MD-06: Gen. Wesley Clark Endorses Andrew Duck

From the Frederick News-Post:

...Mr. Duck was endorsed Monday by retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who ran in 2003 in the presidential primary and is now heading up WesPAC: Securing America's Future, an organization dedicated to getting Democrats elected.

"As a combat veteran, and Army intelligence advisor, a native Marylander and a father, Andrew Duck has the principles and perspective to make positive changes in Washington," Mr. Clark said in a statement accompanying the endorsement. "He will work tirelessly to develop new and innovative plans (to) make our nation more secure and our government more accountable."

Thats a pretty big name to come out swinging for Mr. Duck. I almost wish I still lived in Carroll County so I could smile ear to ear while casting a vote for him on the 7th.

Throw some money Andrew's way.

Call or Write your Unopposed Congressman

Tell them to donate their warchests to the DCCC or candidates who need the money.

In Maryland:

MD-05 Hoyer $875,508
MD-07 Cummings $332,012

Also, some folks aren't running unopposed, but have no real chance of losing:

MD-02 Ruppersberger $400,266
MD-04 Wynn $206,823

Thats easily over $1,000,000 that could go to other candidates in Maryland, or to close races around the country, and the is just Maryland house candidates.

If this push for donations from unopposed candidates works, it could be a huge deal for numerous races around the country, as well as for the Democratic Party as a whole. Make those calls!

New Polls for Governor, Senate

Recent polling done by Survey USA has some slightly sobering news for those of us watching the MD-Senate race. The poll shows:

Senate
Steele (R) 46
Carding (D) 46

Governor
Ehrlich (R) 43
O'Malley (D) 49

O'Malley continues to lead Ehrlich, no surprise there. Ehrlich lost his trump card, the ability of Mike Steele to peel Black votes from Democrats. This is a skill Steele still appears to have, as the SUSA poll shows him picking up 25% of the Black vote. This has been the Steele plan from the start, and if Democrats and particularly the Cardin campaign want to win, they need to stop this vote loss.

I won't get too upset until a few more polls can comfirm this Steele jump. Every other poll of this Senate race has Cardin up by at least 4. Heck, Gallup had Cardin up 15 in their last poll.

Hey Ben, perhaps its time to call up Kweisi?

Once Again, Mike Steele Proves he is Not Ready for the Bigtime

Oliver Willis says it best.

Mike Steele is not ready to be Senator. Anyone who considers Mike Tyson to be "engaging" and "smart" in a debate is not cut out for debating on the Senate floor.

Debates? What? Don't ask the Sun. (MD-Gov, tonight @ 7pm, MPT)

I mean, I guess you could ask the Sun after the the fact. However, their Friday coverage of the upcoming debates was cryptic at best:

In an unexpected last-minute compromise, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley agreed in principle yesterday to a live, televised debate tomorrow to air on WBAL-TV in Baltimore and Maryland Public Television, campaign and station officials confirmed yesterday.

Many details are being negotiated, but officials said the debate will begin at 7 p.m. and last one hour. It will be hosted by the Maryland League of Women Voters.

A week ago, no debates had been scheduled and the candidates appeared increasingly unlikely to reach a compromise. Now, the candidates will tape a debate with WJZ-TV in Baltimore tomorrow afternoon to air at 7 p.m. Monday. They will then take part in the second debate later tomorrow.

Great, so I knew about the debate tonight on Friday, awesome. But what about the televised debate at 7pm on Saturday night? The Sun mentions it, but not that it is on TV. Instead, they make it seem like nothing is being televised Saturday night.

Now the late agreement by O'Malley and Ehrlich is partially to blame for this. But still, it just rubs me the wrong way. The MPT website is WORTHLESS, and carried no information about any of the televised debate on Friday. Sure, they have them up now, but that wasn't helpful when the story broke friday. And what is up with announcing televised debates as a friday news dump.

The whole thing sucks, and will only keep voters in the dark about specific issues in this race. Instead, they can keep feeding on the Ads, which are never in short supply. I have had repeated issues this year finding information about everything from Senate primary debates, to Senate debates, to Mayoral debates. Yet, I have no problem hearing and even seeing debates between senate candidates from OTHER states when flipping channels.

All Maryland candidates who will be debating need to decide early when they will be meeting, and make sure the press has all the details. Then, the press needs to DO THEIR JOB and make sure that information is clearly and widely disseminated.

So, hopefully, maybe, if you are lucky, there may or may not be a debate-like event between two men who may or may not be running for Governor in a state that could possibly be Maryland, at 7 pm on MPT (pending factual approval from The Sun).