Meet The Press: Cardin vs. Steele

[Moooooo]

Anyone catch it?  Im wathching now and damn... This is the first time Ive seen Cardin perform well in a debate.  He's got a fire in his belly today.

Steele's a good salesman, but its clear who has a stronger grasp of policy and the issues.

[AuH2O]

To you at least.

[mgrossbe]

I think this was a push. Both canidates had their moments. I thought the best point was when Steele stated okay i am outed i am a republican.  I think steele really need a victory to gain so momentum right before the election. So under that assumption i think cardin takes the day. barring any mistakes or scandals i think cardin pulls this out.

[Moooooo]

To you at least.

lol, you're probably right.  I just spoke with a few people who actually thought Steele won.  I must have missed something.  He refused to answer the last 3-4 questions.  Abortion, he claims shouldnt matter cause he's running for Senate.  WTF?  What would he cut from the budget?  No answer.  How would he have voted on Alito?  No answer, says thats a 'gotcha question'.

[Whacker77]

Cardin has handled this race poorly because he hasn't done anything.  I'm sure he believed that all he had to do was win the primary and the seat was his.  Not a bad plan in Maryland, but his opponent is the best the Republicans could have asked for in this race.  I think Steele easily got the better of Cardin on MTP, but Cardin will still win this race by a comfortable margin.  As bad as he and Menendez are, both will win by 5 points or more.

[True Democrat]

If that was Cardin performing well, then he must have really sucked at all the other debates.

[Adlai Stevenson]

Steele bested Cardin.  I am now once again worried he could win.  I was really annoyed; he was really good despite the fact that he dodged almost every substantive question.  Cardin himself appeared inept and spent most of the time defending himself against Steele.  I really tensed when the Clarence Thomas question came up and Steele asked Cardin why he would have voted against him.  I think if enough people watched this then Steele really has momentum now and could maybe enough black votes to make this competetive.  I currently predict Cardin 53%-45%-2%, but I might be forced to change it soon. 

[Beet]

I agree, Steele is simply more charismatic, and he carried the debate.

I'm a little dismayed at how Cardin allowed Steele to portray himself as the outsider; Cardin may have been in Congress for years, but in the past 12 years and especially the past six, being a Democratic member of the House has been an effective outside status in D.C. The polarization of the past six years isn't just a Republicans-Democrats issue; it's happened largely under unified Republican control. Under unified control, the majority party has no incentive to compromise because it can get anything done without bipartisanship. The minority party has no incentive to compromise because it is being offered no compromise. For example, Steele asked Cardin why he didn't introduce a resolution for greater congressional oversight of the executive branch and Cardin pointed out that the House leadership refused to do so. Steele portrayed himself as running against the status quo when in reality a Steele victory would actually help uphold it.
It came out in the debate that Steele has been a Republican activist for decades, that he was state party chairman, and that he was recruited by Karl Rove, Cheney, and Liddy Dole. That's hardly very "outsider" or "new" to me. There's one guarantee that of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill in 2007; that's if the Democrats gain control of one chamber. In that case, the President and Congress of different parties will HAVE to work together to pass a budget. Guaranteed bipartisanship. Cardin's carrying the banner of the outsiders here.

[Akno21]

Cardin didn't seem as comfortable as Steele did, he was very tense, and when he did make his points, they often came across more forcefully than they were intended. Steele started off well, but his dodging answers on stem cell research, abortion, and nominations brought him back down a little.

[Kevin]

Solid win for Steele. Also Cardin flip-flopped and didn't give clear cut answers.   

[AuH2O]

Politicians always dodge questions. Cardin was not very coherent on Iraq, for instance. Steele dodged some too but I don't think most viewers were scribbling flow sheets to grade the debate.

Maryland has been a difficult contest to play the horse-race game with. I think the polls are less valuable than in most other races and the outcome less predictable.

[Kevin]

Politicians always dodge questions. Cardin was not very coherent on Iraq, for instance. Steele dodged some too but I don't think most viewers were scribbling flow sheets to grade the debate.

Maryland has been a difficult contest to play the horse-race game with. I think the polls are less valuable than in most other races and the outcome less predictable.

This could be like Va in 2005 where the Republican was predicted to win and where the Democrat won comfortably. I have a strong feeling it is going to be the same thing in MD exept the Republican is going to win comfortably. 

[MarkWarner08]

Politicians always dodge questions. Cardin was not very coherent on Iraq, for instance. Steele dodged some too but I don't think most viewers were scribbling flow sheets to grade the debate.

Maryland has been a difficult contest to play the horse-race game with. I think the polls are less valuable than in most other races and the outcome less predictable.

This could be like Va in 2005 where the Republican was predicted to win and where the Democrat won comfortably. I have a strong feeling it is going to be the same thing in MD exept the Republican is going to win comfortably. 

Can you give me one reason why Michael Steele will win in an election year where being a Republican is like "carrying a scarlet letter"?

[Kevin]

Politicians always dodge questions. Cardin was not very coherent on Iraq, for instance. Steele dodged some too but I don't think most viewers were scribbling flow sheets to grade the debate.

Maryland has been a difficult contest to play the horse-race game with. I think the polls are less valuable than in most other races and the outcome less predictable.

This could be like Va in 2005 where the Republican was predicted to win and where the Democrat won comfortably. I have a strong feeling it is going to be the same thing in MD exept the Republican is going to win comfortably. 

Can you give me one reason why Michael Steele will win in an election year where being a Republican is like "carrying a scarlet letter"?

Because Cardin is running a piss poor campagin. For Christ's sake I thought his campagin commericals were some type of comedy schame or joke at first. The man is a Democratic version of Jerry Kilgore.

[Moooooo]

The black vote in the Steel vs. Cardin race will be very hard to predict.  How many blacks will walk into the polls on election day and realize they maybe casting their vote against the first possible black senator from Maryland?  You could see some crossover votes there.  Not sure if it will be enough.  We'll know in a week or so.

[MarkWarner08]

Politicians always dodge questions. Cardin was not very coherent on Iraq, for instance. Steele dodged some too but I don't think most viewers were scribbling flow sheets to grade the debate.

Maryland has been a difficult contest to play the horse-race game with. I think the polls are less valuable than in most other races and the outcome less predictable.

This could be like Va in 2005 where the Republican was predicted to win and where the Democrat won comfortably. I have a strong feeling it is going to be the same thing in MD exept the Republican is going to win comfortably. 

Can you give me one reason why Michael Steele will win in an election year where being a Republican is like "carrying a scarlet letter"?

Because Cardin is running a piss poor campagin. For Christ's sake I thought his campagin commericals were some type of comedy schame or joke at first. The man is a Democratic version of Jerry Kilgore.

Jerry Kilgore was a 20 year Congressman with vast knowledge of the issues? I also had no idea Jerry Kilgore was a Democrat running in a year where the Republican President is enjoying Carter like approval ratings.

[AuH2O]

Wow, you're dumb. First of all, Bush was polling higher at this time in 2005. Second of all, Virginia is nothing like Maryland. Third of all, AG is a very common position from which to run for Governor.

[they don't love you like i love you]

First of all, Bush was polling higher at this time in 2005.

aka, things are worse for Steele.

Second of all, Virginia is nothing like Maryland.

Yes,it is far more conservative.

Third of all, AG is a very common position from which to run for Governor.

And House is a very common position from which to run for Senate.

[AuH2O]

I wasn't comparing Steele and Kilgore at all. I was just pointing out that was a stupid comparison to begin with.

[poughies]

Its simple for me... if steele gets 33% of the black vote its over.

[Sam Spade]

Just saw the debate.  For Nick's sake, here's my opinion.

Steele won, though I can't say how this compares to earlier contests (didn't see them).  He dominated the first half-hour, it was closer to a toss-up the second half-hour, but he still won that also.  It's not as if Cardin came across badly (except during the Iraq exchange) and overall I would say that Steele did not really answer questions directly as much as Cardin did, though neither were very good in this respect. 

What Steele does very well in debating is two things:  He monopolizes the screen and the conversation; most of the time it felt like Steele was dictating the debate (and sometimes he was) and Cardin was off to the side.  He did this without seeming controlling or mean to me.  Second, he took Russert's questions and reframed in the best angle to fit what he wanted to say.  I don't feel like he said anything really earth-shattering and most of the time he wasn't really answering the questions except in broad terms, but they were the terms he wanted to paint.

Cardin's strongest points were when he could talk passionately about issues in broad terms, like on the stem-cell issue, in which I think his overall response bested Steele's (this was the only time).  But too often, he allowed himself to be pigeonholed into things by Steele and by Russert by giving responses that sounded too much like a policy-wonk (especially on Iraq).  And often it just appeared like he was almost like a secondary figure, it's hard for me to describe it any other way.

Anyway, we'll see what happens, or if anyone actually watches these things or it changes people's votes (which I sincerely doubt).

[Eraserhead]

I watched this. I thought both had their highs and lows. I'm tired of hearing about how Steele has a realistic shot of winning the general election though. He really doesn't.

[AuH2O]

Actually he has a pretty clear chance. He holds Republicans, splits indies, and takes 1/3 of the black vote. He wins.

Guaranteed? No. Likely? No. Possible? Without question.

[Eraserhead]

Actually he has a pretty clear chance. He holds Republicans, splits indies, and takes 1/3 of the black vote. He wins.

Guaranteed? No. Likely? No. Possible? Without question.

Anything is possible on some level but I'm just saying it isn't realistic at all. He had a lead in one poll (of a point) all year...that is it.

[AuH2O]

Actually he has a pretty clear chance. He holds Republicans, splits indies, and takes 1/3 of the black vote. He wins.

Guaranteed? No. Likely? No. Possible? Without question.

Anything is possible on some level but I'm just saying it isn't realistic at all. He had a lead in one poll (of a point) all year...that is it.

Ditto for Webb. But in Steele's case, the reason I think he has a non-negligible chance to win is that it's unclear how accurate polling on this race is. I think there's a chance the polls are not really indicative of who will turnout, in what numbers.