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By Andrew A. Green and David Nitkin

Rasmussen sees room to right if he runs
Democrat: The former Baltimore County executive is leaning toward running for the U.S. Senate as a social moderate and fiscal conservative.

August 23, 2005

SAYING HE THINKS there's room to run to the right in the Democratic primary, former Baltimore County Executive Dennis F. Rasmussen said he is "very much leaning toward" running in the U.S. Senate race to replace retiring Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes.
He said he has done polling and was pleased with the results - although he wouldn't say what they were - and is working on fundraising and outreach to community leaders.

He and the two major declared Democratic candidates, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin and former NAACP head Kweisi Mfume, all spent time in Ocean City last week working to drum up support at the Maryland Association of Counties conference. Socialist A. Robert Kaufman is also in the race.

Rasmussen, a former delegate and state senator born in Essex, said he would run as a social moderate and fiscal conservative, a combination that he believes presents the best chance for Democrats against presumed Republican candidate Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.

"That separates me from the two announced candidates, who have pretty much been actively involved with the far left of the Democratic Party," said Rasmussen, 58. "The majority of Democrats in Maryland, I believe, are moderates."

Mfume rejected yesterday the notion that his views were extreme, saying most voters eschew labels and prefer common-sense solutions. He said his support for ending the war in Iraq and bringing troops home promptly, for reproductive rights for women and for promoting a balanced federal budget was in keeping with the views of most Marylanders.

"We need an old-fashioned campaign, and not a coronation. There ought to be an array of ideas placed before voters," Mfume said.

Cardin's campaign declined to comment.

When Rasmussen lost his re-election attempt as county executive in 1990, it wasn't because he had a reputation as a moderate. Parodied as "Taxmussen," he was blamed for ballooning spending and taxes that led to a fiscal crisis in the county.

Copyright © 2005, The Baltimore Sun