This morning, Bill Bradley will likely announce that he will drop his quest to be president. But it's not because Cornel R. West '74 wasn't an enthusiastic supporter.

At debates, at campaign events, at interviews--Bradley was there, his tall frame dressed in an immaculately tailored suit, holding court for whoever wanted to seek his guidance.

Bradley "provides presidential

gravitas ... the ability to tell the truth, to be courageous," West told a crowd in Bradley in Southern states, West told a reporter, "I'm in solidarity with him because he's my brother."

Bradley's campaign themes mimicked West's own academic vision, said Brad Galper, a Bradley staffer.

Words like consensus, community and vision resonate throughout West's writings and throughout Bradley's speeches. West has written extensively on the need for community-rooted solutions mixed with governmental activism to solve social problems.

Both men believe in a progressive, inclusive America, though West's Marxism and penchant for postmodernist literary criticism did not always jibe with Bradley's capitalist message.

"He and Bradley agree on some issues that are the center of the campaign...health care, elimination of child poverty, and a concentration on racial harmony," Galper said. "But they don't agree on everything."