Wayne Curry Endorses Michael Steele
and so do I
October 30th, 2006
Today brings more good news to the Michael Steele (R) campaign for Maryland US Senator. Former Prince George’s County Executive (and McDaniel College in Westminster graduate) and Democrat Wayne Curry, five Democratic Prince George’s County Council members (including former Maryland Municipal League president and currently) Prince George’s County Councilman David Harrington, District 5 and several other Democratic community and business leaders endorsed the Maryland Lt. Gov. to move on to be Maryland’s next Senator.
Of the list endorsing Michael Steele, the name that really impresses me is former MML president David Harrington.
Councilman Harrington is very thoughtful and well-measured in his deliberations about leadership politics and government. He is a rising star and for him to cross party lines to participate in the endorsement of Michael Steele is a big deal. I served on the MML Board of Directors with Mr. Harrington for a number of years and grew to really appreciate his judgment. He does not suffer fools easily. Look for him to move up to
No Republican since liberal Republican Charles ‘Mac: Mathias has served as US Senator from
It has been an uphill race against
Congressman Ben Cardin needs to convince
Real Clear Politics wrote in a post on October 26, 2006, “The black vote in Maryland can run as high as 30% depending on turnout - and because of the way Mfume was passed over - and the fact that Steele is the first African-American elected state wide in Maryland’s history, Steele is poised to maybe capture as much as a 1/3rd of the African-American vote. Cardin simply can not win if Steele gets 33% of the black vote in
On top of this, Cardin has run an abysmal, vanilla campaign in contrast to Steele; epitomized by this week’s debate where Steele took him to the woodshed. The
Steele has the momentum, the question is how much and will it be enough. It will be very interesting to see where the next round of polls place this race.”
Another source, for which I’m sorry to say that I lost track of exactly where, wrote:
If Steele can win 25 percent of black voters, he could pull off an upset.
Prince George’s County, with a two-thirds African-American population, is the state's second-biggest source of Democratic votes. It is also Steele’s home turf and he told me Saturday he hopes to get 35 percent of the vote there, about 15 points better than GOP candidates historically have performed there.
Also helping Ehrlich is the very energetic Senate campaign being run by his Lt. Gov. Michael Steele against Democratic Rep. Ben Cardin. Steele appears to be tapping into considerable frustration in the black community over the manner in which Cardin was chosen by Democratic power brokers over former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume to replace the retiring Paul Sarbanes.” (Please accept my apology for losing track of the cite. The last week has been kinda busy…)
Cardin has run an abysmal, vanilla campaign in contrast to Steele…
The Lt. Gov. is proving to be an energetic campaigner who is used to being the underdog and difficult campaigns. In forty years, this is the first statewide contest for Congressman Cardin and indeed, the first difficult contest the Congressman has ever had. This has served to rattle him a bit at times and it has not inspired confidence in the
A comparison of the ads reveals a sharp contrast in the two candidates. The Lt. Gov.’s ads are edgy and hip in stark contrast with the Congressman’s, which only reinforce a stereotype and generalize him as liberal Democratic National Party policy wonk. Marylanders want a Senator that will represent
Democrats who clamor to nationalize the Maryland Senate contest want it both ways. On the one hand they want to identify the Lt. Gov. with President Bush and yet they want to downplay the fact that Congress only has an approval rating of 24%. The president’s approval rating is higher than that – at 40%.
Yet, for a constituency that wants a change in Congress, they are offering-up a candidate that has spent 40 years as an elected legislator – 20 of those years in the very Congress voters want changed.
And at some point, someone needs to remind Congressman Cardin that he is running against a charismatic, thoughtful, savvy and very independent Michael Steele and not the president of the
As much as I admire both the president and the Lt. Governor, I have never confused the two.
Michael Steele can work both sides of the aisle. To work with him in person is a delight. He is friendly, personable, very accessible and certainly polite, even when you disagree with him.
Congressman Cardin says that he can work both sides of the aisle, yet only seems to parrot the talking points of the Democratic National Party.
Information from his web site reveals:
Cardin was challenged on voting against Bush 70% of the time and on his calls that the Democrats needed to come up with charges to conduct investigations of the Bush administration.
CARDIN REALITY: CARDIN WORKS ALONG PARTY LINES, NOT ACROSS THEM: CARDIN REALITY: CARDIN WORKS ALONG PARTY LINES, NOT ACROSS THEM.
Ben Cardin Has Voted With His Party 92% Of The Time Since Entering Congress. (“Rep. Ben Cardin,” CQ Member Profile, Accessed October 3, 2006)
I can certainly understand why folks have given Congressman Cardin a great deal of consideration. He has served our great state well for a quite a number of years and we all should thank him for his service and wish him well in his future as he gets to spend more time with his grandchildren and devote his time in retirement to other public service.
But it is time for a change and Lt. Gov. Steele represents just the kind of change for which folks are clamoring.
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