Charges Fly in
Lively Campaign for 4th District
By Scott Shewfelt
Capital News Service
Thursday, Aug. 24, 2006
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Democratic candidates in Maryland's
4th District agree on one point: Money alone will not determine
the party's nominee.
After that, agreements are few and far between.
Incumbent Rep. Al Wynn is promising an "elbow-grease"
campaign, despite having raised more than $500,000, while
challenger Donna Edwards, who said she has raised $250,000,
believes Wynn's voting record will trump any financial advantage
he enjoys.
Edwards has aggressively attacked the seven-term incumbent's
voting record, particularly chiding his votes for the Iraq war
and his environmental record.
Wynn has responded angrily, defending his record while
calling Edwards a spectator who has never had to cast a vote,
and criticizing the fact that the bulk of her money has come
from out-of-state individuals.
"Unfortunately I'm not infallible like Ms. Edwards because
she has never had to cast a vote," Wynn said.
Edwards has been only too happy to point out Wynn's
fallibilities. She is particularly critical of his vote for the
Iraq war, a vote that Wynn now concedes was a mistake.
The war is an absolute failure and Wynn cannot run from that,
Edwards said, pointing to the recent primary defeat of Sen.
Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat and a vocal supporter
of the war, by an anti-war challenger.
"Lieberman-type Democrats are not going to last," Edwards
said. "Mr. Wynn is Maryland's Joe Lieberman."
Wynn said he was not the only Democrat to vote for the war
and that he acknowledged two years ago that it was a mistake.
Since that acknowledgement, he said, he has advocated for troop
removal, attacked the Bush administration and said that
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should be fired.
The sparring is likely to continue. Edwards said she will use
her campaign money to continue aggressively reaching out to
voters who want a change.
Edwards' latest filing with the Federal Election Commission
showed that she had raised more than $190,000 and still had
$99,282 in the bank as of June 30. She said the total has since
grown to $250,000, but the next FEC filing deadline is not until
the end of the month.
A third Democrat, George McDermott, now in his second bid to
unseat Wynn, had not raised the minimum $5,000 by June 30 that
would have required a report with the FEC. He believes he can
win with as little as $40,000, but acknowledges that, "Money
gives all kind of advantages, like better media access for one."
Wynn reported raising $522,075 and having $464,739 on hand,
according to the FEC.
McDermott attributed Wynn's lead to money from lobbyists:
Nearly half of Wynn's cash came from political action
committees.
For his part, Wynn questions Edwards' funding sources, saying
that while 72 percent of his individual contributions have been
from Maryland, only 4 percent of hers have been.
But Wynn downplays his overall financial advantage.
"Money alone will not win a race and I'm not relying on
money, I'm going to win on elbow grease," Wynn said.
That's probably wise, said Matthew A. Crenson, professor of
urban government and American political development at Johns
Hopkins University.
"Money is overrated," Crenson said, adding that the big
winners in political campaigns are the television stations that
reap the advertising revenue.
"It's not just a matter of ads, you need good ads," said
Crenson, who added that in this race the most important thing
for voters is whether Wynn got his position on Iraq right soon
enough.
Wynn said he is "very confident" about the race. Edwards and
McDermott are optimistic, too.
Still, said Crenson, "It's going to be very hard to unseat
Wynn." He noted that 95 percent of incumbents who run for
re-election win.
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