I live in Maryland. In fact, I live in the Third Congressional District. The primary election this year is a rare one. I feel I have very good candidates in most races and I am undecided about who to vote for many positions on the ballot.
I thought I would open the floor to those who are following Maryland politics and seek some advice.
Like everybody, I have some thoughts and I'll start this off by saying who I would vote for in the statewide races and MD-3 Congressional race if I was voting today.
Join me on the jump...
Governor is easy. We have a great candidate in Baltimore Mayor,
Martin O'Malley, and his running mate for Lt. Governor, Del. Anthony G. Brown. He is somebody that I can enthusiastically support. And we need to take Bob Ehrlich out of the game. He is deeply corrupt and an incredible baby. He is also one of the fifty-plus Republicans tied to
Jack Abramoff.
The other statewide races are a bit harder. Drinking Liberally in Washington, DC has a nice rundown of the races and links to the candidates with Web sites.
Senate is hard. For me it has come down to a choice between Ben Cardin and Kweisi Mfume. I know that there are other worthy candidates in the race, but none of them have made the case (to me) that they would be better than Cardin or Mfume or that they would win in November. As the Glassman used to say "I stand to be corrected". I have gone back and forth between Cardin and Mfume for months. If I was voting today I would vote for Mfume for two key reasons: first I think Kweisi would bring a missing voice to debates in the Senate and second, I am dis appointed that Cardin has not signed on as a Sponsor of The Human Dignity Act, even after I had a face to face conversation about it with his Chief of Staff.
Comptroller is an easier choice. I for whoever looks like they can beat William Donald Schaefer. The choice is between Del. Peter Franchot, and Janet S. Owens. I lean towards Franchot, but I would vote for Owens if it looked like she was the strongest of the two. Willie Don is way past his expiration date and has become the stinky cheese man of Maryland politics. He has to go.
For Attorney General there are now only two candidates: Douglas F. Gansler, and Stuart O. Simms (Tom Perez was ruled ineligible because of the limited number of years he practiced law in Maryland). I met Gansler in Iowa when I was working for Dean to win the Iowa Caucus in 2004. He is ambitious and progressive. I liked that and I like him. He wants to be an attorney General in the Elliot Spitzer model. I would vote for him today. So far, I haven't heard anything about Simms that would cause me to change my mind, but my ears are open.
Cardin's run for Senate has created a rare race for the open MD-3 seat in Congress. There are quite a few Democrats running for the seat. I am undecided. Right now I lean towards Peter Beilenson, but I would be happy voting for the winner of the primary come November. Please make you case if you have a favorite.
And there are other races on the ballot. Feel free to plug any of those.
I'm asking for advice because I feel like we have a number of great candidates.
My only wish is that every Voter in America could face the same richness of choices as a voter in Maryland's 3rd Congressional District has in the September 12th Primary.