When someone broached the prospects of the first African American president to Tom Joyner about a decade ago, the person Joyner thought that person would be is former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. That’s how well thought of Kilpatrick was, how much charisma he possessed and how promising his political prospects had been.
Along with former New York Gov Eliot Spitzer, who was also befallen by a hot pants zipper syndrome, Kilpatrick was seen as one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party. Instead, his text-messaging scandal with former mistress and chief of staff Christine Beatty [left] single-handedly destroyed a carefully constructed political dynasty in Michigan. It is seen as the greatest reason for the end of his mother and mentor’s political career, former long-time Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick.
