Keyes Won't Cry 'Uncle'

America's moral house is on fire and the country's moral foundation must be repaired, said Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes, who refuses to bow out of the race despite his dismal showings in opinion polls.

Campaigning in New York, Keyes said he's the candidate to answer the repair call and that he won't quit his underdog campaign because “politics isn't about votes only.”

The Republican is getting single-digit support in polls that place him third as New York's March 7 Republican primary draws near.

Keyes, a radio commentator, told reporters prior to a speech at Syracuse University that he is “making sure that people have a choice, a choice that is good for America.”

“I'm not giving up. I won't give up,” he said. "America's moral house is on fire.”

Keyes also made it clear he's unlikely to support Texas Gov. George W. Bush or Arizona Sen. John McCain should either win the party's nomination.

Keyes said an abortion rights nominee or a plank that protects abortion would drive him from the party.

Keyes said Bush doesn't have a chance to win. Republicans wouldn’t win the general election, he continued, because the national economy is strong under the Democratic Clinton administration. Vice President Al Gore and former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley are frontrunners for the Democratic nomination.

A recent CBSNews/NYTimes poll finds Bush leading McCain with 46 percent as compared to 36 percent of the likely Republican voters for McCain, while Keyes is a distant third with 3 percent of the voters.