The Washington Post endorsed Ben Cardin and utterly rejected the candidacy of Michael Steele in their lead editorial today:
The contrast in the experience, knowledge, and ability between Ben Cardin and his opponent is one that Democrats need to bring home in the final days of this campaign.ONE CANDIDATE in Maryland's U.S. Senate race, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin , would be a natural leader in the Senate by dint of his command of issues, proven integrity, formidable intellect and unstinting work ethic. The other candidate, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, deploys platitudes and gauzy rhetoric to disguise a tissue-thin grasp of policy. Mr. Cardin would give Maryland legislative clout from Day One; in Annapolis and on Capitol Hill, he has been an effective, knowledgeable, serious lawmaker. Mr. Steele is hard-pressed to claim a significant achievement in public service.
Slightly frumpy and occasionally professorial, Mr. Cardin, a Democrat, is sometimes stereotyped as a drab policy wonk. In fact he is fervent about ideas, chief among them that government should be effective, accountable and proactive. No one who has heard Mr. Cardin on the subject of health insurance, Social Security, or tax and trade policy will conclude that he lacks passion -- or an impressive mastery of detail. It is that passion and attention to the mechanics of government that have earned him such respect for pragmatism and problem-solving.
To a degree rare among Democrats, Mr. Cardin has broken through the barriers of partisanship and minority-party impotence in Congress, enabling him to craft major bills to help senior citizens and reform the Internal Revenue Service. He forged strategic partnerships with key congressional Republicans, notably former Ohio representative Rob Portman, who is now the White House budget director. Such alliances could help Mr. Cardin play a key role in the Senate on a range of issues, no matter who is in the majority.
Mr. Cardin is well known to Marylanders. While still in his 30s, he was the youngest-ever speaker of the state's House of Delegates. In that role and in Congress, he has been sensible, tough-minded and independent. He broke with many Democrats and labor unions to back the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Mr. Steele, a Republican, deserves credit for helping move Maryland's Republican Party in a centrist and more appealing direction. But during the campaign he has done everything in his power to sidestep questions of substance while positioning himself mainly as a friendly guy. At times he has bristled when pressed on, say, abortion, as if it were somehow unfair to delve deeper into his thinking. His economic prescription is tax cuts and more spending -- a recipe for budgetary disaster. As lieutenant governor, he promised a study on Maryland's death penalty, but he waited three years to produce a report that the governor did not see fit to make public.
Mr. Steele recently said on talk radio that the race is "not about the issues so much as it is about the style of leadership that we need to elect in Washington." We're old-fashioned enough to believe that leadership arises from a mastery of policy and a commitment to positive change. Mr. Cardin has both, and as a senator he would be an asset to the state of Maryland.
