Tonight I’m continuing my series of endorsements by looking at the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Paul Sarbanes. There’s 29 candidates of all political stripes vying for the post, but only Kevin Zeese of the Green/Populist/Libertarian Party has assured himself a berth in the November election, the others all seek the Democrat or Republican nomination. Not counting Zeese, here are the candidates from the two parties; not in ballot order but in the order they filed for the position and their hometowns.
Democrats:
Charles U. Smith, 56, Baltimore, filed 10-13-05.
Thomas McCaskill, 68, Fort Washington, filed 10-31-05.
A. Robert Kaufman, 75, Baltimore, filed 1-3-06.
Kweisi Mfume, 57, Baltimore, filed 1-20-06.
James Hutchinson, 62, Bethesda, filed 3-27-06.
Anthony Jaworski, 60, Kensington, filed 4-12-06.
David Dickerson, 44, Cockeysville, filed 5-31-06.
Ben Cardin, 62, Catonsville, filed 6-2-06.
Mike Schaefer, 68, Baltimore, filed 6-7-06.
Joseph Werner, 46, Fallston, filed 6-21-06.
Teresa Scaldaferri, 65, Avondale, filed 6-26-06.
Dennis Rasmussen, 59, Towson, filed 6-29-06.
George English, 66, Silver Spring, filed 6-30-06.
Allan Lichtman, 59, Bethesda, filed 6-30-06.
Josh Rales, 48, Bethesda, filed 6-30-06.
Bob Robinson, 62, Havre de Grace, filed 7-3-06.
Blaine Taylor, 59, Towson, filed 7-3-06.
Lih Young, 65, Rockville, filed 7-3-06.
Republicans:
Daniel Muffoletto, 51, Ellicott City, filed 7-7-05.
Corrogan Vaughn, 40, Baltimore, filed 7-7-05.
Thomas Hampton, 52, Severna Park, filed 9-6-05.
Daniel “Wig Man” Vovak, 34, Montgomery County, filed 1-11-06. He uses a Washington, DC mailing address on his application.
Earl Gordon, 56, Olney, filed 1-27-06.
Ray Bly, 57, Jessup, filed 1-30-06.
Michael Steele, 47, Annapolis, filed 4-7-06.
John Kimble, 46, Beltsville, filed 7-3-06.
Edward Raymond Madej, 61, Pasadena, filed 7-3-06.
Richard Shawver, 59, Sykesville, filed 7-3-06.
For sake of record, Kevin Zeese of Takoma Park is 50 and he filed way back on 9-12-05.
With the number of candidates on the Democrat side, one would think I had to wade through reams of material to simplify making an endorsement. But this was pretty easy because many of the candidates answered my Ten Questions and I’m on the mailing list for the two most highly regarded officeseekers (who didn’t answer, tsk tsk.)
I thought some of the candidates answered my Ten Questions reasonably well (for Democrats anyway) but overall I believe the “common-sense moderate” Dennis Rasmussen came up with thoughtful answers that could play to both sides of the aisle. I particularly liked his take on Social Security, which he termed “a disaster” – it showed he could be amenable to positive changes there. Also refreshing was his Iraq stance, where he termed that “(i)t is too late to argue the merits of being in Iraq. The question is how do we objectively measure and achieve a winning outcome? The consequences of losing Iraq will affect the next several generations.” He’s exactly right; instead of being a “cut and run” liberal, Dennis wants to see us through. Rasmussen also favors a sort of trade-off in energy policy. In exchange for stricter CAFE standards for automobile gasoline mileage, he’s willing to not just allow, but provide incentives for LNG exploration on the North Slope of Alaska.
Because of his stances on the issues and the belief that there should be more Democrats like him in Washington, I’m endorsing Dennis Rasmussen for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate.
Now to the Republican side. It’s a bit unfortunate that our race has the big fish in a little pond, otherwise known as Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele. A truly unbiased Maryland GOP would allow a little more breathing room for two other candidates who I’ve found have intriguing views, Thomas Hampton and Corrogan Vaughn. Both have a few items among their policies that took me aback, but both have many items that could be considered good, conservative planks in their platforms. In particular, Vaughn (who, by the way, is the OTHER black conservative in the race that no one speaks about) has a definite sense of what duties Congress has under the Constitution, and would be unlikely to seek to go beyond those duties.
With these two men, I can see a Catch-22 situation. Perhaps it would’ve been best for them to start at a smaller level than attempting to run a statewide race with national media attention, seeing that we’re closest to the political fishbowl that is inside the Beltway. But on the other hand, had they sought and won a lesser office, that may have tarnished the shiny principles they can both run on as outsiders.
So that basically leaves the odds-on favorite, Michael Steele. Is he a perfect candidate in my eyes? No. Some of his ideas on issues lean a little more moderate than I’d like them to. But, reality is that in a statewide race in the blue state of Maryland circa 2006 we have to start someplace and if we as conservatives can get 70-80% of what we want in a candidate who can win this race, I guess we’ll have to take it. (I suppose one can call it the Ehrlich Principle.)
Because at 40 he’s the second-youngest candidate in the field, I’d certainly like to see Vaughn run for a lesser office, perhaps the U.S. House. (Maybe he could move to the Eastern Shore and 1st District in time for 2008.) But in 2006, the GOP needs to go with a person who’s a proven statewide winner, and that person is Michael Steele. I’m urging Republicans (like they wouldn’t anyway since he’s been the de facto nominee since Day 1) to cast their vote for Michael Steele in the primary.
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