I Endorse You, I Endorse You Not

Kweisi Mfume decided to stick to the party line and "endorse" Rep. Ben Cardin, his primary opponent. The endorsment, however, didn't go exactly as Cardin would have liked, as reported by John Fund at Political Diary:

The rally featuring Illinois Senator Barack Obama and Mr. Mfume started out well enough, with Mr. Mfume saying Mr. Cardin would make a "good senator." But then he switched gears and bluntly told the crowd, "We have a problem. The Democratic ticket of four nominees for statewide office... still looks like the Democratic ticket for state office in 1956." He continued: "We have got to find a way that African Americans and other minorities are represented statewide in office." Mr. Mfume later told the Washington Times that if Democrats do not address the race issue, "Republicans will continue to take the high ground on inclusion and diversity."

Ouch. You could almost feel the air seep out of the balloons. Mr. Mfume's blunt warning came only a week after Michael Mfume, his son and a producer of the horror film "Ax 'Em," announced he was joining rap music producer Russell Simmons and other prominent African-Americans in endorsing Mr. Steele. The younger Mfume made it clear he wasn't speaking for his father, but the message his endorsement conveys is that Mr. Cardin's victory is not a high priority for the Mfume family.

As for Mr. Steele, he dismissed the appearance on Mr. Cardin's behalf by Senator Obama, the party's hottest political rock star. Noting that Mr. Obama had recently campaigned for Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who was a Ku Klux Klan official some 50 years ago, Mr. Steele said Mr. Obama was merely "doing what his party has asked him to do." The big question in this race still remains: How many Maryland Democrats will follow Mr. Obama's lead and do what their party asks them to do in November?

Cardin can't afford too many more "endorsements" like that.