Barbara Mikulski

[HappyWarrior]

Barbara Ann Mikulski became the first Democratic woman elected to the United States Senate to hold a seat not previously held by her husband in 1986.  My question is whether you think will retire in the 2008 election.  If so who do you think will take over her seat?

I think it will be either Representative Chris Van Hollen or Representative John Sarbanes.  Van Hollen is a big member of the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives.  Sarbanes is the son of former Senator Paul Sarbanes and holds the seat formerly held by both his father and the other two most recent Senators elected from Maryland, Ben Cardin in 2006 and Barbara Mikulski in 1986.

[TheresNoMoney]

She was just re-elected in 2004, so she's not up until 2010.

And yes, I do think she will retire in 2010.

[Kevin]

She was just re-elected in 2004, so she's not up until 2010.

And yes, I do think she will retire in 2010.

Yeah she will most likely retire as she has had health problems too.

[HappyWarrior]

Whoops, forgot that lol sorry.

[Person Man]

What's wrong with her?

[memphis]

Maryland is about as safe for the Dems as they come. I'm not sweating this one.

[WalterMitty]

bob ehrlich.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

bob ehrlich.

Why would Maryland vote in a former Governor who couldn't even win reelection? That puts him in a far weaker position than William Weld or Tony Knowles.

Ehrlich has basically said he's done with politics anyway.

[Kevin]

bob ehrlich.

Why would Maryland vote in a former Governor who couldn't even win reelection? That puts him in a far weaker position than William Weld or Tony Knowles.

Ehrlich has basically said he's done with politics anyway.

In an interview with the Washington post shortly after his defeat he said he was keeping his options about his politcal future open.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

He's not going to win though. If O'Malley ends up unpopular he might be able to retake the governorship in 2010, but he can't win a Senate seat.

[Verily]

He's not going to win though. If O'Malley ends up unpopular he might be able to retake the governorship in 2010, but he can't win a Senate seat.

Maybe he could against a really bad Democratic candidate, but it would have to be someone even worse than Kweisi Mfume would have been.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

He wouldn't stand a prayer against Van Hollen or Sarbanes obviously.

[Kevin]

He's not going to win though. If O'Malley ends up unpopular he might be able to retake the governorship in 2010, but he can't win a Senate seat.

Yeah he is kind of backed into a corner as it seems O'Malley is kind of in the middle of a politcal mess and is going to have to make some very unpopular decisions of the next couple of years which may come back to haunt him.   

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

What I love about Maryland is O'Malley only won 1 city and 4 counties, and one of those counties might as well have been a statistical tie. And he still won, and by a rather healthy margin. A 50/50 election in Maryland would have the Democrat winning only Baltimore and 2 counties.

[Kevin]

What I love about Maryland is O'Malley only won 1 city and 4 counties, and one of those counties might as well have been a statistical tie. And he still won, and by a rather healthy margin. A 50/50 election in Maryland would have the Democrat winning only Baltimore and 2 counties.

That is Maryland for you,and I'm just as surprised as you are everytime I look at those facts it never ceases to amaze me.

[Conan]

O'Malley won 5 counties and one city.

[Adlai Stevenson]

If Michael Steele runs again and 2010 is an open seat race in a Republican year, I would be worried.  Steele ran better than any Republican Senatorial candidate had in about 30 years in Maryland. 

[WalterMitty]

note to brtd:  i am NOT predicting bob ehrilich to win.  so dont go start a million threads about my 'crazy predictions'

i am stating that i do believe bob ehrlich would be the strongest republican candidate.

[Kevin]

If Michael Steele runs again and 2010 is an open seat race in a Republican year, I would be worried.  Steele ran better than any Republican Senatorial candidate had in about 30 years in Maryland. 

The only reason he lost was due to 2006 being a very bad year for the Republicans,Also in 2010 Iraq maybe resolved by then,Which takes the burden off the Republicans and with the high chance of a Democratic President this all means that 2010 could be a good year for Republicans.

[sethm0]

 At this point, van Hollen seems like the most likely candidate to replace Mikulski. He's popular and he's a fighter.

 The only Republican I can think of with a chance would be Steele, but I'm actually thinking that van Hollen will make a better campaigner than Cardin was and Steele will have an uphill battle.

 O'Malley seems happy being governor. I can't see him running. Erlich is probably dead. Sarbanes may run, but I have a feeling he will be intimidated by van Hollen and would be likely to wait for Cardin to retire in a term or two.

[Jaggerjack]

If Michael Steele runs again and 2010 is an open seat race in a Republican year, I would be worried.  Steele ran better than any Republican Senatorial candidate had in about 30 years in Maryland. 

The only reason he lost was due to 2006 being a very bad year for the Republicans,Also in 2010 Iraq maybe resolved by then,Which takes the burden off the Republicans and with the high chance of a Democratic President this all means that 2010 could be a good year for Republicans.

ZOMG! IT WAS BAD REPUBLICAN YEAR SO REPUBLICAN COULDN'T WIN IN SOLID BLUE STATE!



Haven't you forgotten Ford from Tennessee?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

note to brtd:  i am NOT predicting bob ehrilich to win.  so dont go start a million threads about my 'crazy predictions'

i am stating that i do believe bob ehrlich would be the strongest republican candidate.

The question was "Who do you think will replace Barbara Mikulski?" and you simply replied "bob ehrlich"

As for being the strongest Republican candidate, that's like being the winner of a snail race.

O'Malley won 5 counties and one city.

Do you know how to count? I wouldn't be surprised if you can't of course.

[Conan]

note to brtd:  i am NOT predicting bob ehrilich to win.  so dont go start a million threads about my 'crazy predictions'

i am stating that i do believe bob ehrlich would be the strongest republican candidate.

The question was "Who do you think will replace Barbara Mikulski?" and you simply replied "bob ehrlich"

As for being the strongest Republican candidate, that's like being the winner of a snail race.

O'Malley won 5 counties and one city.

Do you know how to count? I wouldn't be surprised if you can't of course.

Try Cnn.com.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

You trust a site that only puts up preliminary results and never updates it after the initial election over Dave's maps?

Dave has said never to use cnn.com or other secondary sources as sources when making maps because they are unreliable. It's like citing wikipedia as a source.

[Kevin]

If Michael Steele runs again and 2010 is an open seat race in a Republican year, I would be worried.  Steele ran better than any Republican Senatorial candidate had in about 30 years in Maryland. 

The only reason he lost was due to 2006 being a very bad year for the Republicans,Also in 2010 Iraq maybe resolved by then,Which takes the burden off the Republicans and with the high chance of a Democratic President this all means that 2010 could be a good year for Republicans.

ZOMG! IT WAS BAD REPUBLICAN YEAR SO REPUBLICAN COULDN'T WIN IN SOLID BLUE STATE!



Haven't you forgotten Ford from Tennessee?

Ford came close because it was a bad Republican year and everyone was angry at Bush and Iraq,Along with GOP corruption combind with the fact that TN's Democratic Governor was very well liked and won every county in the state in his reelection bid. Also Ford didn't win.