Monday, August 07, 2006
The Washington Post discovers the Maryland Senatorial race
The Washington Post comes across as surprised that a contested Democratic primary such as Maryland’s is shaping up to be next month has generated so little heat:
“So although some candidates have been running since Sarbanes announced his retirement plans 17 months ago, the public has been slow to catch on. Polls conducted for The Washington Post in late June and for the Baltimore Sun in mid-July showed there were more undecideds than there were supporters of any individual candidate. More than a third of Democratic voters could not say who they would support. That rate jumped to more than four in 10 in Prince George's and Montgomery counties, home to the largest numbers of Democrats.” Md. Democrats Look to Seize Senate Race's New Spotlight
Left unsaid is the reason why: the major newspapers (The Post and The Sun) have been ignoring the campaign. A faithful reader of the Post is more likely to know that Ned Lamont is running against Senator Lieberman in Connecticut than who are the major candidates for the Democratic nomination here in Maryland.
I don’t think this is an oversight. Despite Mr. Mfume’s obvious Democratic credentials and his being first to declare, the state party poobahs all rallied round Congressman Ben Cardins’s candidacy instead. This understandably infuriated Mr. Mfume and his followers. Now, despite Mr. Cardin’s sizable advantage in money raised, polls have shown former Congressman Mfume as the leader of the pack (albeit with a plurality-only). Allen Lichtman and a well-funded Josh Rales only complicate the matter more by running what seem to be credible, if certain to be futile, campaigns.
The Conventional Wisdom says Republican Michael Steele has a better chance against Kweisi Mfume than Ben Cardin. (Of course, the Conventional Wisdom also had John Kerry as our President now.) No way the Post or Sun wants to risk a Republican Senator. But a Ben Cardin victory next month could anger black Democrats in Maryland if they felt Mr. Mfume wasn’t properly treated by the Democratic establishment (which he clearly hasn’t been) meaning Mr. Steele could win anyway. So you can understand the papers’ predicament – they have to be careful in their coverage lest they be blamed for a Michael Steele win.
Damn, it’s tough to be a liberal in these parts nowadays.
“So although some candidates have been running since Sarbanes announced his retirement plans 17 months ago, the public has been slow to catch on. Polls conducted for The Washington Post in late June and for the Baltimore Sun in mid-July showed there were more undecideds than there were supporters of any individual candidate. More than a third of Democratic voters could not say who they would support. That rate jumped to more than four in 10 in Prince George's and Montgomery counties, home to the largest numbers of Democrats.” Md. Democrats Look to Seize Senate Race's New Spotlight
Left unsaid is the reason why: the major newspapers (The Post and The Sun) have been ignoring the campaign. A faithful reader of the Post is more likely to know that Ned Lamont is running against Senator Lieberman in Connecticut than who are the major candidates for the Democratic nomination here in Maryland.
I don’t think this is an oversight. Despite Mr. Mfume’s obvious Democratic credentials and his being first to declare, the state party poobahs all rallied round Congressman Ben Cardins’s candidacy instead. This understandably infuriated Mr. Mfume and his followers. Now, despite Mr. Cardin’s sizable advantage in money raised, polls have shown former Congressman Mfume as the leader of the pack (albeit with a plurality-only). Allen Lichtman and a well-funded Josh Rales only complicate the matter more by running what seem to be credible, if certain to be futile, campaigns.
The Conventional Wisdom says Republican Michael Steele has a better chance against Kweisi Mfume than Ben Cardin. (Of course, the Conventional Wisdom also had John Kerry as our President now.) No way the Post or Sun wants to risk a Republican Senator. But a Ben Cardin victory next month could anger black Democrats in Maryland if they felt Mr. Mfume wasn’t properly treated by the Democratic establishment (which he clearly hasn’t been) meaning Mr. Steele could win anyway. So you can understand the papers’ predicament – they have to be careful in their coverage lest they be blamed for a Michael Steele win.
Damn, it’s tough to be a liberal in these parts nowadays.
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I really think that Mfume has too much baggage. It's not just his sympathy for Louis Farrakhan, I can't believe that the charges against him from the time he lead the NAACP are so readily dismissed. (I'm not convinced that they're true, but I believe they did him some serious political damage at a time when he was the only candidate. And I don't think that they came from him opponents in the party as he claims; but from his opponents in the NAACP who sought to settle scores.)
I know that there was one poll in which he was leading but that doesn't prove much. (I don't believe that that lead has been confirmed by subsequent polls. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think that there have been subsequent poll, actually.)
Finally, there was State Senate campaign 4 years ago that, due to redistricting pitted Barbara Hoffmand against newcomer Lisa Gladden. The black powers that be strongly supported Gladden on grounds that she was running for a district that was now 70% black and no way that a white Jewish woman could (or should) represent black people. (The late Del. Howard "Pete" Rawlings put it like this that people should be represented by people who "look like them, smell like them and think like them."
The statement, despite its racism, raised little outrage. (Imagine a white candidate saying the same thing.) Various other black politicians supported Gladden making the same arguemt, though more subtly than Rawlings, including Rep. Elijah Cummings and Kweisi Mfume. Mfume even taped a message that was distributed by a phone tree to that effect. (I asked the Mfume campaign if they had a text of the statement that he read; they, of course, referred me to Gladden.)
I might vote for Steele. If I don't it will have to do with the way he handled that "off the record" conversation with Milbank. I had noted that he had been distancing himself from Bush a month earlier; that he then started making nice to Bush after it turned out that he was the anonymous politician really turned me off.
If I don't vote for Steele I will vote for Cardin. But I will not vote for Mfume under any circumstances. He likes to complain that the issue that he's black. I think it's his baggage, that hasn't gotten nearly the attention it should have.
I know that there was one poll in which he was leading but that doesn't prove much. (I don't believe that that lead has been confirmed by subsequent polls. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think that there have been subsequent poll, actually.)
Finally, there was State Senate campaign 4 years ago that, due to redistricting pitted Barbara Hoffmand against newcomer Lisa Gladden. The black powers that be strongly supported Gladden on grounds that she was running for a district that was now 70% black and no way that a white Jewish woman could (or should) represent black people. (The late Del. Howard "Pete" Rawlings put it like this that people should be represented by people who "look like them, smell like them and think like them."
The statement, despite its racism, raised little outrage. (Imagine a white candidate saying the same thing.) Various other black politicians supported Gladden making the same arguemt, though more subtly than Rawlings, including Rep. Elijah Cummings and Kweisi Mfume. Mfume even taped a message that was distributed by a phone tree to that effect. (I asked the Mfume campaign if they had a text of the statement that he read; they, of course, referred me to Gladden.)
I might vote for Steele. If I don't it will have to do with the way he handled that "off the record" conversation with Milbank. I had noted that he had been distancing himself from Bush a month earlier; that he then started making nice to Bush after it turned out that he was the anonymous politician really turned me off.
If I don't vote for Steele I will vote for Cardin. But I will not vote for Mfume under any circumstances. He likes to complain that the issue that he's black. I think it's his baggage, that hasn't gotten nearly the attention it should have.
Dude... you are confusing Mfume with his predcessor at the NAACP, Ben Chavis. Mfume was the one who cleaned up the mess after Chavis.
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: Thursday, September 07, 2006 11:31:00 PM
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