WASHINGTON -- Could Rep. Kweisi Mfume be interested in being a Republican?
In the past week, some leading Republicans have been wooing the Baltimore lawmaker, one of the most recognizable Democrats on Capitol Hill and the outgoing chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
"I do know several Republicans have called to speak with him and give him the opportunity to cross the aisle and join the Republican Party," said Dan Willson, Mr. Mfume's press secretary. "They said they would welcome him and treat him with fairness."
Mr. Willson said he did not know what Mr. Mfume's response was to the offer, first reported in yesterday's Washington Times. Mr. Mfume could not be reached for comment, despite repeated telephone requests.
But Mr. Willson and other aides said they thought it extremely unlikely that Mr. Mfume would take the Republicans up on their offer.
"To my knowledge, nothing has changed," Mr. Willson said. "He woke up as a Democrat, and he'll most likely go to sleep as one."
A switch by Mr. Mfume indeed appears to be an extremely remote possibility, in no small part because his district is 84 percent Democrat.
A move to the conservative-dominated GOP also would seem to be at odds with Mr. Mfume's liberal record, not to mention his recent criticism of some fellow Democrats for "trying to out Republican the Republicans" during the past election.
But Mr. Mfume's reluctance to publicly dismiss the GOP overtures is apparently an attempt to send a message to national Democratic leaders that blacks want a bigger role in reconstructing the tattered image of a party that suffered huge losses in the midterm elections.