I just wanted to alert Maryland Kossacks to a few items about Ben Cardin, one of the Democratic candidates to replace the current Democratic Senator from Maryland-Paul Sarbanes.
First, there's a pretty decent Baltimore Sun profile of Congressman Cardin today. The article briefly discusses his personality and close ties to my Congressman Steny Hoyer as well as provides highlights of his legislative achievements.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/...
Please follow me to the other side of the jump...
The article made a real point of describing the type of legislator Congressman Cardin is--a consensus-maker:
In Washington, where partisan polarization has become an almost religious fervor, Republicans and Democrats alike praise him for his willingness to reach across the aisle and salvage compromise from all but the most extreme situations.
Cardin is an unabashed liberal, but he's also a dealmaker. In 2001 he successfully pushed to add a provision increasing tax savings for pension benefits to tax-cut legislation promoted by President Bush - but then stuck with his party and voted against the package.
Here's also how Steny Hoyer describes him:
"He's a partisan, like I am, but he is very inclined to sit down with people and try to see if they can reach a mutual meeting of the minds," said Maryland Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House and a close friend who has endorsed Cardin.
I know that some Kossacks had some questions about Cardin b/c they didn't know that much about him. I think the Baltimore Sun article gives a pretty good glimpse of what type of senator he would be if he becomes Sarbanes' successor. Even before I read the article, I had the sense that Cardin has a very similiar personality to Sarbanes--a very quiet, thoughtful, wonkish legislator.
Although I'm not supporting Cardin in the primaries, I would be satified if Cardin was Sarbane's replacement here in Maryland.
Secondly, given my diary from last week, "Are Democrats Leaving Some Potential Voters Behind?"
http://www.dailykos.com/...
where I lambasted the Senate campaigns for forgetting about Charles County, I'm glad to say that Charles County at least won't be completely left behind after tomorrow. I received a call from Congressman Hoyer's office, inviting my family to attend a meet-n-greet with Congressman Hoyer and Ben Cardin in La Plata tomorrow. For those Cardin supporters who live in Southern Maryland, here's the info in case you want to attend:
Time: 3:30-5:30 pm, Sunday, July 30, 2006
Place: 612 East Charles St. La Plata, MD
Even though I'm not a Cardin supporter as I mentioned earlier in the diary, I think I may attend the event. I have a friend who attended the U of Maryland law school at Baltimore and she had good things to say about Cardin's role in advancing health law in Maryland. IIRC she also said that there's a building at the Baltimore nursing(?) school that's named after him. If given the opportunity, I would like to ask him about that....
Consider this an open thread about the Maryland Senate race, which really heated up this last week with the Steele coverage, the Rales news etc!!