"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world." —Margaret Mead, (1901-1978)

In past columns, I've urged readers to become knowledgeable about local politics to overcome their common cynicism and recognize that a well-informed citizenry can get rid of mediocre and ineffective elected representatives and put good people into office.   Locally, I reasoned that folks in the Takoma Park and Silver Spring neighborhoods are among the most progressive in the state and deserve like-minded representation.  

In the spring, for instance, Steve Silverman, Mike Subin. Gareth Murray and Ida Rubin were all   projected to be winners in the recent primaries.   In fact, early polling picked at-large councilmembers Floreen and Subin as the projected top vote getters and Congressman Al Wynn was a sure thing.  

Both the Washington Post and the Gazette were endorsing and encouraging voters to back Robert "Bo" Newsome and Reggie Felton, two at large council candidates known for their cooperative relationship with special interests and developers.   The Gazette , in fact, hardly mentioned progressive candidates Duchy Trachtenberg and Marc Elrich in their coverage.

The reasoning was basically sound.   Silverman was awash in developer money.   Subin hardly ever had to campaign - name recognition always did the trick for him.   Ruben, in office for 32 years, claimed she had brought thousands of dollars of patronage funds to her district and got the endorsement of liberal groups and unions (SEIU, MCEA, Progressive MD, the Firefighters).   Delegate  Gareth Murray secured similar endorsements.   Statistically, incumbents are re-elected 95 percent of the time.   So, who expected anything different?

Incumbents, both the deserving and not, count on their constituents to be one or more of the following:   uninformed, vote on the basis of past political favors and monies garnered for specific projects, have a firm handshake, or good public speaking skills.   And mostly, that these voters will not have the time or the inclination to look at their entire legislative record. In other words, they count on voters being only minimally aware of their actual legislative work and position on issues.   However, this time, something quite different occurred in our area, much to the credit of a very informed electorate.

Silverman's loss to Ike Leggett in the County Executive race was close to 2-1.   (According to financial reports, Silverman's cost per vote was approximately $80).   Subin was pushed out and Nancy Floreen came in fourth in the County Council at-large race.   Marc Elrich, who came in second, averaged all of $1.50/vote (for more analysis on cost per vote check out www.neighborsPAC.org).   Gareth Murray, endorsed by Progressive Maryland and the Sierra Club, came in a distant 7th place and last in the 20 th District House race.   And Jamie Raskin outpaced Senator Ida Ruben by a strong 2-1 margin.   In that race, Raskin energized a strong progressive base of voters with a huge group of volunteers and a very well-run campaign.

Although of course, it can't claim credit for all the results, a group called the Silver Spring/Takoma Park Progressive Neighbors, developed an approach that, if duplicated through out the rest of the county and state, could change the face of Maryland politics.  

Mentioned in an earlier column, this group of over 100-strong neighborhood activists, joined together and endorsed those candidates thought to have the best progressive values.   These values included a commitment to work toward schools that give all students an opportunity to reach their full potential, universal health care, affordable housing, an adequate living wage, environmental consciousness when exploring public transportation systems and land use, among others.   Their Voter Guide was distributed at community events and metro stations as well as at about 18 polling sites in District 20.

The comments from voters were encouraging and consistent, "this is exactly what I've been looking for."   One indication of their success was that in places where they were handed out, Hugh Bailey, a woefully underfunded candidate for County Council came in 3rd or 4th.   In places where the Guide was not handed out, he came in 7th or 8th (county-wide, he came in 7th out of 13 candidates).

Most of the other candidates they backed, won!   Heather Mizeur, Jamie Raskin, Ike Leggett, Marc Elrich, Duchy Trachtenberg, Valerie Ervin and Peter Franchot.   Donna Edwards, had she announced a bit earlier, might have won, and as it was, her very close race should motivate Al Wynn to re-think his conservative political strategies of the past.

In late October, Progressive Neighbors will sponsor an event honoring 2 candidates they endorsed who did not win - Donna Edwards and Aaron Klein--as well as Tom Perez and publicize and support their selection for 3 school board candidates: Shirley Brandman, Judy Docca and Nancy Navarro.   Look for publicity about the event and the date (check out their website: www.progressiveneighborsmd.org).

Cardin v. Steele v. Zeese

Regarding the Kwiesi Mfume/Ben Cardin race for the US Senate, Progressive Neighbors volunteers kept hearing voters indicate they wanted to vote for the candidate who had a better chance to beat Steele.   And so, they voted for Cardin.  

I'm not sure Cardin is the right choice.   His lackluster level of personal appeal and an unimpressive voting record, make me think he might do a lot worse than predicted.   Mfume had a charisma and personal appeal Cardin lacks.   Throw in low support from the African-American community and some of the best advertising Steele and the Republicans can buy and there's some question about who is the best choice.  

The Democrats may find themselves between a rock and a hard place.   Kevin Zeese, a capable third-party candidate, might not have done well against Mfume, but could draw more votes against Cardin.  

And, if Zeese goes higher than 3 percent, it might be enough to tilt the election to Steele.   The Dems, who didn't have much success with Gore, Kerry and Townsend, need to learn from the Raskin campaign and energize their base better than they have done in the past.

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