With the summer drawing to a close, grassroots organizing is becoming more important for those hopefuls who simply don?t have the cash to be on the airwaves. This is especially true for Kweisi Mfume in the Senate race and Stuart Simms in the attorney general contest. Both men must rest their hopes on turning out the statewide black vote, which is crucial in the Democratic primary, but registered blacks often vote in lower percentages than whites.
Smelling Victory
A clearly ebullient Gov. Robert Ehrlich was pumping up the Republican Party faithful at Seacrets nightclub in Ocean City last week. The governor said the feeling he gets on the street is “stronger than four years ago.”
“Our goal is to win [and] not close,” Ehrlich said. “Every half point we pickup means another seat or two in the General Assembly.”
Asked about Ehrlich?s clearly upbeat mood, fundraiser-in-chief Dick Hug said, “He can smell it.”
The latest Rasmussen Reports poll hasn?t picked up the victory scent. Based on an automated telephone survey, it shows Baltimore Mayor Martin O?Malley at 50 percent and Erhlich at 43 percent, about where they were in July, and only a point down for O?Malley since April. Not great numbers for an incumbent, but pretty good for a Republican in Maryland.
Attacking Cox
As Ehrlich running mate Kristen Cox killed time at the mic for the governor?s arrival at Seacrets, she said: “I could sing for you, but that would ruin the whole night.”
When he finally arrived after a bumper sticker check of the parking lot, Ehrlich said of his choice for lieutenant governor: “They just don?t know how to attack her.”
They?re learning.
When Cox told Maryland Public TV Monday that Baltimore City students weren?t making any progress in test scores, leaders of the Baltimore teachers union and parent groups demanded an apology for the “misleading” statement. No apology is planned, says the campaign.
Faith-based Health Care
A union-organized health care rally at Light and Pratt streets in the city Tuesday evening, brought out a bevy of union-endorsed Dems: Mayor Martin O?Malley, Anthony Brown, Tom Perez for Attorney General, Peter Franchot for Comptroller, Peter Beilenson for Congress (Md-3rd).
The Rev. Heber Brown III told the crowd: “Jesus was for quality and affordable health care.” He wasn?t shy about putting the polls in their place. “It is our job to have these servants do what we want them to do. ? I come to say power to the people and not the politicians.”
The best line of the rally was delivered byPerez: Ehrlich has “a faith-based initiative on health care ? Pray that you don?t get sick.”
Crabtown Girl at Work
U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who does not face another election for four years, was working the tables at the Maryland Association of Counties crab feast in Ocean City last Friday as if she were on the ballot. Two staffers were trying to keep up with Mikulski, who turned 70 last month. Dean of the Senate women and a Capitol Hill insider, she still retains that hometown flair. How many other senators have their personal recipe for crab cakes on the home page of their official Web sites?
Len Lazarick is The Examiner?s State House bureau chief. He can be reached at [email protected].
