Afterthoughts instead of afterglow .... the primary's over

[Stinky The Clown]

The primary is over and my guy lost.

I'm not licking my wounds and I'm not sad. The winner is as fundamentally good a guy as my guy. Ben Cardin will carry the fight against Michael Steele to keep Paul Sarbanes' Senate seat in the Republican camp. And it is pretty clear that Cardin will carry the race through to victory.

Or is it?

Kweisi Mfume announced early, but was not met with very much party enthusiasm. The Washington Post didn't help one bit by running a series of screeds discussing - but drawing no conclusions - Mfume's alleged peccadilloes when head of the NAACP. Kweisi's always been a bit of a bad boy. No argument there. But he's one hell of a man and a passionate Democrat and liberal.

Ben Cardin's an establishment kinda guy. He votes from his heart and his heart's in the right place. He's a long time politician, so its safe to say there's a skeleton or two in there someplace, although, at this point, I have no idea what they might be. Doesn't matter, really.

The Maryland Democratic Party was essentially all about Cardin this go-round. No official endorsement, but one could see where the money and the machine was headed as soon as he announced. The money. Oh yeah, the money. It all went to Cardin. Mfume was left with little more than a single ad buy late in the game and miles on his car, doing a LOT of retail politicking. Nursing homes and school cafeterias. The local church suppers and the state fair.

Polls showed Cardin ahead of Mfume most of the way. A few outliers showed Mfume ahead, but that never stuck. Other polls, showing the match up between the two Dems and Steele, showed, mostly, Cardin polling better against Steele than Mfume. But, again except for a few, they always showed either man beating Steele. The issue was 'by how much?'

The 'safe' candidate was clearly Cardin. The 'establishment' candidate was clearly Cardin. But almost everyone I've spoken with felt Mfume was the *best* candidate. That statement takes *nothing* away from Ben Cardin. It gives to Mfume the passion and drive and populist stance he so ably models. Many people however, in light of the polls, the fund raising, the backing of the party, and the strong, over riding desire to keep the seat Democratic, chose to vote for Cardin.

Come primary day, Maryland Dems had a choice to make and they made the safe choice.

But was it really so safe?

One remark made by Mfume during the campaign that stays with me and rings, still, in my ears, went something like this: "It is clear to everyone that Michael Steele and I are both black. With me as his opponent, race is no longer an issue. Michael Steele will have to engage me on the issues."

Would that racial background were not an issue in any race. But it is.

Maryland is always seen as a state that is solidly Democratic and has a high black population. The corollary to that, of course, is that it is the black population that makes the state so 'safely' Democratic.

But Maryland has a Republican governor. A white Republican governor who was the first candidate ever to run with a black running mate.

No, I'm not saying in any way, shape, or form, that Maryland's black voters vote/voted simply based on race. They're certainly smarter than that. But they **may** have chosen to vote Republican last go-round because they were convinced that the Democrats take them for granted. And that's a valid point.

Prince Georges County is a case in point. Located hard against DC's eastern edge, and stretching quite far south, the county is increasingly affluent. The black residents, as a group, are the most highly educated, highest earning, socially sophisticated black population group in the country. They are not monolithic, and they are not reliably Democratic. They are also justifiably restive. The county is embarrassingly - shockingly - bereft of national retailers, restaurateurs, and 'mainstream' investment. Politically, they have been simply taken for granted far too long. The Democrats are at least as guilty of this as anyone. Then there's the nature of their views. I'll use gay marriage as but one example. While it is likely safe to say they would support it, generally, make no mistake. There's a social conservatism around such issues.

In the upcoming Senate race, it is quite likely that Michael Steele's (and by extension, the Republican's) message will resonate. The state Republican party *is* paying attention to this import and increasingly complex segment of voters.

My fear is that, once again, the Maryland democrats have squandered an opportunity to appeal and attract. In selecting Ben Cardin - who's record on issues traditionally of interest to black voters is as good as anyone's - have we sent another message of taking this voting block for granted? I suspect we may have.

Reading the polls that showed Cardin stronger against Steele than Mfume may be to have read polls completely influenced by conventional thinking. If that's the case, shame on us. Not only have we perhaps once again shot ourselves in the foot, we may also have passed over the better, more progressive Democrat.

Many voters made this calculation. In my own family, one of us made such a calculation, my discussions about this issue notwithstanding.

Voters who chose Cardin because of Cardin do not get any antipathy that I may be feeling. Choices are made for many reasons. And to be sure, this was a contest between a great Democrat and a truly exceptional Democrat.

What I've taken from the afterthoughts I had so wished would have been a victorious afterglow is that sometimes, by gosh, we need to vote for the **right** thing, not the safe thing.

Isn't that what primaries are for?

[WildEyedLiberal]

1. But it sounds like Cardin is a good choice too

So how do you know his voters didn't vote for the "right" thing instead of the "safe" thing?

I admire and respect your passion for Mfume - he sounds like a great Democrat. But I also wince whenever I hear people describe their opponent as the "establishment" candidate or the "safe" candidate, especially after the loss of their chosen candidate. It just reeks of bitterness, which I know you tried hard to keep out of your post - yet you chose to make the post anyway. For instance, why make the insinuation that Cardin has some sort of skeletons in his closet when - as the article you cited, fair or not - shows that the same is true for Mfume?

It's just a bit presumptuous on your part to assume that your guy was the "right" choice and they other guy the "safe" choice, and that accordingly all who voted for Cardin were just following the polls and making a purely political calculation, as opposed to following their hearts as the Mfume voters did. That's a dangerous assumption and one that often leads to bitterness down the road, as we have seen demonstrated time and again on DU.

I like your posts H2S but I can't say I agree with the message or theme of this one.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. If my post came off as sounding of bitterness, then it is framed badly

I'm not at all bitter. I *am* disappointed. But I'm really not bitter.

As to why I suggest many made the calculated 'safe' choice, it is because that's what what I was told by actual Maryland voters. Indeed, such reasons were stated right here on DU. I won't link to them because it is against the rules and, more importantly, because I have no quarrel with such thinking. It is absolutely as valid a reason to make a vote choice as any I can imagine. I also allowed in my post that many may have chosen Cardin because of who he is and who he represents - that he was, in their view, the *best* guy. Again, no quarrel there. That's why we have elections.

As to the hint of skeltons ..... okay .... maybe over the top. I have no idea at all if there are or even if there've ever been any allegations. I am not aware of as much as a hint of it - ever. What i worte tried to convey that, but you're right. the post would have been pretty much the same without it. It was a statement of nothing more or less than 'conventional wisdom' of the broadest brush.

As to whether or not Cardin was the 'safe' and/or 'establishment' candidate, I doubt anyone in Maryland would challenge that. But even on that, I could be wrong.

My *intent* in this post was the larger point: Vote for the **best** guy in the primary. Then fight your best for the *winner* when he runs aginst the other guy in the generals.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. A bit more ......

Take a stroll over to the Maryland state forum and read a few of the top half dozen or so threads there for some more insight into the backstory.

Again, I prefer not to link to particular thread.

As I am typing this, Hardballz is on. David Schuster just said something to the effect that (paraphrased here)" The national party got the candidate they wanted in Maryland. Mfume's fund rasing was so anemic that they feared if he won it would tax the national party to send money to Maryland that could be better spent elsewhere with Cardin's win." I have never heard that notion before, but include it here as it relates to my view of what was the conventional wisdom regarding the 'establishment candidate'.

[WildEyedLiberal]

4. Well I respect your insider view of MD politics

You certainly know more about it than me. I just instinctively wince whenever I hear the characterization of "safe/establishment" candidates versus the "people's" candidate, because so often that in itself is a biased statement and doesn't tell the whole story. Most of the time, as many real honest-to-God grassroots "people" support the so-called "establishment" candidate as don't. Then, when certain party elements accuse them of not being the "true" grassroots, it tends to rub them mightily the wrong way.

Actually, I apologize for hijacking your thread, as this doesn't specifically have to do with you or your comments on the MD race. I just tend to bristle when I hear talk of "establisment" Dems, because some people use that word as a truncheon to beat other Dems over the head with, as if in opposing the "establishment" candidate (whoever that may be in any given race according to the DU sages) they are more Dem than you. You are most emphatically not one of those people and I apologize for bringing my issues into your thread. (sigh) Rough day for me. Carry on, and I will check out the threads you mentioned.