I firmly believe that "electability" must be taken into account when choosing a candidate. It certainly shouldn't be the only deciding factor, but its definitely something we need to observe.
Conventional wisdom would have you believe that electability goes hand in hand with moderate candidates. Yet this election cycle, especially in the Senate primaries, we are seeing more and more porgressive candidates that I consider more electable than their more moderate opponent. This was true of Jon Tester, and below I will explain why the same is true of Kweisi Mfume in Maryland.
Until recently, I was convinced that Cardin was the best candidate to take on Michael Steele in November. Five children out of wedlock, sexual harassment at the NAACP were the allegations I would always read about Mfume in the comments section of Daily Kos.
They say always varify what you read from random people on the internet for a reason. It's not that the allegation that Mfume had five children out of wedlock is a lie, but it is misleading.
As many Kossacks have noted, Mfume's life story is incredible. At an extremely young age, his father walked out on the family and at by the time he turned sixteen, his mother died. Until his early twenties, he lived a troubled life under the pressure of having to provide for his brothers and sisters and it was during this time that he had five children out of wedlock.
I assumed (very much incorrectly) that the NAACP sexual harrasment was related to the five children he had out of wedlock. I saw Mfume as this wealthy, powerful leader of the nation's most storied civil rights group sleeping around with his employees and fathered those five kids that way. Had that been the case, I think such a sleazy personal problem would eviscerate Mr Mfume's political career.
As for the sexual harassment allegations, I really don't know what to think. But I give the benefit of the doubt to people I respect and Mr. Mfume's explanation is definitely reasonable
Mfume said that if "there was any substance, I wouldn't have gotten into such a visible race."
On the other side of the equation is Michael Steele, a charasmatic African-American Republican. I think Steele is by far the Republicans best candidate in any competetive race this cycle.
Steele's politics are abhorrent, but I couldn't help but like him on a personal level when I saw him interviewed for my first and only time. Steele is conservative enough to rile up the Republican base yet a good enough speaker to woo over at least some moderate voters.
Perhaps most importantly, a Cardin victory would alienate Mfume's African-American supporters. The Democratic Party cannot take our Black brothers and sisters for granted. Some say we are now, and I would agree that we are at least to a certain extent. Snubbing Mfume, which is what many white democratic leaders have unfortunately already done, is not in the Party's best inerest or in Black Americans' best interests. If Steele assumes a "Bill Cosby" kind of approach to the problems facing the Black community, he just might cyphon off enough Black votes to beat Cardin. If Mfume wins, Steele will look like an idiot in a debate about issues facing the Black community.
I have nothing against Ben Cardin (except for his vote to extend the Patriot Act) but there is nothing about him that excites me. He comes from a political family and at least in comparison to Mfume, hails from a very privlaged backround. Some people might want Cardin because he's the "safe" pick against a right wing Bushie like Steele but wasn't Al Gore's entire 2000 campiang tailored to be "safe" and not too overtly partisan/critical of the opponent.
There is nothing safe about a "safe" pick.