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Moseley Braun Makes Candidacy Official at Howard University

Photo credit: Maya Gilliam "I am uniquely qualified to do the job of president," Carol Moseley Braun said at Howard University, "and I offer the clearest alternative to this current administration, whose only new idea has been pre-emptive war and a huge new bureaucracy."

By Kerry-Ann Hamilton
Black College Wire

Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, D-Ill., formally announced her bid for president on the campus of Howard University in a room filled with members of the press and the Howard student body.

The Braun campaign team and the Howard University chapter of College Democrats of America collaborated on the Sept. 22 event, where Braun expressed gratitude to the Howard community for opening what she called the “historic grounds” of the campus for the occasion.

“Today, I am here to officially declare my bid for the presidency because I have new and innovative ways to solve our problems,” Braun said. “I am prepared to break down barriers and build bridges.”

Braun, the first black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate, is also the only black woman in the Democratic presidential race. ``I am uniquely qualified to do the job of president, and I offer the clearest alternative to this current administration, whose only new idea has been pre-emptive war and a huge new bureaucracy,'' she said.

She continued, ``I can fix the mess they have created, because I am practical, I am not afraid of partnerships and I am committed to making the world better for our children.''

Photo credit: Maya Gilliam "I am from Chicago and I have witnessed poverty first hand," Moseley Braun said.

The Chicago native praised the students who attended. “Our democracy is safe so long as our young people know it is not a spectator sport,” Braun said.

The morning address gave Braun an opportunity to give students her views on such international issues as the AIDS epidemic in Africa and the post-Iraq strategy, as well as on some domestic issues, including education and economic reforms.

“I am from Chicago and I have witnessed poverty first hand, and I think we do a disservice to this great country if we continue to neglect those in our society that our need help through social programs,” she said.

If elected, Braun said she planned to establish partnerships to combat social ills such as poverty and homelessness.

She acknowledged not having an extensive campaign war chest, but exuded confidence that her campaign would be effective.

“I have [run] 14 campaigns and have been successful in all but one,” the presidential hopeful said, referring to her 1998 defeat for re-election to the U.S. Senate, when she lost to Republican Peter Fitzgerald.

“I know it is retail politics, but I believe in talking with people one-on-one and finding out their concerns and asking for their vote. That is the old-fashioned way, but that is the best way I know how.”

Moseley Braun received her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Illinois in 1969, and her law degree in 1972 from the University of Chicago.

Her political career began in Chicago 25 years ago when she was elected to the Illinois Legislature. In 1992, she was elected senator after defeating two-term lawmaker Alan Dixon in the Democratic primary. After her 1998 loss to Fitzgerald, President Bill Clinton appointed her ambassador to New Zealand.

Her re-election campaign was hurt by accusations that she used poor judgment in visiting Nigeria's brutal former dictator Sani Abacha, and that she misused campaign funds. However, she was cleared of the allegations after a campaign finance investigation.

Braun touts a vision of renewal and restoration in what she terms an “American Renaissance.”

She fielded questions from students and spoke further on the USA Patriot Act, which she opposes, and more about education and the war on terror.

Braun is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., which was founded at Howard University in 1913, and she posed for pictures with supportive student sorors who attended the event in large numbers.

Braun was scheduled to address the students at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., another historically black institution, later in the day.

More information on the Braun campaign is at www.carolforpresident.com.

Kerry-Ann Hamilton, a 2003 graduate of Howard University, now attends American University in Washington D.C., pursuing a master’s degree in international affairs.

Posted Sept. 22, 2003