Five Democratic candidates are running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Paul Sarbanes.
Each has some poll traction and name recognition.
But in great local tradition, the two with the best perceived “electable” name recognition ? Ben Cardin and Kweisi Mfume ? receive all of the ink and all of the TV and radio time, unfortunately.
Cardin is a U.S. representative and Mfume is the former president of the NAACP who previously served as a U.S. representative.
While 16 “other folks” are running, there are three who stand out as deserving attention: Josh Rales, Allan Lichtman and Dennis Rasmussen. They have solid backgrounds and are campaigning seriously.
The media should pay attention to them.
A businessman, Rales has spent $5,000,000 of his own personal treasure to run. That?s pretty serious.
And I doubt Hillary Clinton, the senator from New York, would link herself withAmerican University professor Lichtman (see ubiquitous billboards) if she thought he was not qualified for the job.
Then we come to Dennis Rasmussen.
I once spoke with him about public service while he served in the thankless job of Baltimore County executive.
We sat on the deck of a mutual friend and he related the sometimes no-win position making policy decisions for the greatest public good assigns you.
I have never forgotten that down-to-earth conversation, and I came away wondering as to why reasonable adults would choose to do such jobs.
Unfortunately, the public does not get the chance to experience what I did that afternoon in regard to all of the candidates.
Previous brand awareness rules the day along with contributions that flow to those with the most name recognition ? increasing that awareness even more.
It is worth noting, however, that elections do not always work out the conventional way and media, with a conscience, can change things. Rewind to 1978 when Maryland?s gubernatorial election pitted Blair Lee III, Marvin Mandel?s lieutenant governor, against a cast that included former Transportation Secretary Harry Hughes, a very capable and respected person.
Hughes ran almost like the three senatorial hopefuls cited here.
It looked like Maryland, out of habit, would settle for Lee despite his affiliation with what was then a disgraced Mandel administration.
Then came the city?s major daily newspaper with a “Why Not Harry Hughes?” front-page article.
The Maryland electorate answered “why not, indeed?” and elected Hughes twice.
We will never know what kind of governor Lee would have been, but a major shaking of the electorate led to a questioning of the natural order of things.
To that, I say why not Dennis Rasmussen, an experienced moderate leader, or why not Alan Lichtman or Josh Rales, who have demonstrated big-time connections and big-time commitment?
I have never met the latter two gentlemen and do not mean to disparage the perceived front runners. What I am saying is that all five of these candidates and maybe some of the others deserve attention and a public forum to express their views.
Habit is not a good reason to choose leaders.
Bob Leffler is the owner of The Leffler Agency, an advertising agency with offices in Baltimore and Tampa. The agency represents general clients and sports teams, locally and nationally as well as The Examiner.
