Personally, I like Chris Van Hollen. He’d make a fine senator. But I like Donna Edwards more. And she’d be an electrifying senator.
Even the prospect of Edwards getting into the Maryland race to replace Barbara Mikulski has reporters and analysts defining it as a white vs. black thing, or a fight for Mikulski’s legacy as a trailblazing woman in the Senate. That’s unfortunate.
Van Hollen deserves consideration on his merits, not as a foil for some gender or race priority. And Edwards shouldn’t be treated as a black candidate or simply as the flag bearer for senatorial women. She’s an outstanding politician and advocate on her own.
I hope the two candidates will resist the temptation to emphasize their superficial differences and will fight it out on the high road. This won’t be easy, especially with the need to raise so much money. But I’d hate to see nasty divisions on the left open up over this contest.
I’ll be supporting Edwards, but that doesn’t mean that I think Van Hollen is a bad guy or a weak candidate to run against the Republicans. If they run this race the way it should be run, we can’t lose no matter who wins.
Yes!
Inch by inch, row by row, this is how you make this garden grow.
Not that Van Hollen would be an especially retrograde senator, not compared to, say, Steny Hoyer….
Not that Van Hollen would be an especially retrograde senator, not compared to, say, Steny Hoyer ….
And whose “machine” such as it is will get behind CVH!!!
And the last time that happened in an election was…
Unfortunate that they are both about the same age and not young enough that it’s realistic for one of them to wait for Cardin’s retirement in 2018, 2024, … (or not until 2044 if he manages to hold on as long as Thurmond did.)
Edwards is the better choice, but Rush Holt was the better choice in NJ; so, that is often not a deciding factor.
I have nothing against Edwards. Hope she remembers that one of every three voters in Maryland is Black and acts accordingly. Because, the guy who lost the Governor’s race forgot all about that.
Van Hollen – nothing against him, but his running of the Democratic House Committee has been wretched.