Cummings rallies Baltimore for Obama

Weighs In On GOP Race

Cummings & Obama

Rep. Elijah Cummings rallied local faith-based leaders in support of the presidential candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois during a press conference in Baltimore on Monday.

“This is a very significant moment in our time,” Cummings, who has represented Maryland’s 7th congressional district since 1995, said. “I have known Sen. Obama for many years… he has the vision to lead.”

The congressman also told the largely African-American crowd that he was not supporting the Senator from Illinois simply because of his race.

“I do not approach this lightly,” Cummings said. “This is not about a black man running for president -- it is about the right man running for president.”

Cummings also said that the moral authority of the United States had been diminished by the policies of the Bush administration, pointing to the war in Iraq, and said Obama was the best person to restore the image of the nation abroad.

“The only thing Barack has to do to highlight is strong record is too talk about the work he has done in the community,” Cummings told PolitickerMD.com. He referenced Obama’s work leading voter registration drives in Chicago, and he also reiterated points about Obama’s work as and with community organizers.

The congressman also expressed his belief that many people across the country were not familiar with the senator’s background, and said that the addition of Oprah Winfrey on the campaign trail could help introduce Obama to the American people.

“America deserves his voice,” Gladden said.

Senate President Pro-Tempore Nathaniel McFadden and State Sen. Verna L. Jones, the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland Chair, also attended the event in support of Obama.

A series of local faith-based leaders spoke after Cummings, each expressing high praise and admiration for Obama.

“(Obama) has a spirit of affirmation,” said the Rev. Dr. Dennis Proctor, pastor of the A.M.E. Zion Church. “He was willing to get dirty so that others could get clean.”

Cummings also offered some analysis of the Republican presidential field.

He said that former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts gave a “very good address” on his Mormon faith and faith in general.

“I don’t know what else he could have said,” Cummings added.

Cummings also said that some of his Republican friends in Congress felt that there was “something about Mike Huckabee” which made the former governor of Arkansas popular with his party. Cummings pointed to the image of Huckabee as a “straight shooter,” as an example of why the former governor has risen so greatly in the polls.

Also, Cummings said that any attempt by Congress to bring an end to the war in Iraq during the final 13 months of the Bush administration would be “very difficult.”

“We need a new president” to bring an end to the war, the congressman added. Cummings voted against the 2002 resolution to give the president the authority to use force in Iraq.