On the electoral map, Maryland just got bluer and Gov. Martin O'Malley's future got brighter.
Riding the wave of excitement over Barack Obama's historic presidential bid and voter discontent over the economy, the Democratic Party enlisted more than 225,000 new voters for this election and claimed victories that extended its powerful base.
O'Malley wagered political capital on a slot-machine referendum and won after his Republican predecessor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., failed to get a slots plan through the Democrat-controlled legislature.
The electorate approved early voting, a proposal that's widely seen to benefit Democrats. And the party's candidate in the 1st Congressional District, drawn to give an advantage to Republicans, faces a nail-biter that won't be decided until officials count absentee and provisional ballots.
Despite those victories, Democrats face pitfalls ahead. Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat who split from the administration to oppose slots, pledged yesterday to "fight to make sure Maryland taxpayers don't get fleeced if this bad slots plan falls flat." And party leaders on the national and state level must address the economy to ensure they don't face the same backlash Republicans suffered.
"The mood is basically euphoria on the part of the Democrats," said Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a stalwart in the state Democratic machine. "Now they are going to have to work to keep that sense that they have the ability to govern and move the state and nation forward. And if they don't, we could be in a pickle in two years."
In many ways, O'Malley solidified his position as he faces re-election in 2010. The number of newly registered Democrats this year amounts to roughly twice the number of voters that gave O'Malley his margin of victory over Ehrlich in 2006. While many registered primarily for the presidential race, political operatives hope they stick with the party and give O'Malley a cushion.
Also, his main political opponents, Franchot and Ehrlich, were on the losing side of the statewide ballot proposal to legalize slots at five locations, a proposal for which O'Malley made a public push. Ehrlich also has opposed early voting, the other ballot proposal O'Malley backed.
Yesterday O'Malley appeared to want to move on from slots, an issue that has consumed Annapolis for years: "Now that this pebble has been removed from our shoe of public discourse, the state can "focus on education and affordable college and health care and making our government work again."
