Kweisi Mfume blames the Democratic Party for his campaign problems

S.A. Miller:

Maryland U.S. Senate candidate Kweisi Mfume said yesterday that Democrats risk losing the senatorial election because "old-line party bosses" are undermining his campaign and alienating black voters.

Mr. Mfume also would not say whether he would endorse Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, the front-runner for the Democratic Senate nomination, if he should lose to the lawmaker in the September primary.

"I can say that there will be people who will feel disaffected [if I am not the nominee]," Mr. Mfume told editors and reporters at The Washington Times.

"I've tried to resist the hypothetical question [about endorsing Mr. Cardin]," he said. "I have to stay in this mode that I'm going to win, but the day after the election, I'm sure I'll have an answer."

Mr. Mfume is vying for the nomination to replace Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, a Democrat who is retiring. Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, the first black to win statewide office in Maryland, is running for the seat as a Republican.

Calling Mr. Steele a "friend," Mr. Mfume said he shares similar goals and ideas with the Republican official as well as Mr. Cardin.

"I agree with both of them, maybe equally but on different things," said Mr. Mfume, a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

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