Ex-NAACP head making Senate run

On one hand it seems he has the language down pat to be an electable legislator.

"It is with great pride and deep humility that I announce to you today my candidacy for the Senate of the United States," Mfume said at a news conference in Baltimore.

"Great pride" and "deep humility" show an advanced understanding of Washington double-speak. Kudos to you ex-Congressman, you have not lost your touch in the last decade away from the Hill.

On the other hand, as a current resident of Maryland [and one who plans on leaving before the 2006 election] I find a problem with this contradiction. Can one be both prideful and humble together? I guess this is his way of reaching out broadly across the state to every demographic.


However, he also says this:
"I can't be bought. I won't be intimidated. I don't know how to quit," Mfume said as his supporters applauded.

The way in which the balance of ignorance shifts as this process roles along will go along way in determining whether Barak Obama finds a friend in the Senate before the end of his first term. If the people of Maryland find truth in the claim that he "can't be bought", and "won't be intimidated" to be true then they get what they vote for. Furthermore, I find it difficult to believe he does not know how to quit, since he recently resigned a very public position as head of the NAACP. Again, if the people of this buy into this great for us... I like Black people... a lot.

But, the rhetoric seems to be there for him already. W.E.B. Du Bois was separated from the organization he helped to found, and that is the same NAACP Mfume recently left. If the statements above are his reasons for being elected then he seems as shallow as the career politician he aims to replace. Certainly, it is not fair for any number of reasons to compare Du Bois and Mfume, but the intellectual honesty (snobby though it may have been) of Du Bois would be an excellent quality for Mfume to find within himself in the coming months.

Hopefully, He will give the people a reason to vote for him past the blah-blah government speak he seems to have mastered in various political roles he has played in the past.

(the quotes are lifted from cnn.com)

Addendum:
Around 8pm on the same day, 630 WMAL (Washington DC) ran a report of Mfume's announcement and played this soundbyte from the same press conference, "With me, what you see is what you get". Aside from being an odd thing to play on the radio this just goes a step further underscoring the point I had made previously.