Cardin, Mfume eye prize

The Washington Times ^ | 9-10-06 | S.A. Miller; Jon Ward

[no dems]

The leading Democrat in Maryland's U.S. Senate race yesterday turned to his political machine, built over his 40 years of state politics, to launch an imposing voter-turnout effort before the primary election Tuesday. "We've got to get the vote out, so we need your help today," Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, a 10-term congressman from Balti-more, said to about 100 volunteers at a rally in Towson.

High overall turnout will benefit him because it will offset the black vote, which accounts for about 40 percent of votes in Maryland Democratic primaries. Most of those votes likely will go to primary rival Kweisi Mfume, a former congressman and past president of the NAACP.

Cardin campaign leaders had made about 300,000 phone calls to voters and planned to make 250,000 more between yesterday and Tuesday. They also planned to knock on 75,000 "targeted doors in communities across the state." More than 1,200 volunteers would make phone calls, work at polls, drive voters to polls, and knock on doors on primary day, the Cardin campaign said.

The Mfume campaign indeed faces a much larger challenge, with one staffer saying yesterday that he and other staffers were "running around like crazy." Mr. Mfume, 57, has 300 to 400 volunteers, an adviser said. They had made about 100,000 phone calls by yesterday, but did not have a targeted goal for the next few days. They hoped to knock on 40,000 doors. The Mfume campaign also sent a caravan of 12 dump trucks and several other vehicles, bearing large Mfume signs, throughout Baltimore. "It's a sprint to the finish line, and we're sprinting, and we've got 17 vehicles sprinting with us," said Mfume spokesman Steve Marinoff.

Mr. Steele, who is black and a Republican, will try to win votes from black Democrats.

[no dems]

We really need to root for Cardin on this one. The black community of Maryland is already threatening to "revolt" against the DemocRAT Party if Mfume is sidelined in the Primary.

Hopefully, they will vote for Steele on November 7.

[bennyjakobowski]

We can only hope that the socialist Queasy will be sidelined.

[kabar]

High overall turnout will benefit him because it will offset the black vote, which accounts for about 40 percent of votes in Maryland Democratic primaries. Most of those votes likely will go to primary rival Kweisi Mfume, a former congressman and past president of the NAACP.

Interesting that the "color blind" Dems who support equal rights will split along racial lines to vote in the Dem primary. What does that say about them? LOL. I guess race doesn't matter only when a black Rep runs for office in the general election.

[Sgt_Schultze]

Cardin was the Speaker of the House in Maryland during the Savings and Loan failures during the 1980's. As speaker, Cardin helped engineer a blackout of the names of the influential Marylanders who had investments that were pulled out in the months immediately before the failures. He claimed it wouldn't be useful to divulge such information.

Of course not ... Cardin is a member of one of the wealthiest of Maryland families.

[expatpat]

Better to vote for Kweise, on the basis that Steele does better against Mfume than against Cardin. Remember that white 'rats are also racist.

[nj26]

"We really need to root for Cardin on this one. The black community of Maryland is already threatening to "revolt" against the DemocRAT Party if Mfume is sidelined in the Primary."

Mfume is a sure loser for the Dems. The white suburban vote will desert the Democrat party in droves for Steele before voting for a race-baiter like Mfume.

With Cardin v. Steele, I worry that we may have a repeat of Bobby Jindal v. Kathleen Blanco in Louisiana.