You make valid points and explained them very well. My personal opinion is that the Ben Jealous campaign made a big mistake when it tried to embrace New England style far-left politics that (as we see) aren't playing very well throughout our beautiful state. Such things may have motivated far-left primary voters in sufficient numbers to win the nomination, but when it comes to the General Election, there just aren't enough of them to make a big enough difference. I think everyone can agree that by and large, all things considered, Maryland STATEWIDE elections are won by TAKING THE CENTER.
There are many examples that illustrate how appealing to the fringe (or pandering to extreme partisans... on either side) is not a recipe for success. Even Governor Hogan knows and understands that. HOGAN IS WINNING because he's pulling-in Maryland voters from the center of the political spectrum: Republicans, Independents AND Democrats.
I'm just not seeing that type of broad support for Ben Jealous... he's not able to energize or excite the wide swathe of voters that are needed to win. Of course, the "base" of the Democratic party will vote for him (myself included). But that's because we are THE BASE, meaning we ALWAYS vote, we ONLY support Democrats, and we are CONSISTENT AND RELIABLE. Hogan, on the other hand, is able to appeal to the "soft-Democrats" and to the Independents who register as Democrats so that they can have a stronger voice in local elections.
As most people understand, there's only SO MUCH that the state party can do for a political novice like Ben Jealous. All things considered, he's done well for someone's first attempt at winning a statewide election. But in the end, only HE can "bring it home".
WINNER: Best US State Flag!
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