You gotta be kidding me.

Alan Keyes’ calamitous U.S. Senate bid in 2004 became a focal point Thursday in the Republican race for lieutenant governor when two of the contenders argued over who was more responsible for importing the Maryland conservative.

During a forum before the Tribune’s editorial board, Steve Rauschenberger, one of the contenders for lieutenant governor, said GOP governor candidate Judy Baar Topinka was to blame for Keyes’ candidacy because she was head of the state Republican Party at the time. But Topinka’s running mate, Joseph Birkett, noted Rauschenberger was one of the first to push Keyes’ name as a candidate. […]

But Birkett, DuPage County’s state’s attorney, said Rauschenberger was instrumental in suggesting Keyes to his good friend and state central committee member, state Sen. Dave Syverson of Rockford. Rauschenberger later employed top Keyes’ campaign staff members for his now discarded bid for governor.

“To blame Judy for all the problems of the party is just unfair. It’s just unfair, Steve,” Birkett said. “And she is not to blame for Alan Keyes or a lot of the other problems with this party.”

Later, Rauschenberger attempted to distance himself from Keyes, saying he only suggested his name but had no involvement in the campaign. He acknowledged, however, that he donated $500 to Keyes’ campaign and publicly supported him.

This isn’t the first time that Rauschenberger has tried to put some distance between himself and the 27 percent solution.

Here is one from December.

You’d think he’d give up on this subject by now.

Shortly after Keyes was recruited by conservatives, the Tribune wrote:

Keyes’ entered the race only within the last few days as state Sen. Dave Syverson of Rockford and state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger of Elgin pushed for Keyes’ nomination.

And then there’s this question that George Stephanopoulos asked Keyes during ABC’s This Week program.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Here’s how one of the state senators who came to you described it. He said, “We”–the Republicans, and it’s State Senator Stephen Rauschenberger. He said, “We needed to find another Harvard-educated African American who had some experience on the national political scene. We need that because the Democrats have made an icon out of Barack Obama, and the only way to fight back is to find your own icon–and that is not an easy thing to do.”