The upper room at Dalesio?s restaurant in Little Italy had the feel of a viewing room in one of those old funeral homes in most cities and towns. The decor was dark and old-fashioned, and people were milling around, greeting the old gang and making subdued chit-chat about the good old days.
William Donald Schaefer, the man who had brought them all together over many years, was not dead yet politically, though even some of his friends thought he only had a 50-50 chance of surviving. “We love you, boss,” said the signs they?d brought. The old man sat in a chair against the wall talking to friends and even reporters one by one, reminding one photographer of a scene from “The Last Hurrah,” the book and movie about the final campaign of an aging politician.
Schaefer departed the scene that night, never to return to the waiting bank of cameras. “The bar?s closed and the food?s gone,” grumbled one TV reporter. The staff shooed the stragglers out of the restaurant. A last hurrah it was.
How Franchot Did It
Del. Peter Franchot?s surprising defeat of Schaefer calls into question the creeping perception that endorsements by unions and newspapers don?t mean much anymore. Franchot wasn?t showing much movement in the polls until the last weeks, despite his long, issue-drive, campaign.
There obviously was a surge in the closing days as his heavy union backing and endorsements by the Sun and the Post kicked in. It was also a year for candidates from the Washington suburbs, now clearly the dominant region in state politics as its population rises.
Hoyer Predicts House Turnover
It was a much longer night at Rep. Ben Cardin?s victory celebration, and around midnight Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House minority whip, tried to keep the crowd alive with a fiery speech about his old pal Ben and his opponent, Michael Steele.
Hoyer lashed into Steele?s TV ads that promise “no spin,” and said they were really about no substance on issues such as education, Iraq and the environment. In an interview, Hoyer said, “the differences will be sharper” in the general election than in Cardin?s race against Kweisi Mfume and the exchange “won?t be so civil.”
Len Lazarick is the state house bureau chief of The Examiner, he can be reached at [email protected]
