excellent example.....as you say, one of the longest serving and most productive members of Congress...(though to be honest, I'm from Michigan and I consider him a bit more an asshole than not)..for some reason his picture isn't on the Democratic party's website, is it.....if you go to the page with his name on it, you see a picture of Obama, lol................curiouser and curiouser.....has he ever been nominated as a party whip?....I know he hasn't been a speaker of the house.....has he ever been anything except another member of the "black caucus"?........how often is his name mentioned in the daily press compared to white democrats who've been around less.....