David Keene

Editor at Large — David Keene, a trusted adviser to presidents, a longtime champion of personal liberty and one of conservatism’s most respected voices, is the former opinion editor of The Washington Times. An author, columnist and fixture on national television, Mr. Keene has championed conservative causes for more than five decades while offering advice to Republican presidents and countless candidates. He additionally served as chairman of the American Conservative Union and president of the National Rifle Association. He can be reached at me@davidakeene.com.

Columns by David Keene

Illustration by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

KEENE: U.S. agencies join war against gun owners

America's gun owners are under siege on virtually all fronts. Congress is after us, and so are governors such as New York's Andrew Cuomo and Maryland's Martin O'Malley. They must think that when they run for the Democratic presidential nomination, a strong anti-gun stance will help them with left-wing primary voters. Published March 27, 2013

Illustration School Security by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times

KEENE: Armed security is common sense

Washington's ideological blinders too often prevent anything approaching a rational discussion of issues. The battle lines are drawn and most everybody assumes without thinking that any suggestion emanating from "enemy" lines must be dangerous, wrong or even crazy. Published December 28, 2012

Illustration Obama's Peak by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

KEENE: Romney’s break from Obama’s negativity

The last time Republicans held a nominating convention in Florida, Richard Nixon and his buttoned-down crew descended on Miami and got a far different reception from that accorded George McGovern, the anti-war Democrat who had been nominated in the very same city just a month or so earlier. Published August 29, 2012

MOLLOHAN AND KEENE: Left and right agree on criminal justice reforms

While Americans seem to be sharply divided along partisan lines when it comes to important domestic policy issues -- take health care, immigration or the national debt, for example -- in at least one area of national importance, conservatives and liberals are increasingly united: criminal justice reform. Published August 15, 2012

KEENE: Chris Christie wrong fit for veep

In late 1975, Los Angeles Times political reporter Bob Shogan found himself sitting next to then-Sen. Howard H. Baker Jr. of Tennessee. He was on a flight to Florida to cover the primary pitting President Ford against former California Gov. Ronald Reagan. Published August 9, 2012

Illustration Guns by Greg Groesch for The Washington Times

KEENE: Fast and furious cover-up at Holder’s Justice

Obama administration officials must remind each other daily that they will never have to accept responsibility for anything that goes wrong on their watch as long as they can find some way to blame their troubles on George W. Bush. Published July 6, 2012

Illustration by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

KEENE: Obama’s plan to ‘crucify’ political opponents

When Ronald Reagan took on Democratic incumbent President Jimmy Carter in 1980, I volunteered to run an independent expenditure campaign for the National Conservative Political Action Committee. Published May 15, 2012

Illustration by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times

KEENE: Lugar campaign smells of death

Indiana Republicans will head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether Richard G. Lugar, a fixture in Washington for nearly 40 years, will get the chance to bid for a seventh six-year Senate term in November. Published May 3, 2012