Tell me again about this character thing . . .

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

-- Martin Luther King Jr.

Ellison's win also illustrated how eager voters in the Minneapolis-dominated district are to break the white-male mold for elected officials. Ellison, if elected in November, will be the first black Minnesotan and the first Muslim in Congress. The diversity he would bring to the U.S. House was an asset in this race, outweighing Ellison's personal foibles -- a history of unpaid parking tickets, unfiled campaign finance reports and unpaid taxes.

-- Minneapolis Star Tribune

(tip of the Sou'wester to Lee McGrath)