WASHINGTON - Ben Cardin could really use his old rival Kweisi Mfume right now: The Democratic U.S. Senate candidate is under scrutiny over racial issues from his GOP opponent Michael Steele, who wants to become the first black senator in Maryland's history.

But Mfume, former head of the NAACP, said Thursday he needs a break from the campaign trail, although he reiterated his strong support for Cardin and rejected a Republican ad campaign linking the Democratic Party with the Ku Klux Klan.

"It's not a matter of me taking my time. I'm going to meet with party officials and I've got to figure out what they want me to do," said Mfume. "But the first thing is I am going to take some rest."

Both Cardin and Steele are competing for black voters in Maryland, many of whom supported Mfume in the Democratic primary Sept. 12.

Steele is trying to portray himself as an alternative for Mfume voters, and is pointing out Mfume's absence in Cardin's campaign. And he's been critical of Cardin after the Democrat was forced to fire a campaign staffer who posted racist musings to her Web log.

Mfume won 40.3 percent of the Democratic primary vote, 3.5 percent less than Cardin. In two places where African Americans were the majority of voters, Mfume beat Cardin easily. In Prince George's County, Mfume got more than 71,000 votes to Cardin's 19,000, while in Baltimore City, Mfume had more than 50,000 votes to Cardin's nearly 24,000.

A meeting between Mfume and Democratic Party authorities has not been scheduled yet, although Mfume talks almost every day with Maryland Democratic Party Chairman Terry Lierman, who said Mfume has been "very supportive" of Cardin's candidacy.

Mfume "is taking a few days off to rest," said Lierman. "I expect Kweisi will be fully engaged in races statewide as well as nationals."

Lierman said he hopes Mfume will run for another position in the future. "He is a terrific public servant and a great spokesperson."

Mfume said he was not in any discussion about running for another position.

"I'm not even thinking about it. I'm just trying to get refocused with my life right now," he said.

Mfume has publicly said several times that he supported Cardin, but has not campaigned with him. Mfume's absence was particularly noticeable Tuesday when African-American Democratic leaders endorsed Cardin.

That backing came while Cardin was under attack after he fired a staffer who kept a blog with racial comments about Steele, a black coworker and Cardin's Jewish friends.

Mfume did criticize an advertisement by the National Black Republicans Association that linked the Democratic Party with the creation of the Ku Klux Klan. That ad was heard on several Baltimore radio stations.

The commercial is a "cheap ploy," Mfume said, adding that that kind of campaigning would not determine the outcome of the general election in November. "At some point in time those type of appeals turn people off rather than turn them on.

"I will hope that the candidates deal with real issues that cry out for attention from our government: The war in Iraq, the issue of poverty, the need for health care," he said. "I want to hear about those things, and I haven't heard enough about those."

Steele asked the NBRA to stop running the ad Thursday, because it was "insulting to Marylanders and should come down immediately."

That same day, Steele was endorsed by a group of Democrats, including Michael Mfume, the former congressman's son.

Democrats heavily criticized NBRA's ad. "We expected the Republicans to run misleading and offensive attack ads, but not blatantly rewrite history," said Cardin in a statement.

"Today is the last day these advertisements are going to run, and isn't it an amazing coincidence that Michael Steele waited until the last day . . . to ask them to be pulled?" said Lierman. "What we all have to do, both parties, is to ensure that we run fair, above-board races, and talk about issues rather than slander and cheap, misleading shots."

The NBRA also sent a letter to Kweisi Mfume asking him to cross party lines to support Steele's candidacy. Mfume also said he received a copy through someone else.

"It really doesn't matter to me," he said. "I know what I am doing in this campaign, and my efforts here will be to elect Ben Cardin as next U.S. senator for Maryland."

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