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Edited on Mon Nov-06-06 09:47 PM by Leopolds Ghost
Unfortunately, RCP is probably right.
Riven by racially-biased voting on both sides of the PG-MoCo line (PG is mostly black, MoCo is mostly white) PG County Dems outside of DC just endorsed Steele.
Of course, the upper-class rulers of Middleburg and Upper Marlboro are DLC Dems first and foremost, on the right end of the Democratic spectrum. They could have an interest in Republicans remaining in power, since they want nothing to do with the poor in their district, who are fleeing DC Mayor Tony Williams' misrule.
Wayne Curry, one of the endorsers, explicitly said "we don't want poor people from DC coming into our county and settling here." It is always amusing to hear talking heads claim DC area politicians like Curry must be "ultra-liberal" because they are black and have a (D) next to their name. They make the same claims about how Pelosi must keep her "liberal black committee chairmen in check."
They are sadly misinformed on multiple levels. If we had real liberals in power, and those liberals happened to be black, I would advise them to hire bodyguards in the current political climate... or run as a Republican and switch parties after the fact. (Look what happened to Cynthia McKinney.)
But that doesn't stop white Dems from putting up a united front against Mfume, because they "thought they knew" rural whites would never vote for someone with a Swahili name like Mfume ... or, say, Obama. That is the Maryland mentality.
Real Clear Politics:
Big Endorsement for Steele Posted by JOHN MCINTYRE | E-Mail This | Permalink | Email RCP
Maryland tilts strongly Democratic, but what many people don't realize is a sizable number of Democratic votes in Maryland come from only 3 of the 24 counties in the state. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend got 48% of the vote against Gov. Bob Ehrlich, but only won Prince George's, Montgomery and Baltimore City. Prince George's county is the most affluent African-American county in the United States and is home to 320, 000 registered Democrats. Yesterday, Prince George's former county executive Wayne Curry and five fellow black Democrats from the County Council endorsed the Republican Michael Steele.
This endorsement carries an enormous amount of weight in Maryland's African-American community in the Washington suburbs. With Steele himself a Washington and PG County native, and his opponent a long-time Baltimore City congressman, Steele is well-positioned to eat into this traditional Democratic stronghold.
A quick look at the RCP Chart of this race shows Steele steadily climbing the last three weeks. He trails Cardin by 5.3% in the latest RCP Average. If he can pull to within 3 points the odds for scoring the big upset will increase dramatically.
Interesting that the two states that sandwich Washington DC may see the biggest upsets on election night.
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