Where is Ben Cardin?

Rumor has it that we have a hot Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate nomination. You'd never know watching Washington area television stations. Neither Reps. Ben Cardin or Kweisi Mfume have commercials in the DC media market. Indeed, watching television might give you the impression that Montgomery businessman Josh Rales has the nomination sewn up.

Never mind that Prince George's and Montgomery cast around 37 percent of the votes in the 2002 Democratic primary. More Democrats turned out in the primary in Prince George's (106,115) and Montgomery (106,115) than in any other jurisdictions in the state. Baltimore County trailed over 10,000 votes behind Montgomery for third place.

But we just don't rate down here. I don't know how these Baltimore politicians think ordinary people who don't follow politics closely will get to know them. Perhaps by osmosis? Mfume at least has an excuse as his campaign lacks the financial juice of Cardin's effort. Moreover, Mfume's leadership of the NAACP has likely made him reasonably well-known among the region's sizeable African-American Democratic electorate.

However, Cardin may be waiting too long to start taking some of the cash out of his relatively fat wallet. Cardin must have support from the region if he wants to best Mfume. He is especially vulnerable in Montgomery thanks to Rales' self-funded folksy media barrage. Rales may be a political unknown but his commercials present a positive image and outline issue positions popular with core Democrats. Allan Lichtman is also making an aggressive effort and may capture liberal voters who might otherwise vote for Cardin.

Advertising in the DC media market is frustrating for politicians. Unlike in Baltimore, a majority of the viewers are people who live in DC or Virginia and cannot vote in the election. However, Cardin cannot afford to wait much longer to begin an aggressive campaign if he doesn't want to let his shot at a Senate nomination slip away.