A heated primary battle is shaping up in a the newly drawn MD-06, intended to squeeze out the incumbent Roscoe Bartlett (R) by taking his western Maryland district and stretching it all the way down into solidly Democratic Montgomery County. The intent in Annapolis was to create a seat for state Sen. Rob Garagiola. Garagiola's racked up endorsements from labor, MoveOn.org, and many influential Democrats from Maryland including Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown and Rep. Steny H. Hoyer. His only plausible contender, businessman John Delaney, brings a personal fortune and a stated willingness to spend at least $1M of his own money to win, along with the endorsement of former President Bill Clinton.
Notably absent, however, is an endorsement of either candidate by the Congressman who once represented that slice of Montgomery County before redistricting, Rep Chris Van Hollen (MD-08). More below the squiggly wigglies.
On the surface, I guess it's easy enough for Van Hollen to rationalize staying out of this race. Whoever wins the primary has a tough battle ahead to unseat Bartlett, at which point Van Hollen will obviously support the primary winner. And Van Hollen will want to have good relations with the winner. Let the voters decide who they want to run against Bartlett, and then Van Hollen joins the fight.
On the other hand, why shouldn't we expect Van Hollen to step forward and endorse the progressive candidate in this race, Garagiola? I think the answer is Delaney's big money and big names. Despite the fact that the local Democrats who have taken sides have sided with Garigiola, Delaney's won the endorsement of Bill Clinton, followed up by the endorsement of The Washington Post.
I just wish Van Hollen would step up to the plate and make an endorsement one way or the other, show us where he stands. I can empathize with the quandary he must be in. As an idealist, I really want to see Garagiola win the primary. Yet his campaign has been misfiring with some tactical mistakes,
The campaign of Maryland congressional candidate Rob Garagiola mistakenly accused 6th district primary rival John Delaney of donating to former Governor Bob Ehrlich (R) last month.
and the fundraising appears to be far short of Delaney's (so short they wouldn't even release most recent figures when the Post was writing a story on the election).
Delaney’s campaign will report soon to the Federal Election Commission that it has raised more than $700,000 since the beginning of January, and that does not include what Delaney — who is worth upward of $50 million — has put into the race. ...Garagiola, whose campaign would not provide its latest fundraising totals, has not run any ads in the race (Wash Post, Published March 14, 2012
So the pragmatist in me concedes that, yes, Delaney has a better chance of unseating the Repug incumbent.
It's not an easy decision for a seasoned pol with an eye to forming alliances after November 2nd. Does that mean Representative Van Hollen gets a free pass for deciding to sit on the sidelines? I think not.