After Monday's endorsement of Michael Steele by former county executive Wayne Curry and five Prince George's County councilmembers, both parties are
getting busy in Prince George's.
While the focus has been on African-American voters, let's take a pause. I've mentioned it before, and they do exist: White Steele Democrats.
Introducing one who has outed herself in public: Tammy Hnarakis of College Park in Prince George's County.
And it's not just the (county) council members declaring themselves as "Steele Democrats."
"I'm just a little Democratic blonde just trying to make a living, but I have made a choice on that Senate race. I'm a Steele Democrat!" said Tammy Hnarakis, owner of Precision Small Engines and a key leader of the North College Park Business Association. "After reviewing his position on issues that are important to me as a small business owner... I believe in Michael Steele because of his passion and his history."
Hnarakis, who has a large Steele advertisement outside her shop on Route 1, said she carries the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Businesses and was happy to hear others share her point of view.
"I think that the people that endorsed Steele made a bold and important decision," she said. "I don't think it's a race issue, I'm white. It took a lot of tenacity to cross party lines and make that endorsement."
Meanwhile, in other areas of Prince George's, Ben Cardin is spending the day with Jack Johnson, County Executive and Congressman Al Wynn (Democrat, MD-04). I am particularly relieved to read of his visits to Lanham, Largo, Palmer Park and Hyattsville, which are all majority-minority. Also attending: Steny Hoyer (MD-05), PG state's attorney Glenn Ivey and state senator Mike Miller.
The much publicized visit featuring Barack Obama in College Park was fine, but College Park is 69% white; the College Park region favored Cardin with 59% of the primary vote; and student turnout at the University was extremely low.
Barack Obama is scheduled to return to Prince George's tomorrow, for another Democratic rally in Bowie. It took a little while for the Bowie decision to be finalized, but perhaps the rally is intended to offset today's endorsement of Steele by Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor at Hope Christian Church located in ... Bowie.
We're doing well. The much-maligned Al Wynn and Jack Johnson stood with Cardin today, and accompanied him to places he needs to be. We're not going to get all of the endorsements: the mayor of Seat Pleasant has endorsed Steele. Earlier in the week, Wayne Curry and number of county council members did so as well. We should probably expect more church leaders like Bishop Jackson to do so in coming days.
However, we're confident because we have the better candidate. Competing endorsements can be a good thing: people will pause and evaluate the candidates side-by-side.
In the unlikely scenario that things don't turn out the way we've planned, this may be a good time to take a deep breath and remember that that the most likely combination for a Steele win requires a majority of white voters, mostly Republican and yes, some Democrats, and a minority of Democratic African-American voters. Let's be gracious in victory or defeat.