Soccer Dad

2 weeks too soon

Yesterday the Washington Post endorsed Representative Ben Cardin in the Democratic primary for Senator to replace retiring Senator Paul Sarbanes. I'd venture that for those who are looking for continuity this is a good thing. It would appear that Cardin subscribes to most of the same Democratic catechisms that Sarbanes subscribes to.

The tenor of the endorsement, though, is strained. The Post makes every effort to show that Ben Cardin is good choice because he's an excellent legislator. This qualification is used to demonstrated Cardin's superiority as a candidate over that of his closest competitor, former Rep. Kweisi Mfume.

The Hedgehog Report speculates that something was missing from the editorial

Of course The Washington Post leaves the real reason they endorsed Cardin over Mfume out of the editorial - they want to make sure a Democrat wins in November. I am sure The Post believes Cardin would do much better against Michael Steele than Kweisi Mfume would do in a November match up ...

I'm sure that's the case, but I don't think that totally explains the oddness of the endorsement. Waxing nearly poetic over legislative ability is not the usual approach taken in an endorsement. I think that the Post chose to endorse Cardin in this fashion because it has its eyes on the November endorsement of Cardin. If the Post endorsed Mfume with some condescending argument - because of his oratory or his history - it would had to have given serious consideration to Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. But Steele has no legislative experience. The Post's distaste for Steele can be masked by making a (phony but) serious sounding argument that he doesn't have the legislative skills necessary. The editors took that approach in the primary and will repeat it in the general election.

Of course there's a problem with this approach. Given the disparity in money, I can't see Mfume overtaking Cardin. However, Mfume has been vocal that he sees the white power structure trying to keep him out of the Senate.

BlogDC has something along these lines

Cardin has long had the support of nearly the entire Democratic establishment, so this editorial will not tip the balance of elite opinion. For those seeking "change" or "an outsider", the Post's endorsement only serves as further proof that Mfume is their man.

And that's why this endorsement is two weeks too early. Had the Post waited until the Sunday before the election, Mfume wouldn't have been able to do much with it. However now that a major Democratic-sympathetic-establishment newspaper has endorsed Cardin, it will give Mfume an opportunity to broadcast his displeasure by getting dissed once again by the white power structure. He'll probably be able to an angry interview or three in on the news in Maryland to complain about his being slighted.

True the choice of Cardin, has to gall Mfume, but the Post goes easy on Mfume. When you consider the degree to which the Post has gone to campaign against George Allen in Virginia, its silence on Mfume's alliance with a racist and antisemitic organization reveals its hypocrisy.

Mfume drew fire from some quarters after he declared that year that black lawmakers had entered into a "covenant" with the Nation of Islam to solve problems in the black community. In 1994, the caucus distanced itself from that position after an aide to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan made statements condemned as anti-Semitic.

("...made statements condemned as anti-Semitic" is MSM speak for "is a flaming antisemite.")

Mfume doesn't regret his association with Louis Farrakhan and won't condemn him. In 2002 in a contested state election, Mfume recorded a message to voters asking that they not let others dictate who should represent them (those were not his exact words, but it was the gist of what he said. I asked his campaign for the text and they said I should ask the candidate - State Sen. Lisa Gladden - for the text.) This, of course, was code to black voters not to vote for the Jewish incumbent. It's safe to say that the antisemitism of the 90's is not a thing of the past to Mfume. But the Post, of course, protected Mfume, whether he appreciates it or not.

So the Post endorsed Cardin. But don't be surprised if Mfume might still twist this into a positive. I doubt it will get him the primary, but it may help him splinter the Democratic base and hurt the party in November if he loses.

Technorati tags: Maryland Politics, Ben Cardin, kweisi mfume, Washington Post.