In the current 112th congress, no United States Senators are black. There is no tangible reason for this disturbing fact, however, some elements are clear and present as to give a possible answer

Rep. Allen West (R-Florida) is considering a run for the U.S. Senate in 2012. If he runs for Senate, he would join a GOP field that already has several candidates.

Brian K. Hill is a Hartford area attorney and former active duty military JAG officer. Brian is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate because our country is in trouble.

Marcus Skelton a Republican strategist and political conontributor to NPR’s Tell Me More with Michel Martin,” has a new article out on their website about last weeks elections.

I don’t know his politics, I don’t know which issues he’s campaigning for, and I don’t know about his background but I do know Democrats. Most importantly, I know racism when I see it. That’s why I’m supporting the candidacy of Alvin Greene in South Carolina. I am not endorsing him but I do endorse his right to run. Liberals hate that I constantly accuse them of being the racists that they are. Too bad. The colossal push to force a black man out of a race he won fairly provides more proof why the Democratic Party is the most racist institution in America today.

The Alvin Greene story reads like a Hollywood script. Here you have a veteran without any political pedigree, get rejected by the party machine then miraculously gets accepted by the people. He achieves the improbable goal of winning his party’s nomination in a statewide race with few resources. Unfortunately for Greene, he has reached far beyond the boundaries reserved for black politicians. He will now suffer the wrath of the Democratic machine because of his ambition and desire to serve his state. While blacks are the most loyal Democrat voters, the party has made it clear that as long as a black person runs for a seat in an all-black district, he won’t have any problem with his party. For the record, Obama doesn’t count. When I say “black,” I am referring to Americans like me that trace their roots to enslaved Africans.

Methinks the congressman from South Carolina dost protest too much about political abnormalities only when it behooves his party, not when the American people need political courage and standards in office.

“ObamaCare” is coming. The House will get the votes and the Senate will use reconciliation. This is inevitable.

If you are still reading this post, you can probably guess that I am in favor of keeping the filibuster. As Cost notes, moderates are becoming less and less rare in the Senate, and Congress as a whole. It was the moderates that were the dealmakers that could get legislation passed. A bill proposed by the Democrats would have some Republican support and visa versa. But as the parties become more polarized, it only makes sense that when one party proposes a bill, the other party will oppose it. It also means that the party in power is really in power and the filibuster is the only tool the losing party has.

Klein and others are mad that there had to be so much work done to get 60 votes for health care to pass. If there were no filibuster then a health care reform bill would pass, probably with a public option. The remaining moderates in the Democratic party would be sidelined, and the liberal base would become even more powerful. That would be music to Klein’s ears, but I think it would be bad in the long run for American democracy.

Part of the problem with our polarized climate today is that when one party wins an election, party stalwarts tend to think this is a mandate from the people to get their own agendas done. They also think that a losing party basically has to sit there and take it. So, in the health care debate, Democrats think that all Republicans should basically shut up since they won the election.

But this isn’t a pure democracy, it’s a republic that believes that even minorities have to be listened to. People may not like that the GOP was threatening to use the filibuster, but is the only voice the GOP had. The same goes for when the Democrats were the minority party. They need to be able to have some say in how a bill is crafted and absent bridge building moderates, this is how minorities can speak.

Too the winner goes the spoils might work in sports, but not in politics.

The New York Times reported that Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine voted against the health care overhaul. Back in fall, she was the only Republican to vote for the bill in committee.

At a time when African-Americans were deserting The Republican Party in favor of The Democrats, Edward Brooke of Massachusetts remained with The Republican Party becoming the first Black Attorney General of his state from 1962 to 1966. In 1966, he became the first African-American elected to the Senate since the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of the era of Jim Crow. He was also the first African-American elected to this position in the state of Massachusetts. While Senator Edward Brooke remained loyal to the Republican Party, however, he proved himself to be a renegade and highly individualistic in that the issues he supported were far more liberal than the stance which The Republican Party usually took on such issues including the laws in place which he needed to enforce as the Massachusett’s State Attorney General.

HHR Blog Radio is proud to have Aurora, Colorado councilman and business exec Ryan Frazier as our guest on this weeks show. Ryan is seeking a Colorado Senate seat in 2010 and is being called by many commentators as a rising star in the GOP often touted by some as “The Republican Obama”. Ryan will be [...]

On Tuesday, May 5,  Marc Rubio from Florida announced that his he is officaly putting his hat into the campaign for the United States Senate.  If you want to know more go to his website at  http://marcorubio.com/