Prince George's Dems Stab Party in the Back
The CNN Political Wire is reporting that 6 Prince George's County Dems have jumped party lines to endorse Michael Steele. They are, as listed by CNN, former County Executive Wayne Curry and councilmembers David Harrington, Samuel Dean, Camille Exum, Tony Knotts and Marilyn Bland. No mention of the news on the Post or Gazette websites yet, but Steele's press release is here.
I'd copy over the text of Curry's quote in the press release, but the truth is it doesn't really say anything. It certainly doesn't give any justification for endorsing Steele beyond the whole ridiculous "Prince George's gets taken for granted" argument (Anthony who? And wasn't there some guy names Parris who went to the Governor's mansion?).
posted by Eric Luedtke at 8:03 PM
7 Comments:
I agree the party leadership has taken African-Americans for granted, but if the latest Post poll is correct, it's wrong to say race is the main concern for most African-Americans in deciding who to vote for. Despite his best efforts, Steele has only made marginal gains over the Kerry-Bush totals in 2004.
But next time, I think, Dems need to do better. Mfume himself said as much at the unity rally at College Park last month. We can't have another senior white pol cash in his chips and expect to cruise to the election. There are plenty of black pols, from Elijah Cummings to Glenn Ivey, that could appeal easily to white, black, and brown Marylanders. We just need the party leadership to be more sensitive to its base.
I agree, though, that Mfume's organization could have been a lot better. To give an example, nearly every week I would get an email from the Cardin campaign talking about this issue or that event, whereas I would only occasionally get an email from the Mfume campaign -- and it was just a digest of current news items.
Wonder where Al Wynn was in this, I thought he was sort of the boss of PG County Dems? He was at a Dem rally for O'Malley and Cardin in Takoma Park (well, just across the road in DC) on Saturday, and sounded pretty gung-ho about taking back Congress.
MDMAN-John Q needed no reply once he made the silly comment about Anthony Brown, a man who resume dwarfs Mr.Steele's.
This is a free shot for the PG delegation, unfortunately. They can take shots at the state party and the party will have to take it. They are, in effect, Joe Lieberman.
I think they may have sprung this too late. The party would have been split apart had they walked right after the primary. It makes me almost think the point is MUCH larger to them than an actual Steele victory.
John Qusimartin, you should be ashamed of yourself. Step and fetch it? Must we endure this kind of racist BS on this site? What next? Are we going to start throwing oreos?
Anthony Brown is a superstar, and even if he weren't, your comments are beyond the pale, sir. Beyond the pale.
I agree with comments about the timing; at 80-14 for Cardin among MD blacks, it may be too late for this to have more than symbolic impact -- and that may be OK with Curry et al. Still, that WaPo poll was almost as surprising as the SurveyUSA one that had Cardin and Steele tied, so Cardin supporters shouldn't be complacent at all. It would be interesting to get a sense of what gets said in PG churches this weekend.
The Wynn thing is complicated. Just to restate the obvious, his primary challenge came from the left -- ie, not many people who are likely to vote for Steele, I'd think. But Edwards got some help from people dissatisfied with "Boss Wynn," according to a pretty good Roll Call article ("With Wynn in limbo, Cardin could suffer") that was reprinted in the Gazette a week after the primary election. For example, Wynn's not best of pals with one of the main Steele endorsers, Wayne Curry, who endorsed Rushern Baker over Wynn's pick for County Executive (Wynn's guy Jack Johnson won, but not by much; btw, Baker was not among the Steele endorsers). Wynn may need to figure out just which base he wants to go to in 2008, it looks like it may not just be Donna Edwards after him by then.
Curry's endorsement made a difference for Jack Johnson's opponent Rushern Baker. While I have doubts about the value of endorsements, those several people could have a noticeable influence on African American voters in Prince George's County if they're already disenchanted with Cardin and being courted by Steele's issue-less but well done campaign.
Rob Fustero -
"The blacks have to get off this kick of thinking the Dems owe them." Yeah, Archie Bunker, how "uppity" of them.
Black voters are half of this state's Democratic Party. They ARE the Dems, or damn near half of them. It isn't a "kick" any more than your races for public office were a "kick." Okay, bad example.
Politics is about exchanging loyalty for loyalty, and Black voters have tired of exchanging theirs cheap to their own disadvantage. Perhaps you will recall KKT, who picked Lawson, Larson, who cares, he was a white Republican. So Black Democratic political organization, leaders and money were spurned. At least it bought the loyalty of White Republicans, who voted for KKT in droves. Okay, bad example.
Dems don't owe "the Blacks" [sic]? Maybe Black Marylanders don't owe the Democratic Party a damn thing either. But Michael Steele will owe them a LOT, they are his margin for reelection. But at least you are doing your part with your enlightened comments to help remind Black voters of the confidence that they can have when they vote for a white Democrat.
Okay, bad example.
You, Fustero, are a bad example.
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