiling by law enforcement and prohibited officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists. He strongly opposes outsourcing and wants to deny tax breaks to companies that move jobs overseas and provide tax credits to companies that create jobs in the United States.

With these accomplishments already to his name, Obama will do a fine job representing the Land of Lincoln in the U.S. Senate.

We can’t say Keyes has had such an impact and extensive record serving our state. He just moved here a few months ago.