Maryland State Sen. Anthony Muse: Elect Me Because...I'm Black?

The idea of proportional representation has long been a staple of Leftist faculty clubs. And now Maryland State Sen. Anthony Muse, of Prince George's County, may be trying to bring the idea to the United States Senate. One Maryland blogger noticed a bizarre palm card put out by State Sen. Muse, who is running to try to unseat sitting Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin in the Democratic primary, which includes the following statistical breakdown of the United States Senate:

Muse's implied message - that racial categories should have a bearing on voter preferences, or on how representative the Senate truly is - raises some interesting questions. For instance, does he suggest a quota of 12 black Senators, given that 12 percent of the 100 member Senate would equal 12 seats. How, for that matter, would he propose to mathematically allow for fractional Senators - for instance, would he round up such that Jews get 2 Senate seats and Native Americans get 1?

Ironically, despite advancing this racial rationale for his candidacy, Muse is arguably the more conservative of the two candidates. Cardin has been rated by National Journal as the most liberal member of the Senate twice. Muse, meanwhile, takes conservative positions on immigration (he opposes the DREAM Act), and on same sex marriage. Oddly, despite this, he sells himself as a political clone of President Barack Obama, who has endorsed Cardin: