Carol Moseley Braun will formally announce her candidacy for US President today in Washington, DC, South Carolina, and her home state of Illinois. Former Senator Moseley Braun says she is running for President to “take the men-only sign off the White House door.” She is the only woman running for President in the 2004 elections so far.
Moseley Braun in 1992 made political history as the first African-American woman elected to the US Senate, where she drew national attention for speaking out against Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) over an emblem that included the Confederate flag. She lost her 1998 Senate race and was appointed by President Clinton to be Ambassador to New Zealand. Her candidacy was recently endorsed by the National organization for Women (NOW) and the National Women’s Political Caucus. “Not only is a woman’s place in the House and the Senate, it is in the White House, too,” said Moseley Braun at the press conference announcing the endorsements. “And to those who question ‘Is America Ready for a Woman President?’ we ask ‘If not now, when’?”
Other candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination include Sen. John Edwards (NC), Sen. John Kerry (MA), Sen. Joe Lieberman (CT), Sen. Bob Graham (FL), Rep. Richard Gephardt (MO), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH), Rev. Al Sharpton, and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. In addition, General Wesley Clark recently entered the race.
