After battle’s fray, assessing why candidates won or lost

College students followed 2006 campaigns closely

Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006

Candidates for local and statewide office streamed through on a near-daily basis, exposing students to some of the state’s most powerful political figures. This semester alone, the guests included outgoing Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), Attorney General-elect Douglas F. Gansler and Comptroller-elect Peter Franchot (whose Thursday visit to the college did not coincide with the class schedule)

Each student in political science professor Zach P. Messitte’s Maryland Politics class was assigned to track a local or state candidate during the campaign and through the election. Most interviewed their subjects before delivering a final presentation of the candidate’s electoral performance in recent weeks. They also analyzed voter results in an effort to better understand the success or failure of their candidates.

In some cases, the students didn’t hold back in their assessments.

‘‘I think she was perceived as a weak candidate by the campaign she ran,” junior Drew McWilliams said of state delegate candidate Norma Powers, who received less than 40 percent of the vote in losing to Del. Anthony J. O’Donnell (R-Calvert, St. Mary’s). Seeking elected office for the first time, Powers was undone by a significant fundraising disadvantage, an unenergetic campaign and an ‘‘elitist image” stoked by her role as commodore of the Solomons Island Yacht Club, McWilliams said.

‘‘That’s not the persona you want you have, especially if you’re a Democrat,” said the Hampstead native.

Junior Jeremy Pevner drew the tall task of profiling Ehrlich (R).

‘‘I let out a groan when I picked that piece of paper,” he said. But Pevner of Pasadena conducted a wide-ranging, 20-minute interview with the state’s top administrator, hitting topics such as domestic partner benefits, a living wage and the lyrics to the state song.

‘‘He’s a very strong-willed man and you definitely got a sense for him being the executive in Maryland,” Pevner said, calling it an ‘‘overwhelming” experience.

Some students had close ties to their subjects even before the assignment. Sophomore Jae Lim of Gaithersburg was at Gansler’s side during much of the campaign. His enthusiasm for the two-term Montgomery County state’s attorney showed during his presentation.

‘‘What Eliot Spitzer did with Wall Street, I think Doug will do for the environment and Chesapeake Bay,” Lim said of the pioneering New York attorney general (and governor-elect) who made national headlines by policing some of the city’s biggest financial houses.

Although Messitte initially did not want Lim to report on Gansler because he had already spent so much time with the candidate, it allowed him to witness the inner workings of a campaign from a perspective that few his age get to see.

And Lim gave his classmates a window into the campaign’s strategy.

‘‘It’s fair to say we cared almost all about the Democratic primary and we weren’t really thinking about the general election at all,” he said. ‘‘The primary was it for us and we allocated our resources that way.”

Gansler defeated former Baltimore state’s attorney Stuart O. Simms, a late entry in the primary race, to win the Democratic nomination. Former Montgomery County Councilman Thomas E. Perez was taken off the ballot just two weeks before the primary after the state’s top court ruled that he did not meet constitutional eligibility requirements to run for attorney general.

Gansler still routed the Republican nominee, Frederick County State’s Attorney Scott L. Rolle, 61 to 39 percent.

‘‘On election night ... we didn’t even wait for [the results] to come in. We got there sort of expecting to win,” Lim said. ‘‘I don’t think Scott Rolle really had any expectations of winning. I think he ran this campaign just ... to boost his name recognition for the future.”

That’s the kind of political insight Messitte hoped his students would gain.

‘‘I thought it was important, particularly for young students, to have that wall broken down between untouchable politicians and students-slash-citizens,” he said. ‘‘It demystified the political process to a lot of the students.”

Messitte’s students break the perception that most collegians lack political enthusiasm or an interest in civic engagement

‘‘There’s a significant number of students in the class who really love Maryland politics, and they’ve invested not just an academic interest in it, but a professional interest in it,” he said, noting that several could make credible candidates someday.

One is Liz Lewis, a senior from Elkton who has exhibited a sharp political intellect in the class, her professor said.

‘‘I feel like [through] my involvement in politics in Southern Maryland, I’ve really gotten to know people outside of the college community, which is something I value greatly,” she said. ‘‘It has given me a sense of place outside of school, which is very different a lot of times from what the campus is like.”

Through the project, Lewis said she paid more attention to the nuances of political campaigns, such as advertisements and editorials, than usual. She worked on former St. Mary’s County Commissioner President Thomas F. McKay’s failed state senate bid.

Her presentation pinpointed several of the reasons why she believed McKay lost to incumbent Sen. Roy Dyson by such a wide margin — 64 percent to 36 percent.

Lewis, president of the Maryland Federation of College Republicans, concluded that negative campaign fliers, coverage by a local tabloid, the power of incumbency, an McKay’s erroneous claim that he earned a college degree and voter dissatisfaction with the Republican party all played a role in the challenger’s defeat.

Sophomore Anne Marie Metzler of Bethesda followed Dyson (D-St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles) on the campaign trail and had a different explanation for his victory. His ‘‘old-style campaign of retail politics” resonated with voters who were familiar with his name, homemade campaign road signs and door-knocking.

Despite his loss, Lewis said she thinks McKay will reappear on the political scene in 2010, perhaps in an attempt to recapture the commission presidency.

The class allowed students to go beyond the textbook and gain valuable life experience interacting with others, she said. ‘‘It’s so refreshing to have a class that focuses on the current, rather than the past.”

Messitte hopes the class and candidate project will become a permanent part of the curriculum.

‘‘It makes students rise to their ‘A’ game. It makes them be sort of a half-journalist, half-academic and really get out there and understand the political process,” he said.

The candidates’ willingness to participate and cooperate with the students shows they care about young voters.

‘‘There’s a lot of rhetoric from everyone involved ... about how important it is for young people to get involved and the follow-up is not always there,” he said. ‘‘I think a lot of times what happens is politicians on campaigns — particularly the statewide campaigns — don’t have a forum to come and interact with students. There’s not a lot of opportunities for candidates to present themselves to politically active students outside of College Democrats and College Republicans, which is sort of preaching to the choir.”

Some candidates told Messitte they envied the students for getting such an in-depth look at state politics.

‘‘They got to see politics, policy, personality, style and campaign tactics,” he said. ‘‘They got to unravel the whole ball here.”

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