http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.politics23aug23,1,229086.column?coll=bal-mdpolitics-storyutil
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