What makes something official? Is it official if the person trying to be official says it's official?

For instance, Democratic presidential candidate Carol Moseley Braun plans to make her candidacy "official" Monday. She's making announcements in Washington, in Columbia at Benedict College, and in Chicago.

Which one is the "official" announcement? Well, according to her news release, Moseley Braun will "formally announce" her bid in three states. But is it truly formal after the first time? Isn't it just redundant?

According to the release, Moseley Braun makes her candidacy "official" in the third and final stop in Chicago.

Of course, the former U.S. senator from Illinois is not alone in trying to officially create media buzz in more than one place on more than one day.

U.S. Sen. John "Mellencamp" Edwards, D-N.C., did the same thing last week, but at least Mr. "Small Town" -- the Edwards camp has taken to playing the Mellencamp classic at campaign stops -- made it clear he was only being official once.

In his news release, Edwards says he made his official announcement in his hometown of Robbins, N.C. He later came to Columbia to continue his "announcement day."

U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., did things a little differently, too. His big-pop photo-op came in Mount Pleasant earlier this month when he made his candidacy official with the USS Yorktown as a backdrop.

Of course, there are other important states in the nominating process, too, so Kerry went to Iowa later in the day, before finishing up in Massachusetts.

Iowa has no aircraft carrier. Lucky for us.

All of this is to say, officially or not, formally or not, The Buzz is ready to bring you all the news that doesn't fit anywhere else.

'CITIZEN' NO MORE

The political philosophy of term limits for elected officials seems to have lost its momentum in recent years, which is apparently upsetting to only a few. Like former U.S. Rep. Tom Coburn and nationally syndicated political columnist Robert Novak.

Coburn, R-Okla., was a term-limit devotee who served his three terms in the House and went back to Muskogee, Okla., to practice medicine. Coburn has written a new book, "Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders into Insiders."

Novak writes the foreword. In it, he takes a shot at Gov. Mark Sanford. Sanford served in the House and term-limited himself. Sanford, of course, went on to run for governor.

"Some House members who kept their term-limiting promises quickly moved on to a new political venue," Novak writes, and then mentions Sanford as an example. "Tom Coburn," Novak says, "was among the few who returned to his pre-congressional profession. He was a genuine citizen legislator."

Ouch.

Luckily for Bob Inglis, Novak left him alone. Inglis, a Greenville Republican who also was a term-limit backer in the U.S. House, ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1998 and now is running for his old seat in Congress.

Sanford spokesman Chris Drummond didn't see what Novak's beef was about or think the Chicago Sun-Times scribe was being critical of the governor.

IT WAS ON FIRE WHEN I LAY DOWN ON IT

The governor was in North Charleston last week speaking at an annual Urban League dinner. According to The Post and Courier newspaper, Sanford said the Republican Party, of which he is a member, is not known for acting in the best interests of the downtrodden.

Sanford, the paper reports, said his own administration is an exception.

Drummond said he had not seen the story and could not respond. State Republican Party director Luke Byars hadn't seen it either, but that didn't stop him from weighing in.

"Well," Byars said, "we haven't always had a governor like Mark Sanford before, either."