"I believe the government is broken," U.S. Democratic Senate candidate Kweisi Mfume said during a Maryland Public Television debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters, which aired in the evening on Aug. 31.



Mfume then said he would "pledge to provide the voice, the vote, and the vision for change."

The 2006 elections nationwide are shaping up to be a referendum on the disaster of the Bush administration and Republican-controlled Congress. This boondoggle has brought the U.S. the largest annual deficits in U.S. history, a tepid economy, the continuing loss and exodus of well-paying jobs, and a war in Iraq that is a humanitarian and military disaster.

The 2006 elections are offering the American people a way to change course and put an opposition force in Congress to check-and-balance the Bush presidency.

To those who believe voting does not matter, they should pause and think of all the Americans who fought and sometimes died for the right to vote.

They even can look to Iraq, where since 2003 the few elections have drawn larger reported turnouts than occur in America today. While democracy itself is proving to be far from perfect, it is an undeniable first step.

U.S. Senate candidate Kweisi Mfume, an ex-Congressional representative and ex-president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), says he supports universal health care, a timetable for withdrawing all troops from Iraq, the reconstruction of New Orleans, and respect for America’s diverse population. He has a Web site at www.MfumeforSenate.com.



During the debate, Mfume wondered how it is U.S. national policy could endanger troops and waste taxpayer money in Iraq when so many needs cry out right here in the U.S.

Kweisi Mfume can bring to the U.S. Senate a passionate and intelligent ability to think and advocate; his fiery oratory certainly was on display during the televised debate on Aug. 31. This degree of fire has not been witnessed among members of the Democratic Party for some time.

“President Bush is wrong,” Mfume thundered about Bush’s latest aloof opinion on Iraq. He echoed what millions of Americans already believe, an obvious point-of-view that establishment figures refuse to articulate.

This decimal level of stridency by opponents of the Bush administration is sorely needed in Congress today. Often such opponents cite the need to work together and unify the country to justify their armchair tones. However, 19th. century American history offers a plethora of portraits of U.S. leaders who did not mince words and shackle tongues when prosecuting wrongs, or defending the good.

Mfume is running for the Democratic nomination for Maryland's open U.S. Senate seat against current Democratic Congressional representative Ben Cardin, businessman Dennis Rasmussen, and others.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face off Republican nominee and current Lt. Governor Michael Steele, Green Party candidate Kevin Zeese, and other party candidates.

The League of Conservation voters did not include any candidate in the live, televised debate who polled fewer than 15 percent of surveyed voters, reported The Washington Post. As a result, only Cardin and Mfume spoke.

Cardin himself voted against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and said he supported universal healthcare in the U.S. However, his style of presentation was best suited for the role of soft-spoken advisor. We need an advocate, a force to be reckoned with.

Green Party candidate Kevin Zeese does not offer a viable alternative, and his politics are somewhat obscure. Zeese has well-established ties to Ralph Nader, advocates for drug legalization, and founded The Populist Party, according to his Web site at kevinzeese.com.

“If we keep doing the same thing, we’ll keep getting the same results,” notes Mfume.



During the debate, Mfume also said he would filibuster in the U.S. Senate to ensure the federal government provides for Hurricane Katrina’s internal U.S. refugees. Unfortunately, Mfume is the underdog in his primary race against Cardin, and according to a Sept. 1, 2006 Washington Post report, has far less funding.

Yet it is Mfume’s brand of strong-armed guts and well-versed tactics that can help restore a constitutional rule of law in America.