Post by Mike on Nov 13, 2006 13:34:31 GMT -4
I ripped this from their page and posted it for everyone since I find it ridiculous they make you pay to read it online:
EASTON — While Martin O’Malley and Anthony Brown won 53 percent of Maryland votes cast at the polls compared to 45 percent for the Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. and Kristen Cox ticket, the vote reinforced a familiar divide between urban and rural areas in Maryland, with O’Malley winning on the strength of a much smaller geographical area.
The unofficial tally has O’Malley winning only five of 24 voting districts, posting commanding victories in only three districts — Baltimore City, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County. He trails by less than 500 votes in Baltimore County.
Fortunately for O’Malley, the three districts he dominated are three of the largest in the state. Those Democratic strongholds have been key in all the party’s victories in recent years, a far cry from the days when former Gov. William Donald Schaefer could carry the vote in rural areas as well as in metropolitan regions.
In 1990, for instance, Schaefer won 12 districts — a comparatively weak showing based on the 1986 race, when he won every single district.
Since then, the party’s strength, especially pertaining to the governor’s race, has been in the cities. In 1998, Parris N. Glendening also won five districts, including the Democrats’ big three. In the previous election, Glendening only won those three districts en route to a narrow victory.
Dr. James G. Gimpel, a government and politics professor at the University of Maryland at College Park, attributed the change to Republicans fielding “more credible candidates.”
Dr. Michael O’Loughlin, an associate professor and the chairman of the political science department at Salisbury University, noted that not only have “the rural areas have become increasingly more Republican,” but that “conservative Democrats used to still vote Democrat.” Independent voters also figure into the mix.
In Talbot County, for instance, the Republican party’s advantage in registered voters does not account for the 63.4 percent of the vote that Ehrlich received.
While O’Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said the Baltimore mayor made it a point to campaign in every county, there’s no doubt he spent more time on the western shore and comparatively little time on the Mid-Shore, one of the most conservative areas in the state.
“There’s good reason [for Democrats] not to campaign in some of the smallest areas,” Gimpel said, especially for someone like O’Malley who identifies with the left side of the Democratic party.
“Martin O’Malley would largely have been wasting his time spending a lot of his time out in western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore,” Gimpel said.
O’Loughlin said he didn’t think it was a completely hopeless cause. While there may be little hope in winning those districts, O’Loughlin said Democratic candidates can appeal to the influx of retirees who may not be Republican as well as younger voters, particularly when it comes to social issues.
O’Malley’s focus on the Democratic districts was noted in some newspaper endorsements.
The Star Democrat’s editorial board wrote that O’Malley campaigned mostly on the western shore, and in Ocean City when he did come over.
Ehrlich “on the other hand, knows where the Mid-Shore is, has been here in our counties visiting schools, talking to farmers and watermen, meeting with his constituents for four years, not just during the most recent election season.”
The Salisbury Daily Times made a similar argument.
“O’Malley has done well for his base on the western shore, but he has not made the Eastern Shore a priority,” an editorial read.
Abbruzzese noted that O’Malley promised to focus on issues important to “keeping the Eastern Shore the Eastern Shore” and that he intends to live up to his promise. He said they were satisfied with the vote received on the Mid-Shore and look forward to representing the interests of whole state, which vary from region to region.
Tension remains, O’Loughlin said, as rural voters likely will identify O’Malley with leading an urban area and being a Democrat. He suggested focusing on providing the necessary education funding and capital projects to those regions as a way to earn those people’s trust.
While Ehrlich still dominated the sparsely populated areas, Gimpel said, his problem was “having more rural and red voters staying home.” Ehrlich could “supposedly” count on those areas going Republican, so he could spend less time campaigning there as well, Gimpel said.
What he couldn’t count on, however, was getting enough of the Republican base to the polls. Gimpel said he didn’t believe Ehrlich or Steele did enough to mobilize the base or do enough in grass roots.
“The problem is you need all the Republicans you can possibly get to the polls in a state like Maryland,” he said.
“A lot of the red voters were demoralized,” he said. “These tidal waves that hit every now and then are pretty indiscriminate. You had some good and capable people tossed out with the bad.”
While two of the state’s most visible Republican candidates lost, Gimpel said, there is hope for the GOP in Maryland, as growth is occurring in right places for them.
Outside of party, O’Loughlin said, an interesting phenomenon in this year’s statewide elections was the role of race, particularly in the governor’s race and in the U.S. Senate race.
While O’Malley’s selection of Brown as a running mate was a good move in itself, picking an African-American was also the “politically smart thing to do,” he said. O’Malley learned a lesson from Ehrlich, O’Loughlin said, whose connection to Michael Steele helped him win in 2002. O’Malley was a better candidate than Katherine Kennedy Townsend, who lost to Ehrlich four years ago, but having Brown definitely helped, O’Loughlin said.
O’Loughlin also attributed part of the relatively close U.S. Senate race to race. Steele attempted to “outflank Democrats” with the race issue against U.S. Rep. Ben Cardin, D-Md.-3rd, he said.
“In one sense, the Cardin-Steele race should never have been in doubt, given all the factors in play in Maryland,” he said.
Steele, however, was able to win 25 percent of the African-American vote, quite high for a part of the population that typically votes Democrat.
EASTON — While Martin O’Malley and Anthony Brown won 53 percent of Maryland votes cast at the polls compared to 45 percent for the Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. and Kristen Cox ticket, the vote reinforced a familiar divide between urban and rural areas in Maryland, with O’Malley winning on the strength of a much smaller geographical area.
The unofficial tally has O’Malley winning only five of 24 voting districts, posting commanding victories in only three districts — Baltimore City, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County. He trails by less than 500 votes in Baltimore County.
Fortunately for O’Malley, the three districts he dominated are three of the largest in the state. Those Democratic strongholds have been key in all the party’s victories in recent years, a far cry from the days when former Gov. William Donald Schaefer could carry the vote in rural areas as well as in metropolitan regions.
In 1990, for instance, Schaefer won 12 districts — a comparatively weak showing based on the 1986 race, when he won every single district.
Since then, the party’s strength, especially pertaining to the governor’s race, has been in the cities. In 1998, Parris N. Glendening also won five districts, including the Democrats’ big three. In the previous election, Glendening only won those three districts en route to a narrow victory.
Dr. James G. Gimpel, a government and politics professor at the University of Maryland at College Park, attributed the change to Republicans fielding “more credible candidates.”
Dr. Michael O’Loughlin, an associate professor and the chairman of the political science department at Salisbury University, noted that not only have “the rural areas have become increasingly more Republican,” but that “conservative Democrats used to still vote Democrat.” Independent voters also figure into the mix.
In Talbot County, for instance, the Republican party’s advantage in registered voters does not account for the 63.4 percent of the vote that Ehrlich received.
While O’Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said the Baltimore mayor made it a point to campaign in every county, there’s no doubt he spent more time on the western shore and comparatively little time on the Mid-Shore, one of the most conservative areas in the state.
“There’s good reason [for Democrats] not to campaign in some of the smallest areas,” Gimpel said, especially for someone like O’Malley who identifies with the left side of the Democratic party.
“Martin O’Malley would largely have been wasting his time spending a lot of his time out in western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore,” Gimpel said.
O’Loughlin said he didn’t think it was a completely hopeless cause. While there may be little hope in winning those districts, O’Loughlin said Democratic candidates can appeal to the influx of retirees who may not be Republican as well as younger voters, particularly when it comes to social issues.
O’Malley’s focus on the Democratic districts was noted in some newspaper endorsements.
The Star Democrat’s editorial board wrote that O’Malley campaigned mostly on the western shore, and in Ocean City when he did come over.
Ehrlich “on the other hand, knows where the Mid-Shore is, has been here in our counties visiting schools, talking to farmers and watermen, meeting with his constituents for four years, not just during the most recent election season.”
The Salisbury Daily Times made a similar argument.
“O’Malley has done well for his base on the western shore, but he has not made the Eastern Shore a priority,” an editorial read.
Abbruzzese noted that O’Malley promised to focus on issues important to “keeping the Eastern Shore the Eastern Shore” and that he intends to live up to his promise. He said they were satisfied with the vote received on the Mid-Shore and look forward to representing the interests of whole state, which vary from region to region.
Tension remains, O’Loughlin said, as rural voters likely will identify O’Malley with leading an urban area and being a Democrat. He suggested focusing on providing the necessary education funding and capital projects to those regions as a way to earn those people’s trust.
While Ehrlich still dominated the sparsely populated areas, Gimpel said, his problem was “having more rural and red voters staying home.” Ehrlich could “supposedly” count on those areas going Republican, so he could spend less time campaigning there as well, Gimpel said.
What he couldn’t count on, however, was getting enough of the Republican base to the polls. Gimpel said he didn’t believe Ehrlich or Steele did enough to mobilize the base or do enough in grass roots.
“The problem is you need all the Republicans you can possibly get to the polls in a state like Maryland,” he said.
“A lot of the red voters were demoralized,” he said. “These tidal waves that hit every now and then are pretty indiscriminate. You had some good and capable people tossed out with the bad.”
While two of the state’s most visible Republican candidates lost, Gimpel said, there is hope for the GOP in Maryland, as growth is occurring in right places for them.
Outside of party, O’Loughlin said, an interesting phenomenon in this year’s statewide elections was the role of race, particularly in the governor’s race and in the U.S. Senate race.
While O’Malley’s selection of Brown as a running mate was a good move in itself, picking an African-American was also the “politically smart thing to do,” he said. O’Malley learned a lesson from Ehrlich, O’Loughlin said, whose connection to Michael Steele helped him win in 2002. O’Malley was a better candidate than Katherine Kennedy Townsend, who lost to Ehrlich four years ago, but having Brown definitely helped, O’Loughlin said.
O’Loughlin also attributed part of the relatively close U.S. Senate race to race. Steele attempted to “outflank Democrats” with the race issue against U.S. Rep. Ben Cardin, D-Md.-3rd, he said.
“In one sense, the Cardin-Steele race should never have been in doubt, given all the factors in play in Maryland,” he said.
Steele, however, was able to win 25 percent of the African-American vote, quite high for a part of the population that typically votes Democrat.