The despot's heel is on thy shore

摘要

No great cause for excitement, it might seem, when Senator Paul Sar-banes of Maryland announced last week that he would not seek re-election next year. After all, this 72-year-old Democrat is in his fifth Senate term. Rumours of his retirement have been around for years. And Senate races in this pretty reliably Democratic state are seldom nail-biters. Still, the news has set off a scramble to fill the senator's shoes. On the Democratic side, Kweisi Mfume, a former congressman who has also been head of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), has already declared his candidacy. Four congressmen, a businessman who was ambassador to Morocco under President Bill Clinton and a tough prosecutor have been wondering whether to follow him.