Did Barack Obama lose a superdelegate when Rep. Albert R. Wynn announced his resignation from Congress?

Wynn, an eight-term Democrat from Prince George's County, endorsed Obama for president earlier this year. But on the day Obama scored a resounding victory in Maryland, Wynn was defeated in the Fourth Congressional District primary. With no chance at re-election in November, he announced last week that he would be leaving the House at the end of May to take a job with the Washington lobbying firm Dickstein Shapiro LLP.

The move could impact a race in which both Obama and Hillary Clinton are agressively courting superdelegates. Gov. Martin O’Malley has not decided whether to order a special election to replace Wynn for the few months remaining in the legislative session. The decision may hinge on whether he can push through legislation that would enable him to skip a costly and length primary process and go straight to a general election before the state General Assembly adjourns next week.

Donna Edwards, the Prince George's County activist who defeated Wynn in the primary, would be heavily favored to win a special election in a liberal district where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than five to one. She is also an Obama backer, so if she were sworn in before the Democratic National Convention in August, it would be a wash for the Illlinois senator.

But if O'Malley -- a Clinton supporter -- doesn't order a special election, Obama will have one less superdelegate to bring to his argument for the nomination.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer wants to see the race for the Democratic presidential nomination wrapped up before the national convention this summer. And he has an idea of how to do it.

“Let me tell you, in my early days, my younger days, I was a political leader in Prince George's County,” the Maryland Democrat told reporters yesterday. “We had what was called a breakfast club. People sat around the table just like this. We rarely ever voted.

“We did have, however, significant discussion in which we ultimately came to consensus on. That didn't mean everybody was in unanimity, but it did mean that everybody agreed that, well, that seems to be the logical conclusion to reach. So you don't necessarily have to vote to reach such a conclusion.”

Hoyer, who has not backed a candidate in the primary, does not say that superdelegates should be bound by the popular vote in their districts or states. Instead, he says, they should rely on their experience and judgment.

“The people of Maryland voted on February 12,” he said. “Between February 12 and August 25 is a long period of time. A lot of things are going to happen. The people of Maryland might have voted differently on, frankly, October 12 of the preceding year, may have voted differently on May 12.”

Which is not to say that the will of the voters wouldn’t influence his decision. Hoyer’s district, like Maryland as a whole, went heavily for Barack Obama.

“In November I have to stand for reelection, so whatever decision I make in August will be a component part of what my constituents in my district think of me,” he said. “If they think my judgment was good, they will say, hooray. If they think my judgments were lousy and wrong and subverted them, they can vote against me.”

As far as campaign nastiness goes, Hoyer says, he’s seen worse than what’s gone on so far in the Democratic primary. But as Obama and Hillary Clinton continue to battle, he’s urging both to tread lightly.

“I, frankly, think this has not been as tough a primary as we have necessarily had in the past,” Hoyer said.

Still, he is concerned about the tone of the race.

“Uniquely, we have two candidates who are the personifications of major constituencies; Mr. Obama obviously of African-Americans, Hillary Clinton of women,” he said. “And therefore, when one or the other is attacked by either third parties or they go after one another, it is not just them who is hearing … the disagreement, the attack, the whatever, however you want to characterize it. It is the constituencies that they personify. And so to that extent, I think we need to be very careful, and I would urge both candidates and am going to urge both candidates to be positive in their approach.”

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 7:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Donna Edwards, the Democratic nominee in Maryland’s Fourth Congressional District, is joining 24 other congressional candidates nationwide in a proposal to wind down U.S. military involvement in Iraq.

Developed by Democratic challenger Darcy Burner of Washington State, the “Responsible Plan To End the War in Iraq” looks to capture voters frustrated by the inability of the party to bring the troops home despite taking control of the House and Senate last year. The 35-page document brings together familiar ideas – drawing down troops, boosting diplomacy, promoting America’s energy independence – with proposals to address humanitarian issues in Iraq, strengthen the military and expand access to a media that the plan says “stifled a full and fair discussion and debate around Iraq.”

Edwards, who won the Democratic primary in part by hammering incumbent Rep. Albert R. Wynn on his 2002 vote to authorize President Bush to use military force in Iraq, is scheduled to join Burner in a conference call with reporters on Thursday.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

A year after the death of Deamonte Driver, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings announced legislation yesterday to increase children’s access to dental care.

Driver, a homeless 12-year-old from Prince George’s County, died last February after an untreated tooth infection spread to his brain. He was eligible for Medicaid, but his mother said she was unable to locate a dentist who would treat him.

“There is no excuse for Deamonte’s death, and the fault lies with every single one of us for letting him slip through the cracks,” said Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat. “During the past year, we have made great strides on all fronts to ensure that every other Deamonte out there has access to dental care. This tragedy should never have taken place, and this critical new legislation will ensure that we bring life from this child’s death.”

According to Cummings’ office, the Deamonte Driver Dental Care Access Improvement Act of 2008 would:

• Provide grants to federally qualified community health centers to expand the dental services they provide to underserved populations. Such services would include mobile dentistry and teledentistry.
• Create a pilot program to test models of an allied dental health professional whose purpose is to increase access to care for underserved populations. 
• Provide a tax credit up to $5,000 for dentists who treat Medicaid, CHIP, and uninsured patients. 
• Direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to launch a public education and prevention campaign on children’s dental health. 
• Require states to report annually to the federal government details on children’s access to dental care under their Medicaid and SCHIP plans. 
• Instruct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to coordinate prenatal and maternal child health programs to ensure they include dental health promotion in their activities. 
• Direct the Comptroller General to evaluate the adequacy of Medicaid and SCHIP reimbursement for dental services. 
• Provide grants to train dentists, hygienists, and dental students in pediatric dentistry.

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Republican Sen. Thad Cochran are backing a Senate version of the bill.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

“The business-as-usual energy budget proposed by this administration won’t alleviate the economic strain of filling up at the pump. And what’s worse, it ignores the big threat our oil dependence poses now and in coming decades.”

Coming out of this Congress, the rhetoric in the Examiner op-ed this morning is hardly surprising. What’s interesting is the source: that’s Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, the Western Maryland Republican who ranks among the most conservative members of the House, lighting into the White House.

Bartlett, an engineer and scientist, is exercized that the Bush administration is not requesting funding next year for ARPA-E, the research agency he helped create last year to speed development of new energy technologies that would help ease U.S. dependence on oil. Congress authorized intial funding of $300 million.

“We need alternatives,” Bartlett writes. “Even those holding optimistic views of energy reserves admit supplies won’t keep up with demand. … I sat in disbelief when the president’s director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, John Marburger III, told the House Science and Technology Committee, ‘As just one example of … prioritization, the budget does not request funding for [ARPA-E].’ ”

Socially and fiscally conservative, Bartlett has been outspoken on the need to address U.S. dependence on declining world oil supplies. He is co-founder, with Democratic Rep. Tom Udall, of the Congressional Peak Oil Caucus, a bipartisan group focused on weaning the United States from crude.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

He isn’t necessarily supporting the idea. But House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer sees ample precedent for a Clinton-Obama (or Obama-Clinton) ticket. “I think a lot of us believe that’s a possibility,” the Southern Maryland Democrat said this week. “Look at Ronald Reagan and George Bush. They went at one another pretty hard – you know, voodoo economics – but became wonderful supply-side economics within about six hours.

“It’s an amazing business we are in. Flexibility is, you know, a hallmark.”

Prompted by the capitol press corps Wednesday, Hoyer took reporters on a journey through American political history, with stops to observe John F. Kennedy’s decision to name erstwhile rival Lyndon Johnson his running mate, and the cabinet appointments of Abraham Lincoln.

“I don’t know how many of you have read ‘Team of Rivals,’ ” he said, referring to the Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 2005 book about the Lincoln administration. “Three or four of the people who ran up against him in the convention ended up being in the cabinet,” Hoyer said. “Why do you do that? You do that because in a convention, in a party, you have various people representing various factions of the party. Obviously, the way to be most successful is to try to bring together the various elements in your party to try to cooperate with one another.”

Hoyer has remained neutral during the presidential primaries, saying he didn’t want his support for one or the other candidate to interfere with his management of the Democratic House caucus. Many rank-and-file members have taken sides, but Hoyer says the caucus remains unified.

“For one thing, I don’t see the candidates very deeply divided on the issues,” he said. “In a campaign, of course, you tend to focus on the differences, and therefore make them bigger than they are, but I think, generally speaking, they are pretty much in agreement. … I think that we have two extraordinarily able people running for president, and I think that the party would be pleased with either one of them and enthusiastic about either one of them. I think the party, with them together, would be equally pleased.”

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Chris Meekins, the campaign manager for state Sen. Andy Harris -- who is running to represent Maryland's 1st Congressional District -- points out in response to our earlier post that his boss couldn't possibly "defy" the Bush Administration.

If Harris beats Democrat and Queen Anne's County State's Attorney Frank Kratovil, Jr., he would take office Jan. 3. Bush leaves office Jan. 20, and in those 17 days, Congress usually does not pass any legislation.

Aside from that, he adds:

"Andy hasn't had a chance to review it yet. We get hundreds of questionnaires from groups and letters about topics. To answer all the same day, especially during the legislative session is just not possible."

Meekins said it was in Harris's pile of things to review. 

Posted by Brad Olson at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Del. Curt Anderson and others in the Maryland for Obama crew are taking a swanky weekend trip to Youngstown this weekend to stump for the Illinois senator. According to an e-mail from the group, a bus is leaving from the Poly/Western High School Parking lot at 4:30 on Friday afternoon.

No word on whether Maryland for Hillary is headed to Ohio, but then again, as the Obama e-mail notes, "Senator Obama won the February 12 Maryland primary with over 60 percent of the vote." 

Posted by Andy Green at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Posted by Andy Green at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

On the first anniversary of the death of Deamonte Driver, the Prince George's County boy who died after an untreated tooth infection spread to his brain, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings today described legislation he plans to introduce this week to prevent other children from meeting a similar end.

Driver was 12 years old and homeless when he died. His mother said she was unable to find a dentist who would treat him, although he was eligible for Medicaid.

Cummings, who was joined in Baltimore today by Norman Tinanoff of the University of Maryland Dental School, Allen Finkelstein of United Health, Charlene Brown of the Baltimore City Department of Health and Laurie Norris of the Public Justice Center, called the death “a shocking wake up call to the failures of our health care system.”

“Deamonte Driver’s death should never have occurred, and the blame rests on every single one of us,” he said. “We must ensure that no other child is needlessly taken from this world as Deamonte was, and it is only by attacking this problem from all fronts that we can truly affect change.”

Driver’s death has prompted a flurry of legislation in Annapolis and Washington. The bill that Cummings plans to introduce in conjunction with Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio would seek to establish a “dental home” for every child by increasing dental services in community health centers, training more individuals in pediatric dentistry and offering tax incentives for dentists to treat children with Medicaid.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Posted by Andy Green at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Last week, Rep. Albert R. Wynn lost the Democratic primary for the Fourth Congressional District to the candidate who was endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters.

This week, the group reported that Wynn was the only Maryland congressman to receive a perfect score on environmental issues in 2007.

Wynn, who chairs the House Subcommittee on the Environment and Hazardous Materials, earned a rating of 100 percent on the Environmental Scorecard released by the league yesterday. The group endorsed Donna Edwards in the primary; following her victory last week, she is now the Democratic nominee for the Wynn’s seat. Wynn’s congressional office announced his score today in a release headlined “Irony Abounds.”

Wynn left it at that.

“I am extremely proud to have received such a strong rating on my voting record to protect the environment,” he said. “As the chairman of the Subcommittee on the Environment and Hazardous Materials, I am committed to working towards protecting the public and the environment from toxic materials."

Scores among the rest of the delegation were: Reps. Elijah E. Cummings and Chris Van Hollen, 95 percent; Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, 90 percent; Rep. John Sarbanes, 85 percent; Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, 80 percent; Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, 60 percent; Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, 45 percent. Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski tied with scores 93 percent.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 4:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Sen. Andy Harris' congressional campaign manager, Chris Meekins, sent a response this afternoon to the Democratic Party's pep rally to talk up the chances of their nominee against the Baltimore County Republican. Meekins' take: Not gonna happen.

"Andy currently wins 58% in a state senate district that has 1.3 democrats to every 1 Republicans because of his broad cross-over appeal," Meekins wrote in an e-mail.

"I would like to remind our opponent that Andy received more raw votes than Kratovil and Andy won his race by a greater margin than Kratovil. The fact that Republican turnout was higher than the Democrat turnout in the district shows Democrat voters were unhappy with their choices."

Posted by Andy Green at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

If there was any doubt about whether or not Frank Kratovil, Jr. would be amenable to using his prosecutorial skills in his race against Republican state Sen. Andy Harris for Maryland's 1st Congressional District, he put those to rest today.

"My opponent on the other side (Harris) has spent the vast majority of his time talking about what he is against," said Kratovil, 39, who had just returned from taking his family to Disney World after winning the Democratic primary. "People are tired of that."

Harris ran a bruising primary challenge to Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, stunning him with an 11-point victory

Kratovil went on to say that Republicans, including "active members" of the party who supported Gilchrest, have called to offer their support, and he has brought on Republicans for his campaign and touted his past elections as state's attorney in majority-GOP Queen Anne's County.

"Andy Harris is going to get zero cross-over vote. Zero," he said. "I think it's our race to lose."

GOP insiders have disputed that claim, touting a poll released yesterday showing Harris with a strong lead against Kratovil.

State Democratic Party Chairman Michael Cryor said the party would do "everything conceivably possible" to elect Kratovil and two other candidates, Donna Edwards, who beat Rep. Al Wynn in another hotly contested primary, and Jennifer Dougherty, the Democratic candidate who will face Rep. Roscoe Bartlett in the most conservative district in the state.

Cryor noted that they have signed on 49 "neighborhood leaders" for Kratovil, who have committed to speak to three people each about his candidacy. The party has assembled 151 volunteers for him, as well as similar volunteers for Dougherty.

Although all on hand spoke as though Dougherty had a fighting chance to win, and Dougherty herself made clear she would run an aggressive campaign, she faces not just an uphill climb against Bartlett, but possibly even a Mount Everest climb in a district that runs all across the state's Pennsylvania border, the only congressional district in the state where registered Republicans far outnumber Democrats. Specifically, the numbers are 195,084 to 146,227, with 59,642 independents, according to the most recently available information.

Posted by Brad Olson at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Big-time Barack Obama backer Elijah Cummings gets his turn in a post-debate spin room in Texas this week. Watch for him on CNN after the 8 p.m. Thursday debate explaining why Obama trounced Clinton. (Regardless of what the acutal results might be.) Press release after the jump.

Continue reading "Cummings in the spin room" »

Posted by Andy Green at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Despite urgings by fellow members of Congress, Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest will not run as an independent for Maryland's 1st Congressional District after losing in a rather lopsided contest to state Sen. Andy Harris.

Why?

Well, Maryland law, for one. Unlike in Connecticut, where Sen. Joe Lieberman filed as an independent and defeated Ned Lamont, the same man who had beat him in the Democratic primary, Maryland has a "sore loser" law that keeps candidates from appearing on the general election ballot for ANY race if they lose in a primary.

Gilchrest's campaign manager and chief of staff Tony Caligiuri said that six months ago, several political consultants advised the nine-term congressman to run as an independent because he would have a better chance for re-election than running in a contested Republican primary.

Gilchrest declined, Caligiuri said.

"His supporters are Republican and he's spent his whole career in the party. He didn't want to betray the folks supporting him. He decided to persevere."

As for hiring lawyers to explore the possibility of skirting the sore loser law, Caligiuri said Gilchrest isn't interested.

"He respects the decision of voters," he said.

Posted by Brad Olson at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest has just issued a brief statement on his defeat two days ago in the Republican primary election for the First Congressional District. He did not name state Sen. Andy Harris, who won the GOP nomination after a bitter campaign that also included state Sen. E.J. Pipkin.

“I would like to congratulate all of the campaigns and their supporters who worked so hard in this election,” said the 61-year-old Gilchrest, serving his ninth term representing the district that includes the Eastern Shore and parts of Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties. “It is a real sacrifice to participate in the political process, and having been through many campaigns, I commend each candidate and their families who made the sacrifice to do so.

“As I ponder my own future, I look forward to continuing to advancing good public policy to protect our environment and to promoting a more productive and peaceful planet.”

Democratic Rep. Albert R. Wynn, the other Maryland incumbent who was defeated in a party primary on Tuesday, issued his concession on Wednesday.

“Over the last 15 years, it has been an honor and a privilege to serve the people of the 4th Congressional District,” said the 56-year-old Wynn, in his eighth term representing the district in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. “As I said last night, this seat does not belong to any one person – it belongs to you.

“Over my tenure, I have tried my very best to represent the interests of all the people in the district – small business, labor, youth needs, senior citizens and the community as a whole. I have worked on major transportation, community building and economic development projects. I have listened to you and tried to do my best in representing you in Congress.

“I want to thank everyone who has given support and volunteered their time and efforts in my campaign. I am proud of the positive –issues based campaign that we ran powered by people and community leaders from this district. I appreciate your dedication during this campaign and all your hard work at the polls in truly awful weather.

“I want to thank you and I look forward to serving out the remainder my term in Congress. There is much work to be done and I wish you well.

“Thank you.”

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)