Congressional Candidates

WASHINGTON -- A wit once said the State Department is like tundra in that anything you do to it improves it. That is the way reformers regard existing campaign finance practices. They say this even after two decades of reforms have made matters worse, which proves there is no Everest of evidence too large to be ignored by reformers.They began 25 years ago by limiting the amount of spending by candidates and the size of "hard money" contributions made directly to candidates. The Supreme Court declared most expenditure limits (those on congressional candidates)

An excerpt from a Wednesday Philadelphia Inquirer editorial.CONGRESS, wallowing in special-interest contributions, not only won't fix the system that makes incumbents almost unbeatable, but also these insiders won't stand idly by while someone else tries to change the status quo.The reform in question is free TV time for congressional candidates -- which would give challengers more publicity and might let candidates spend less time groveling for special-interest contributions.Media...

WASHINGTON -- John Huang and his wife, Jane, gave several thousand dollars to congressional candidates in the last election, including a $5,000 donation to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to Federal Election Commission records.Among the handful of candidates receiving checks from Huang and his wife in the 1995-1996 election cycle were Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, an Illinois Democrat, who received $2,000, and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., another Illinois Democrat, who received $1,000.

WASHINGTON -- When Floyd Coates, an Indiana businessman and one-time candidate for Congress, decided to make some big campaign donations in the last election, he wanted be sure that the $100,000 or so he planned to give would end up supporting his brand of conservative, free-market, pro-military, anti-abortion candidates."

EVERY TWO YEARS, when Anne Arundel residents vote for their U.S. representatives, they are reminded of the 1991 redistricting plan that carved their county into four congressional districts.At the time, politicians, civic leaders and citizens were outraged that the General Assembly used its long knives to fillet Maryland's fifth-largest county -- and what had been a single congressional district -- into four bites.Although much of the initial outrage has dissipated, there are occasions when county residents are again reminded of the absurdity of the this arrangement.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Chastened?Dispirited by the public's apparent loss of affection for him?Humbled by the budget debacle that resulted in two government shutdowns, a free-fall for the Republicans and, some would say, the rehabilitation of Bill Clinton?Not Newt Gingrich.As he faces the election with no less than his political future on the line -- with nearly as much at stake as Bob Dole or President Clinton -- the House speaker is traveling the country with grenades in both hands, making no apologies for his combative style and attacking Democrats and the media with the fury of a man scorned.

WASHINGTON -- As a group of University of Maryland students stood outside a Democratic fund-raiser here last week, waving signs to protest the influence of money, President Clinton glided by in his motorcade and waved warmly.Then he waltzed into the $2,000-a-plate dinner and helped his party collect $3 million.While politicians of all makes and models have given an approving nod to the public's cry for reforming the way politics is practiced -- especially how campaigns are financed -- there has been little action and even less talk of these issues on the campaign trail.

The four congressional candidates for the 3rd and 6th districts split along party lines yesterday in answering questions about crime and taxes during an Ellicott City forum.Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, a Republican who represents the 6th District, squared off with Steve Crawford, his Democratic challenger, and Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, a Democrat who represents the 3rd District, faced GOP challenger Pat McDonough in the forum sponsored by the Howard County Chamber of Commerce.Neither their positions nor their attacks were surprising.

Because of an editing error in the continuation of an article on Page 2B in yesterday's Maryland section about possible congressional candidates, the date Rep. Kweisi Mfume announced he would step down from his congressional seat to become chief executive officer of the NAACP was incorrect. The date was Dec. 9.The Sun regrets the error.

The ElectionMy in-laws, who live in Baltimore, visited after Christmas and asked me whether Parris Glendening had won the Maryland governor's race honestly. I have been analyzing election returns from a nonpartisan perspective since 1980.At first blush, Ellen Sauerbrey's allegations of fraud in Baltimore City seem credible.This year, Republicans were winning in high-turnout elections, while Democrats were winning in low-turnout elections.While the Maryland governor's race was a high-turnout race, compared to previous governor's races, the turnout in Maryland was low compared to other states this year.

WYE MILLS - Congressional candidates Andy Harris and Frank Kratovil sparred over taxes, regulation and the truthfulness of advertisements yesterday in a final debate that matched the contentious tone of their relentless campaign commercials. In the sharpest exchange, Kratovil called a Harris ad a "lie" because it contains a Kratovil quotation on the financial crisis that was later corrected by the newspaper that first reported it. Harris stood by the ad, saying, "The quote is accurate."

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer followed the law and common practice when he accepted "bundled" checks through his political action committee last election season and sent the money nationwide, campaign finance experts said this week. The analysts were responding to a report from the Center for Public Integrity issued last Friday that said Hoyer, D-Maryland, "exploited a legal campaign cash loophole" to gain political power for his party, which took over the House. Hoyer was elected majority leader.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, running against a powerful headwind of opposition to the war in Iraq, this week begins road-testing his ability to influence the outcome of the fall elections despite his weakened political status. Starting in Green Bay, Wis., today and campaigning in similar electoral hot spots over the next three months, the president will attempt to show that he still can be an asset for his party, as the White House insists, and not "an albatross around the neck of any Republican," as one Democratic operative predicts.

What's in a face? A lot if you're running for office. Researchers at Princeton University have found that congressional candidates who looked more "competent" -- based on viewers' snap judgments made from photos -- won their elections more than two-thirds of the time. Social scientists asked hundreds of students to look at stock black-and-white photos of real congressional candidates they didn't know. Then scientists asked the students to rate the candidates on their competence. The candidates the students picked as more competent turned out to be the actual winners 70 percent of the time.

It's a race that has stayed so confoundingly close that even professional predictors across the nation are at a loss. But today, when Maryland residents begin filing into their voting booths at 7 a.m., they will put an end to the months-long mystery of who will be the state's next governor. At 1,600 polling places across the state, Marylanders - their tolerance worn thin for alternately schmaltzy and frightening television ads, glossy mailings and automated telephone calls - will choose between Democrat Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Republican U.S. Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. And in the Baltimore and Washington suburbs, voters will decide two tight congressional races that have also caught national attention.

WASHINGTON -- A wit once said the State Department is like tundra in that anything you do to it improves it. That is the way reformers regard existing campaign finance practices. They say this even after two decades of reforms have made matters worse, which proves there is no Everest of evidence too large to be ignored by reformers.They began 25 years ago by limiting the amount of spending by candidates and the size of "hard money" contributions made directly to candidates. The Supreme Court declared most expenditure limits (those on congressional candidates)

An excerpt from a Wednesday Philadelphia Inquirer editorial.CONGRESS, wallowing in special-interest contributions, not only won't fix the system that makes incumbents almost unbeatable, but also these insiders won't stand idly by while someone else tries to change the status quo.The reform in question is free TV time for congressional candidates -- which would give challengers more publicity and might let candidates spend less time groveling for special-interest contributions.Media...

WASHINGTON -- When Floyd Coates, an Indiana businessman and one-time candidate for Congress, decided to make some big campaign donations in the last election, he wanted be sure that the $100,000 or so he planned to give would end up supporting his brand of conservative, free-market, pro-military, anti-abortion candidates."

WASHINGTON -- John Huang and his wife, Jane, gave several thousand dollars to congressional candidates in the last election, including a $5,000 donation to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to Federal Election Commission records.Among the handful of candidates receiving checks from Huang and his wife in the 1995-1996 election cycle were Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, an Illinois Democrat, who received $2,000, and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., another Illinois Democrat, who received $1,000.

EVERY TWO YEARS, when Anne Arundel residents vote for their U.S. representatives, they are reminded of the 1991 redistricting plan that carved their county into four congressional districts.At the time, politicians, civic leaders and citizens were outraged that the General Assembly used its long knives to fillet Maryland's fifth-largest county -- and what had been a single congressional district -- into four bites.Although much of the initial outrage has dissipated, there are occasions when county residents are again reminded of the absurdity of the this arrangement.