via Memeorandum Wayne Curry, former Prince George's County Executive and a number of other notable black Democrats have thrown their support behind Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele's bid for the senate. Mr. Curry and the lawmakers said Democratic l...

Can you have a caption contest for a phrase?

Steele, who as lieutenant governor is the first African American elected statewide in Maryland, said he was humbled by the support. "I said I did not want this [campaign] to be so much about party but about the people," he said. "And these people understand that."

Ron Walters, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, said the endorsements could be significant. "This is going to go through the black community like a rocket," he said. "It's going to be the talk of the county, the state, maybe even the nation."

The Maryland Dems are dependent on the black vote, but throw only occasional political crumbs to their single largest constituency. The unions and old-time Baltimore white nabobs control the party, and have selected one of their hacks, a party-line white limousine liberal, instead of a qualified black who was narrowly beaten in the primary.

I hope Steele pulls out a victory, as the hypocritical smug stand-patism of the liberal Maryland Dems needs a shake-up very badly.

How about the theory that a black candidate always polls better than they do on election day? Or does that only apply to black Democrats?

Yeah, but according to white, liberal Democrats, Michael Steele isn't black.

I've heard it repeated as the conventional wisdom about the Ford-Corker race in Tennessee a number of times. Just ask the "Fox All-Stars".

I concur, but from my viewpoint as a partisan in a state that has been dominated by a Democrat machine for 30+ years, I look at the polls and say given the biases I know exist, the 5% gap is within the margin of error. If I remember the Erlich/Kennedy-Townsend race correctly, Kennedy-Townsend had around a 5% lead at this point.

It's not a margin of error issue--these are averages of numerous polls and consistent over time. Now, there may be some sort of systematic bias at work but given that it's a traditionally Democratic state, my guess would still be that Cardin pulls it out. That Steele is even making it a legit contest is noteworthy in and of itself.

A 5.3% gap a week from the election is going to be hard to close.

I wonder if the polls and media are actually giving Cardin a push. I would call it within the margin of error and call the race a toss-up. Given that the seat has been held by a Democrat for 30+ years, I'm happy that it is this close.