[Steeltrap]

Originally posted by 14dst01
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Carol Moseley-Braun, the first black woman elected to the Senate, announced on Tuesday that she would enter the crowded field of Democrats seeking the White House.

Moseley-Braun, 55, said she would emphasize her opposition to war with Iraq and campaign on domestic issues, including the struggling U.S. economy.

Her campaign, she told an audience at the University of Chicago, could be summarized as one promising "peace, prosperity and progress."

Moseley-Braun, a former Illinois state lawmaker and Cook County official, was elected to the Senate in 1992 -- a race she decided to enter after watching what she called the dismissive attitude displayed by the all-male Senate Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) toward Anita Hill during the 1991 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas (news - web sites).

But her time in the Senate was marked by controversy, including questions about her personal finances and her attempts at freelance diplomacy, including when she traveled to Nigeria to meet with Sani Abacha, the late military dictator.

Moseley-Braun had planned to file papers with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) in Washington on Tuesday announcing her formation of a presidential exploratory committee but the snowstorm that shut down the government prevented that. A spokesman said she would file the papers on Wednesday.

After leaving the Senate she was appointed ambassador to New Zealand by former President Bill Clinton. She currently teaches law in Chicago.

She joins a field of seven Democrats seeking their party's nomination for the right to challenge Republican President Bush (news - web sites) in 2004.

She is the second anti-war candidate to join the contenders in recent days, the other being Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the former Cleveland mayor who has been one of the strongest voices in Congress against war in Iraq,

She also becomes the second black candidate in the field, after civil rights advocate Al Sharpton. Democratic Party officials have said they hope her candidacy will help energize black voters.

The first black woman to make a presidential bid was former Democratic U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm of New York in 1972.

Ms. Moseley-Braun seems to be a credible candidate. She's got real-world political experience, unlike Rev. Al. She seems like your standard liberal, which could get the Demo base to the polls (I'm a pro-business moderate).