Democratic Candidates

GOFFSTOWN, N.H. -- Jockeying for advantage in the first primary state, former Sen. John Edwards took on the Democratic front-runners over the war in Iraq in a sometimes contentious presidential debate last night. In a spirited exchange on the pre-eminent issue of the Democratic campaign, Edwards criticized Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama for "quietly" casting last-minute votes last month against an emergency funding measure for the war in Iraq. He contrasted their silence with the decision of another contender, Connecticut Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, to speak out against continued funding.

Maryland voters strongly favor the nationwide presidential frontrunners, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, but about a third of likely primary voters of both parties remain undecided, according to a recent statewide phone survey. Clinton, meanwhile, is tied with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama among the state's black voters, with each winning support from about a third of those polled. Blacks make up about 28 percent of state residents, forming a potentially powerful voting bloc for Democratic candidates.

The Howard County teachers union endorsed three Democratic candidates for County Council yesterday, including Guy J. Guzzone, the Kings Contrivance Democrat running for what both parties consider the critical "swing" seat in this year's election.The Howard County Education Association is also backing Del. Elizabeth Bobo, Del. James E. Malone Jr., Del. Shane Pendergrass, Del. Frank S. Turner, state Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer and state Sen. Martin G. Madden for re-election as part of a first slate of endorsements rewarding candidates who have shown a commitment to schools.

An article in yesterday's Maryland section omitted the name of one of the Democratic candidates for governor, Lawrence Freeman.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 7/16/98

A nearly full roster of major Howard County Democratic officials and candidates showed up to boost Gov. Parris N. Glendening on his campaign kickoff stop in Howard County yesterday.Glendening visited Howard Community College for more than an hour, joined by both Democratic members of the County Council, C. Vernon Gray and Mary C. Lorsung, as well as Dels. Elizabeth Bobo and Frank S. Turner, Howard Democratic Party leader Carole Fisher, county executive candidate James N. Robey and a host of other Democratic candidates.

A box Sunday incorrectly listed the name of a 2nd Congressional District candidate, Walter T. Kuebler.The Sun regrets the error.TWO YEARS AGO, "throw the bums out" was a rallying cry. Several of Maryland's eight congressional districts produced spirited challenges. That's less the case in 1998.Low joblessness and the Monica Lewinsky scandal have drained energy, and focus, from the 105th Congress. The following are choices Marylanders have for the 106th, and our recommendations for the Sept.

WASHINGTON -- The Starr report has left President Clinton politically naked to his enemies. Whatever hope he nourished of significant backing from his fellow Democrats has been undermined and perhaps destroyed by the tawdry details of his affair with Monica Lewinsky.Whether or not the president avoids impeachment, the rough consensus in the political community is that it would be rashly imprudent for any Democrat to defend him publicly at this point.The Democrats' final verdict will depend on how badly their party suffers in the Nov. 3 mid-term elections and on whether voters turn away in disgust at the inelegant picture of the president's behavior in the White House.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton stayed in the shadows yesterday, but much of the drama and suspense of yesterday's elections centered squarely on his fate.While not on any ballot, Clinton was as much on the minds of election analysts -- if not voters -- as any of the candidates around the country. And he potentially had as much at stake.Even though the public had expressed deep disinterest in the scandal that has threatened Clinton's presidency and evolved into an impeachment inquiry, the election results are likely to be read as a referendum on Clinton's future and directive to the House Judiciary Committee, which is to begin preliminary impeachment hearings next week.

WASHINGTON -- Based on the mixed bag of results in yesterday's off-year congressional elections, both the Democratic and Republican parties can look ahead with optimism to the presidential race of 2000, for different reasons.The Democrats can breathe a bit more easily because the elections did not prove in any substantial way to be a referendum on whether President Clinton should be impeached.Most voters surveyed in exit polls had instead cast their ballots essentially on their feelings toward the candidates and the candidates' stands on issues important to them.

WASHINGTON -- Inside the beltway, the investigations of President Clinton are like a purple elephant in a phone booth -- too big to be ignored.But in the early stages of the 1998 congressional election campaign, candidates and strategists for both parties are finding voters have little interest in the subject. "It's amazing to me," said Tom King, a veteran Democratic consultant. "They're sick of it. They don't want to hear it."The reaction against the long-running investigations of Mr. Clinton's fund raising and personal conduct is pronounced enough so that most Democrats are able to ignore the issue.

WASHINGTON -- As Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wrangle for the Democratic presidential nomination, Republican John McCain is marshaling his resources - with a big assist from President Bush. McCain secured his party's nomination this month after primary victories in Texas and Ohio, followed the next day by an endorsement from the president. Bush and McCain haven't been seen together since, but that doesn't mean the relationship has gone sour. The president is helping his one-time rival, and many other Republicans, by continuing a torrid fundraising pace that has marked his time in office.

Maryland voters strongly favor the nationwide presidential frontrunners, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, but about a third of likely primary voters of both parties remain undecided, according to a recent statewide phone survey. Clinton, meanwhile, is tied with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama among the state's black voters, with each winning support from about a third of those polled. Blacks make up about 28 percent of state residents, forming a potentially powerful voting bloc for Democratic candidates.

The Republicans' presidential YouTube debate, scheduled for Sept. 17 in Florida, may move to another date, given reservations that some of the candidates have expressed about both the date and the format. Sept. 17 comes near the end of the third-quarter fundraising period and could interfere with the candidates' intense dash for cash. Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has turned down the invitation because of a heavy fundraising schedule, Kevin Madden, his spokesman, said Friday.

GOFFSTOWN, N.H. -- Jockeying for advantage in the first primary state, former Sen. John Edwards took on the Democratic front-runners over the war in Iraq in a sometimes contentious presidential debate last night. In a spirited exchange on the pre-eminent issue of the Democratic campaign, Edwards criticized Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama for "quietly" casting last-minute votes last month against an emergency funding measure for the war in Iraq. He contrasted their silence with the decision of another contender, Connecticut Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, to speak out against continued funding.

WASHINGTON -- A new phase of the presidential campaign starts this evening, when the Democratic contenders go head to head in a televised debate. For the first time, voters will be able to make side-by-side comparisons of the candidates, whose campaign efforts, up to now, have been confined mostly to early primary states. What could well be a record number of primary season debates is being planned, with two dozen forums announced already in places as diverse as Orangeburg, S.C., Simi Valley, Calif.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama confessed to feeling like an American Idol or Survivor contestant when he shared a stage with nine other presidential contenders at a Democratic Party gathering that ended yesterday. None of the candidates made it to Hollywood or got voted off the island. Democrats interviewed afterward said the meeting, in effect the first audition of the 2008 contest, signaled a much more competitive contest than the early polls, which gave Hillary Rodham Clinton a big lead.

The final of tally of ballots in Anne Arundel County shows two Republican legislative candidates edging out their Democratic opponents by narrow margins yesterday. Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. beat Del. Joan Cadden by 28 votes for the third seat in House District 31, the county Board of Elections reported after counting absentee ballots from overseas. And two-term county Councilwoman Barbara D. Samorajczyk lost to Annapolis jewelery storeowner Ronald A. George by 53 votes for the third spot in District 30. "I'm excited it was close because everyone made a difference," George said.

WASHINGTON -- Days before a critical midterm election, Democratic candidates - and a few Republicans - are working hard to make the hottest election issue, the war in Iraq, more personal. The problem, they argue, isn't the war, but rather its architect, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. As head of the Pentagon, they argue, Rumsfeld has misled the fight in Iraq. And his continued presence in the Cabinet has made things worse, not better, they say. Iraq is `big issue' "The really big issue here is Iraq," said Charlie Black, a Republican political consultant.

An 18-month campaign was condensed into a sprint of hand-shaking, picnics and speeches yesterday for Maryland's leading Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate, as they made last-minute appeals for their supporters to vote in tomorrow's primary election. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin and former congressman Kweisi Mfume, locked in what most polls show to be a competitive race to be their party's nominee to replace retiring Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, made a dozen campaign stops between them yesterday in what, because of today's anniversary of the Sept.

Swarms of volunteers brandishing campaign signs, sample ballots and telephone lists are fanning out across Maryland this weekend, hoping to push their favored candidates for U.S. Senate and other offices to victory in Tuesday's primary election. Union members, liberal activists and grass-roots supporters are knocking on doors and waving placards on street corners across the state - part of a get-out-the-vote effort that is especially critical in non-presidential campaign years, when turnout is lower and the motivations of voters are uncertain.