MD-4: WaPo Endorses Edwards

The Washington Post endorsed Donna Edwards over Al Wynn, saying that the latter has fallen out of step with his mostly liberal constituents, and "has often seemed more involved in playing the role of a kingmaker in Prince George's than in his duties in Congress." Considering that half of the Maryland 4th now lies in Montgomery County, with citizens who remember having Connie Morella, perhaps the last liberal Republican, as their representative, this only underscores how much Wynn has failed to be the Congressman his constituents deserve. This being the Post, of course, they can't help but lament that Edwards and, at least now, Wynn both support withdrawing troops from Iraq, "a scenario that we believe would leave chaos in its wake." They said similar things of both Kweisi Mfume and Ben Cardin when they endorsed Cardin last week, marring an otherwise reasonable editorial, though obviously I disagreed with their choice.

Meanwhile, Matt Stoller has an excellent analysis of the Al Wynn/Donna Edwards primary battle, saying it is "tough but winnable" for Edwards. I would add that part of the reason it will be tough is that, paradoxically, Maryland is a deep blue state. So blue, in fact, that the kind of feisty political challenge to incumbents from the left that Edwards is providing is actually rather odd. Indeed, the number of open and contested primaries in Maryland has exposed a number of rifts within the state Democratic Party. The obvious one, of course, is the divide between Baltimore and the D.C. suburbs, but I think a less noticed one (albeit mirrored throughout the country) lies between the party leadership, many of whom have been in office for decades, and the rank and file, who, like me, want a more active and responsive party. Ask Maryland Democrats about, say, Senate President Mike Miller, and you're likely to get a few grumbles about his hand in the state's deregulation of electric utilities that came back to (almost) bite us in the ass this year. This discontent with the status quo also manifests itself in the lack of enthusiasm among liberals for de facto incumbent Ben Cardin, and the corresponding excitement for Kweisi Mfume.

Tags: MD-04, Al Wynn, Donna Edwards, Democrats