The 2008 presidential campaign of Alan Keyes, former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from Maryland began on September 14, 2007, after being encouraged to enter the 2008 race by the committee We Need Alan Keyes. He initially ran in the 2008 presidential primaries, against Arizona Senator John McCain, Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney and Texas Representative Ron Paul for his party's nomination, but after failing to gain any traction left to the Constitution Party and then to the American Independent Party.