MMM Endorses Clyde Williams for June 26th Primary

MMM noted with interest last November that Clyde Williams, who has worked for Bill Clinton and for the DNC during the Obama presidency, was going to take on Charlie Rangel for the 13th District US congressional seat.

Flash forward 7 months and not only did Clyde jump in the race, he just got endorsed by the New York Times.

Clyde Williams to take on Charlie Rangel?

I read with interest an article in the Huffington Post about a possible challenge to Charlie Rangel in next year's congressional race for NY-15.

Now, let's be clear - Charlie Rangel, love him or not, has vanquished many challengers over the years.  He's held the seat for over 40 years!  In December 2010, he was even made to step down as chairman of the powerful Ways & Means committee in the House in the wake of his being censured for ethical lapses (only the 23rd member in the history of the House to be censured, the most severe punishment short of expulsion.  

Of course, all of the ethical issues were well known in advance of his re-election a month earlier, when he obliterated the second place vote-getter, state Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, in the Democratic primary.  He won almost 80% of the vote in the 2010 general election.


This is a guy who may just be in office for life.


Why would 2012 be any different?  Well, Clyde Williams, who has made some moves in the direction of taking on Rangel, is a different kind of candidate than has been seen in Harlem in a long, long time.