Cardin seeks black votes in tight Senate race with Mfume

Friday, Aug. 4, 2006

The Baltimore Democrat was accompanied by his wife, Myrna, and Rep. Steny H. Hoyer on a daylong swing this week through Southern Maryland, which concluded with a roundtable discussion at Lifestyles of Maryland Foundation Inc. in La Plata.

More than half the Sunday crowd of about 30 were African Americans, a key voting bloc for former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume. Mfume is in a virtual dead heat with Cardin for the Democratic nomination according to recent polls. But those attending the Southern Maryland event said many black voters remain undecided and race is not the sole deciding factor.

‘‘I think people are really underestimating the [African-American] community if they think people are just going to vote race,” said Sandy Washington, executive director of Lifestyles. ‘‘They’re not looking to vote color, they’re looking to vote for people who can make a difference. This is not a race race.”

Cardin (D-Md., 3rd) specifically pointed to the NAACP’s consistently high marks of him as evidence of his civil rights record. ‘‘I have tried to work my entire life for getting more opportunities for families,” he said. Later, he referenced his work on behalf of minority-owned businesses.

‘‘I think there are plenty of African-Americans out there who are not just going to the ballot box and vote on the basis of skin color,” said Zach Messitte, a political science professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

A recent Baltimore Sun poll of 1,200 voters showed Cardin slightly ahead of Mfume 32 percent to 28 percent, but Mfume with a huge advantage among African-Americans, 57 percent to 12 percent. Still, that leaves a significant number of votes up for grabs and Cardin is hoping to capitalize.

‘‘My impression is that the African-American community doesn’t just automatically line up behind Mfume,” said Messitte, noting that Mfume’s shaky leadership of the NAACP may help Cardin. ‘‘There are a lot of people who find fault with his failure to move the ball forward enough during his 10 years with the organization.”

However, other fringe Democratic candidates could peel away votes from Cardin. Josh Rales, a wealthy Montgomery County businessman, has pledged to put millions of dollars into his own campaign and has already paid for several television commercials in the Washington, D.C., media market. ‘‘You can’t turn around without seeing him,” Messitte said.

But Cardin is trying to neutralize their impact by casting himself as an experienced lawmaker who can get things done on Capitol Hill. On the campaign trail, he is focusing on kitchen-table issues like rising health insurance premiums and energy costs. ‘‘I want to see an Apollo-type commitment — like we did to get a person on the moon — to become energy independent,” he said.

During the discussion, Cardin, who is Jewish, mentioned the discrimination he experienced growing up as a religious minority. ‘‘We’re divided too much along racial lines in American and it’s dangerous to our country,” Cardin said.

Charles County Commissioner Edith J. Patterson (D), who is black and supporting Cardin, believes his legislative record has transcended racial lines. But she echoed other attendees who said African-Americans vote on character and content, rather than skin color.

E-mail Alan Brody at abrody@somdnews.com.