Mfume promptly set about cutting the organization's employee base, raising money and organizing political coalitions. Within five years, the debt was gone and the NAACP was widely regarded as the most powerful political pressure group in the country. They alone had the ability to galvanize 50 million black votes. Members of the press found it all dazzling. "Mfume not only has righted the ship, he also has set it on a new course," fawned USA Today columnist DeWayne Wickam.

Bond and Mfume essentially partnered with the Democratic Party to revitalize the organization. Not surprisingly, the rhetoric coming out of the NAACP became increasingly partisan. During a speech before 2,000 attendees at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Julian Bond proclaimed that President George W. Bush has "selected (political) nominees from the Taliban wing of American politics, appeased the wretched appetites of the extreme right wing and chosen Cabinet officials whose devotion to confederacy is nearly canine in its uncritical affection." During a 2003 appearance at the National Press Club, Bond referred to the Republican Party as "a crazed swarm of right-wing locusts" that have sought to "subvert, ignore, defy and destroy the laws that require an America which is bias-free." Later that night Bond dubbed the Republicans, "the white people's party."

Following the event, Mfume confronted Bond with his fear that the organization had become too outwardly political. Soon thereafter, the IRS launched an investigation into whether Bond's remarks violated the organization's tax exempt status.

The final tear came after the election. Mfume suggested sending a letter to President Bush, mapping out ways that they could work together to help the community. Bond rejected the idea. Mfume sent the letter anyway. To Bond this was unforgivable. A few weeks later, Bond had Mfume voted out. The message was clear: There is no room within the NAACP for intellectual diversity. Just loyal servitude to the Democratic Party.

This is a crime. This is a shame. This is the sad state of the nation's most storied civil rights organization.