I made a few comments in response to Pictoratus excellent article: The Democrats who cried wolf but the article that I'm including a few clips from -- in the Tuesday, October 31, 2006 edition of The Washington Times really meshes with some comments I made in my reply there, and bears expounding upon.

In an article headlined: Black Democrats support Steele, the Washington Times has a few great quotes about just how much alienating the Democratic party has accomplished towards Blacks in Maryland.

Remember, this is the party that has long counted on the NAACP to deliver hordes of votes for their candidates, and this is now the party that finds some of it's past elected leaders (who happen to be Black) out supporting a Republican who also happens to be Black. While some in the party, including an acquaintance that happens to also be Black, look at Michael Steele and decide that they are looking at someone that is whiter than the old white guy that the Democrats are running against him, there are others that are very, very, very disappointed in their party and having been taken for granted by the leadership in their party.

Would it have been pandering to have the Democratic party put their full support behind Kwesi Mfume, former head of the NAACP, and former Congress person himself, instead of the party choice of Ben Cardin, an old white guy who has been in congress for years and years himself? Maybe, but when you are the party of pandering, and the party that claims to be most in line with minorities such is normally the price you would pay.

Maryland is a strange state in some ways. Prince Georges county has a fairly large Black majority, while Montgomery County is largely white and affluent. Parts of counties around Baltimore have a large contigent of Blacks and other minorities, but most of Southern Maryland remains white. The Eastern shore and Western Maryland also continue to be primarily white. Especially Western Maryland, where many of the residents can trace back their history of involvement with the KKK fairly easily.

That Prince Georges county contingent was put up against Montgomery County, and much of the rest of the white dominated parts of the state during the Democratic primary, and Kwesi Mfume saw his chances at getting the Democratic nomation for U.S. Senate from Maryland dashed pretty handily. Mfume never got support from the party, and was basically ignored because the Democratic machine had already decided that Ben Cardin was the better candidate to run as an anti-Bush vote getter. (More on that anti-Bush sentiment in another article later).

Had Mfume received more support among the Democrat hierarchy, he very well could have captured the nomination and the coming Senate race would probably not even be close. Instead, Steele continues to close the gap in a state with a fairly heavy Democrat majority among registered voters.

In anycase, check out a few of the quotes I've clipped in the comments area. It's very interesting reading.