Soccer Dad

So many races so little time

Initially I speculated that the media's lack of enthusiasm about the Kweisi Mfume for the senate seat being vacated by Paul Sarbanes was due to something we hadn't heard of yet:

And I can't figure out why a first term Congressman - Chris Van Hollen - would have the guts to consider challenging Mfume unless Mfume has a vulnerability that I haven't heard of yet.

I was also certain that Ben Cardin wouldn't enter the race, I didn't figure he had the ambition for higher office. Well one out of two ain't bad.
The Hedgehog Report has a different take. He's been arguing that Cardin is the better candidate for the Senate seat and that the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun, knowing this, have started with the "hit pieces" against Mfume in order to strengthen Cardin's hand and ensure that the seat stays in Democratic hands.
My feeling was that the information about Mfume's preferential treatment scandal was already buzzing around for a bit and the papers, not wanting to hurt his chances, held off running it as long as they could. My disagreement with the Hedgehog Report is who I feel has a better shot statewide. Actually I'm arguing against the numbers that actually show Lt Gov Steele better against Mfume than against Cardin. We are equally cynical about our mainstream media and figure they have an agenda out there.
Speaking of the political agendas of Maryland's MSM, there's been another wrinkle in the O'Malley rumor controversy. A woman who was threatening to blow the lid off of Governor Ehrlich's hiring and firing practices tried to get a job in the O'Malley administration. So now O'Malley has someone on his staff who got early information about a Washington Post story that would cause political damage to the Ehrlich administration and someone else who wished ill on the Ehrlich administration who asked him for a job. This seems to suggest that there could be a dirty trickster on the mayor's side. Et Tu Martin?
There's no proof of any wrongdoing on O'Malley's part. But if you follow the WBAL reports something doesn't smell right. After covering the initial report on WBAL that Steffen had seemingly been responsible about the O'Malley rumors, the Baltimore Sun hasn't followed up on any of the material that could cast an aspersion on the Mayor's behavior. The Washington Post hasn't even carried that first item.

Posted by SoccerDad at April 29, 2005 08:12 AM | TrackBack