[Update: Not so fast baby! Cardin was ahead in the real results back when 1% or precincts were reporting. Now (11:30) that 48% of precincts are in, Steele is up by 16,000.]
Cardin has been declared the winner over Steele evidently based on exit polls since the last results I saw showed only 1% of precincts reporting. This one is my heartbreak of the night. Even though he never did pull ahead of Cardin in the polls, he consistently picked up momentum, and I really did think he would pull off the win.. As I have said in the past though, win or lose, Steele is a winner. He has been competitive in a state that is really tough for Republicans and has made inroads with black voters as well. His campaign was almost flawless and his innovative campaign ads and his performance in the debates particularly were incredibly impressive. Steele has shown himself to be a star on the national stage and I have no doubt that we will be seeing a lot more of Michael Steele.
Update: I don’t know how likely it is that the Steele call was made on faulty exit poll results, but I will be thrilled if that one was called wrong.
Update II: The Washington Post has pulled back their call for Cardin! Fox News has not yet done so, but is discussing it.
Steele was the best candidate for the job and the voters of Maryland blew it.
We won’t here the last of Steele. He’ll be back.
Obviously, Maryland is racist against black Republicans.
They called it too early. I’m waiting for the offical results.
too early. A few minutes ago, Michael Barone said that the exit polls were so bad that Fox has stopped using them to project winners. He can’t call BS on the projections Fox has already made, but I thought I detected something in his voice that made me think (hope? wish?) that he has his doubts about some of the calls already made.
C’mon, Lorie! Is being around those TV nincompoops rotting your brain? I’m seeing Cardin up 3% with only 13% of the precincts reporting. Come down off the ledge.
Steele was the best candidate for the job and the voters of Maryland blew it.
This is why Republicans will always lose. They have no respect for the wisdom of the electorate. Keep it up; the Dems will have a majority for the next 50 years.
If by “innovative campaign ads” you mean “deliberately deceptive,” then I suppose yes, they were that.
Fortunately, Maryland voters saw past the ads to the actual record and went with the right candidate.
I didn’t understand the early call for Cardin either, but assumed it must be based on some pretty convincing numbers. I will be thrilled if that call is wrong.
What is so hard about understanding that the traitor, my ex party, republicans ignored the fact that 76% oof all Americans wanted better border security.
They turned their backs on 76% of law abiding citizens, turned their backs on the laws of this land, and more importantly, turned their backs on the constitution and the voters who voted them in to listen to what they had to say.
Remember Republicans, Bush on down:
For the People, By the people.
Ha Ha, republicans, you lose.
Yea! The Washington Post has pulled their Cardin call back. Fox News has not yet.
What is going on with Maryland. Why are all the networks putting Maryland in the Dem. column when CNN on their website has Steele up 337,325 to Cardin’s 324,559? What is happening out there!?!?
Fox News has called Sherrod Brown defeating Mike DeWine in Ohio. That sucks. He’s the second Tom Noe/Bob Taft casualty after Blackwell fell to Strickland. That means higher taxes here in Ohio.
Oh, I feel for you Kim. And we are having technical probs with said electronic machines (oh, yeah, these are SO much better than the paper ballots, Libs). Of course, since the Dems are pulling ahead here, there won’t be many complaints THIS year about the machines.
The only silver lining is Deborah Pryce, but the race is so close. I have a sinking feeling though.
Issue 5…well, I didn’t think Issue 4 should have been passed as a constitutional amendment, but this one is even worse. Bad enough not to have a ciggie with my beer in Columbus, now I’ll have to travel to another STATE.
Well, Kim, hold on to your wallet…I know I am.
Oh, hell, now Betty Montgomery has lost too.
Damn you Taft/Noe. Damn you both.
Oh, the above is me…I post as “cheshirecat” on other blogs.
Ken Blackwell was my heartbreak tonight.
What is going on with Maryland. Why are all the networks putting Maryland in the Dem. column when CNN on their website has Steele up 337,325 to Cardin’s 324,559? What is happening out there!?!?
You would have thought that after Flordia in 2000, they would learn…pfft.
Yep. Issue 5 won out. Sucks, but oh well…
…
Walker
ColumbusUnderground.com