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The Afro-American, March 31, 2012 - April 6, 2012
March 31, 2012 - March 31, 2012, The Afro-American
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AFRO Endorsements A
s sure as there are elections, the AFRO will seek to advise its readers on the issues and concerns, the conditions and the candidates voters will have to weigh when they go the ballot box. And, for this April’s Democratic Primary, the AFRO continues that long tradition. President Barack Obama faces a relentless Republican machine that has, since the night of his election, worked to bring down his administration by any means necessary. With his agenda stymied by a truculent and single-minded opposition, Obama has a ways to go in fulfilling the campaign promises he made and advancing his solutions for the myriad problems facing this nation. And so, even more than before, the President needs his base to come out and vote and send a resounding note of support. But, Maryland voters also have more local concerns—choosing judges in Baltimore, choosing U.S.
representatives in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th congressional districts and choosing a U.S. senator. While, so far, incumbents seem likely to retain their seats—especially since some run unopposed—the race for U.S. Senate promises to be an exciting one. But, no matter the tenor of this primary election,
the AFRO urges Marylanders to come out and vote. Especially in light of the unprecedented attempts by states to suppress minority votes, the Black community needs to exercise the right to the ballot box as often and as vociferously as possible. So vote—vote April 3 and in November. Let your voices be heard.
Senate
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3rd Congressional District
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he newly redrawn 3rd Congressional District meanders from northwest Baltimore County, through parts of Baltimore City, into Howard and Anne Arundel counties, and down into Montgomery County. With nearly 110,000 new constituents, the district represents a challenge to the person that would represent them in Congress. The AFRO believes incumbent Rep. John Sarbanes is the best choice. Since 2007, Sarbanes has been a quiet but effective force on Capitol Hill. He is a member of the Committee on Natural Resources, where he serves on the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands and the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. At the start of the 112th Congress, he was also appointed to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, where he serves on the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation and the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education. In his questionnaire, Sarbanes demonstrated a keen understanding of the issues and how different policies were interconnected. For example, in the Affordable Care Act, Sarbanes injected a measure that would assess workforce capacity, recognizing a well-trained labor force as essential to a high-delivery health care system. He also pushed for incentives for medical students entering fields of shortage, including scholarships and loan forgiveness programs. Similarly, he authored legislation to create the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Option, which provides graduates with forgiveness of remaining student loan debt after 10 years of work in public service or non-profit jobs such as teachers, nurses and first responders. Also, Sarbanes has sponsored or is otherwise championing measures to revive the manufacturing industry, to beat back state efforts to marginalize minority voters and to protect the Chesapeake Bay, a key Maryland resource. Sarbanes’ opponent, David H. Lockwood is an IRS consultant from Silver Spring, whose campaign seems to center on a deficit-reduction plan that involves progressively higher taxes. But while Mr. Lockwood’s answers to our questionnaire were satisfactory, they were lacking in detail. Lockwood, a consultant under contract with the Internal Revenue Service, has developed a Progressive SelfAdjusting Flat Tax Plan, which is a unique proposal which he says will reduce the $3.7 trillion dollar federal budget, and spread more fairly the tax burden Americans currently face.
4th Congressional District
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erhaps of all the primary races in Maryland, the race for U.S. Senate promises to be the most exciting. First-term Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D) is being challenged by a field of eight contenders. In addition to Cardin’s, the AFRO received questionnaires from three other candidates. One, Dr. Lih Young sent back a 22-page, incoherent ramble about the supposed crimes of “MURDER-fraud- crime- injustice networks.” The other, Blaine Taylor—a former AFRO reporter and former campaign and congressional press secretary, who has been running for public office, unsuccessfully, since 1982—paid short shrift to the questions. The third, State Sen. C. Anthony Muse poses the biggest challenge to the incumbent. A minister by vocation, Muse represented Maryland’s 26th Legislative District in the state House of Delegates, for two terms (1995-1999); and in the State Senate for two terms (2007 to present). So far, he has garnered a healthy dose of support from Black clergy in Baltimore—where he is originally from—and Prince George’s County. But Cardin, too, has friends within the Black ministerial fraternity, mostly due to his congressional staffer Jerome Stephens, a Baltimore minister. And it remains to be seen if Muse’s clergy base can counter Cardin’s firm support within the Jewish community. But, based on the 2006 Senate race, Cardin may struggle to capture Black voters in the electorate-rich centers of Baltimore and Prince George’s County. The senator lost many votes to his opponent, former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele in those populous Democratic strongholds though he beat Steele by 10 percentage points overall. And now, Cardin has to battle what Muse represents: an opportunity to install an African American in the U.S. Senate—which has been notoriously lacking in diversity. Black voters— especially the estimated 300,000 who joined the rolls to support Barack Obama in 2008—may very well vote for that symbol. But beyond being a symbol, Muse demonstrated a firm grasp of national and international issues. To create jobs, he suggested reinvesting in the manufacturing industry, encouraging innovation and growth among small businesses and retraining and retooling unemployed workers for emerging jobs. While he supports President Obama’s health care plan, he also wants to focus on local health concerns such as cancer clusters and the possible tie to environmental factors—legislation he introduced in the state Senate. The AFRO appreciated Muse’s measured response on the issue of women’s reproductive rights—though as a minister he does not support abortion. And, he has demonstrated his commitment to protecting the right to vote, as evidenced in his successful legislation, which gave ex-felons the right to vote after serving their time. But Cardin, too, has demonstrated a keen understanding of issues—including those specific to the AfricanAmerican community—and, more so given the length of his legislative experience. (He served five terms in the Maryland House of Delegates, 1967-1986; 10 terms in the US House of Representatives from 1987–2006 and one term in the Senate, 2007–present. In his first five years in the Senate, he worked across the aisle, securing a guaranteed dental benefit included in the reauthorization of CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) and the Affordable Care Act. He was also responsible for elevating the new National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health, he has lobbied for and won increased funding for small, women- and minority-owned businesses and secured the funding for Prince George’s Africa Trade Office. On March 27, Cardin also received Congressional Champion Award from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO)—a consortium of HBCUs—for his push to end deceptive voting practices in elections. Cardin has also been praised for introducing legislation, the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA), S. 1670, which would protect minority communities by prohibiting the use of racial profiling by law enforcement officials. The AFRO’s decision about this endorsement came down to the importance of having a Black senator vs. the importance of having an experienced lawmaker on the Hill. And, we concluded that the cosmetics of having a Black face in the Senate do not outweigh the substantive benefits of having a politically deft lawmaker, who is able to work across the aisle. To advance his agenda—and especially those that benefit the Black community—President Obama, who early on registered his support for Cardin in this race, needs all the help he can get, and especially the kind of unstinting support Cardin provides. For these and other reasons, we endorse Benjamin Cardin for U.S. Senate.
or U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards (D) her bid for reelection in the 4th Congressional District became considerably easier when former Prince George’s County state’s attorney Glenn Ivey withdrew from the race in January. It’s probably a relief for the fledgling lawmaker, whose Capitol Hill career began in 2008 after a bruising primary contest with eight-term legislator Rep. Al Wynn. Edwards may yet face some difficulties during the General Election, however: In the redrawing of congressional districts this year, Edwards exchanged some of Montgomery County’s Democrats for a less-reliably Democratic part of Anne Arundel County. Still, come April, Edwards should be a shoo-in for the Democratic nomination. The incumbent is being challenged by Navy veteran Ian Garner and repeat candidate George McDermott. Garner did not complete an AFRO questionnaire. McDermott did, and after a thorough examination, we found that we could not, in good conscience, endorse this perennial office-seeker. Not only did Mr. McDermott lack the appropriate training and/or experience that would make him a good legislator, but also his answers were at times incoherent and mostly fixated on what seemed to be his pet issue – corruption in the judicial system. On the other hand, we found Edwards’ answers to be thorough and demonstrative of her grasp of the issues. The lawmaker continues to be one of the unabashedly progressive voices in Congress. And, she has remained as outspoken in her stances concerning campaign finance reform and ethics, domestic violence and other women’s issues, universal health care and other issues as she was before joining Congress. Perhaps informed by her background as a systems engineer working on NASA’s Spacelab project and as an advocate for Public Citizen and the Center for a New Democracy, which acts as a watchdog on matters of campaign finance reform, ethics and consumer issues, Edwards is a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Science and Technology Committee and the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics Committee). Edwards has sponsored or co-sponsored the 21st Century Investment Act of 2011, which is meant to spur domestic manufacturing and innovation; a bill that would overturn the Supreme Court decision that applied the First Amendment to corporations, allowing them to spend unlimited money to influence elections; and a provision in the Affordable Care Act to prevent price gouging by private insurers among other measures. She has also been an outspoken advocate for bills that would spur job growth, make health care accessible for all, block attempts to stymie voters, improve the nation’s education system and so on. For these, and many other reasons, the AFRO endorses Rep. Donna Edwards in the Democratic primary for the 4th Congressional seat.
7th Congressional District
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t is rare for U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D) to go unchallenged come election time. And this year was no different as the eight-term lawmaker faces two contenders in the Democratic Primary. As in years past, however, the AFRO has no qualms in endorsing Cummings’ bid for his long-held seat—especially since his opponents did not complete AFRO questionnaires. Rep. Cummings has always demonstrated sensitivity to the issues of the constituents he serves, an understanding he, no doubt, gained from his humble background. Additionally, despite his success as an attorney and as a national legislator, he remains accessible to the everyman. More than that, we commend Congressman Cummings for his pursuit of policies that would improve the lives of his constituents, African Americans and other vulnerable communities nationwide. Cummings was one of the first watchmen on the wall to warn of the ills of predatory lending and the foreclosure tsunami that followed in its wake. Since the crisis, the lawmaker has worked hard to mitigate its effects. And, in the 112th Congress he continued that fight, hosting regular foreclosure prevention seminars and introducing legislation to encourage lenders to pursue loan modification instead of foreclosure for eligible homeowners, to provide grants to create mediation programs for homeowners facing foreclosure and other measures. Understanding the importance of the U.S. Postal Service to poorer communities, the lawmaker introduced a bill to make the foundering USPS more viable. And the lawmaker has recognized the ongoing needs for jobs in inner-city communities, hosting regular job fairs in Baltimore City. In addition to legislation, Cummings also brings years of experience—and attendant clout—to the table. A former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, he is currently a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, serving on both the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transport and the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. And, he is the ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In his latter role, Cummings has led investigations into prescription drug price gouging and how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fees may have precipitated foreclosures. For these and other reasons, the AFRO puts its weight behind Rep. Elijah Cummings (D) in the race for the 7th Congressional District House seat.