I'm an African-American resident of Maryland, and I proudly voted for Kwesi Mfume in the September Democratic Senatorial primary. Honestly, I thought he would be a great
advocate for in the U.S. Senate, something that is sorely needed in these agonizing times. But after all the votes were counted, I threw my support behind Ben Cardin.
So you can imagine how concerned I've become over the last few days after hearing and reading reports that empty suit Michael Steele has been gaining on Cardin in recent polls. And this week's endorsement of Steele by five black Democratic leaders in Prince George's County really threw me for a loop.
But I've started to wonder -- is it all a typical last- minute Republican head fake?
Witness, if you will, these points:
1.) After the primaries, the meme starts to bubble that African-American Democratic voters, especially in Prince George's County, are upset that a white candidate is the nominee -- despite the fact that Cardin won convincingly in a fair and square race. So the news media begins to run with this, suggesting that Cardin may be in big trouble with black voters.
2.) Then comes the debates, in which Steele apparently benefits from his polished stage presence (full disclosure, I saw none of the early debates). So then Steele's campaign says their polling shows he is gaining on Cardin -- and at least one local TV station(the D.C. CBS affliate)reports this. Which then leads to...
3.) The endorsement of Steele by the PG County black Dem leadership. Effect: Cardin looks like he is REALLY in trouble heading into the stretch run of the campaign.
Like I said, I got freaked out after fully digesting the PG black Dems endorsement. (Hey, I'm a loyal Democrat in my early 40s, and I'm a pessimist by nature.) But after reading the blogs (and a big ups to Kos, Steve Gilliard, and Josh Marshall), I realized this was all probably part of a Rovian-style psyche-out by the Steele folks. Consider:
1.) He got reamed early on for his statements about embryonic stem cell research, his campaign went into a brief meltdown, and his "anonymous" remarks about Bush made him appear -- imagine that? -- a "flip-flopper."
2.) Maryland is a solid blue state, with the Ehrlich/Steele administration an apparent aberration.
3.) If Gilliard is right, rural white residents will NOT vote for a black candidate even if he is a Republican, meaning if Steele does not do well coming out of the mostly rural Eastern Shore, he's pretty much done for Election Night (purely my analysis, as I've only been an MD resident for a few years).
So with all these negatives against him, the current noise about his surging poll numbers and angry black voters seems to be nothing more than an attempt to get Democratic voters so dispirited they won't go to the polls next Tuesday.
What say ye?
(My apologies for this being so long and incoherent. I work the graveyard shift, and I'm up WAY past my bedtime. And with me being so tired, my attention span is shot...but this was something I just had to get off my mind.)