Wal-Mart Ruling Sharply Criticized -- Too Sharply for Some
Leaders of the Maryland Democratic Party were not shy about assigning blame last week for a federal court ruling that struck down a new state law requiring Wal-Mart to spend more on employee health care. They attacked the judge.
"Judge Fred Motz is clearly more worried about Wal-Mart's bottom line, than the bottom line of average working families in Maryland," party Chairman Terry Lierman said in a statement e-mailed to reporters. "This Republican judge sided with [Governor] Bob Ehrlich , [Lieutenant Governor] Michael Steele and the special interests against the working families and taxpayers of Maryland who should not be forced to subsidize Wal-Mart's bottom line."
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Among those taken aback by the tone of the e-mail were some advocates of the groundbreaking law.
"I am very offended by the press release of the Democratic Party," wrote Nevett Steele Jr. , general counsel for Civil Justice Inc., a nonprofit group, in a widely circulated e-mail. "Judge Motz is not a political hack, as Terry Lierman apparently is. When the Democratic Party says stuff like that, we are imitating the style of the current governor and president."
Teachers Union Makes a Mark
What a difference two months make.
In May, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan were duking it out for the endorsement of the Maryland State Teachers Association in the governor's race. But when it came time to vote, representatives of the 65,000-member group deadlocked, denying both Democrats its blessing.
Tuesday, two months later, the group plans to announce that it is throwing its support behind O'Malley. There isn't much drama here. Duncan dropped out of the race last month, citing clinical depression. And Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) never sought the group's support.
Still, the prize could be worth it for O'Malley. It is expected to bring new campaign volunteers and contributors statewide. And having the backing of the state's largest teachers lobby could help blunt criticism that Ehrlich has already started heaping on the mayor about Baltimore's low-performing schools.
NAACP Conference No-Shows
In both the primary and the general election, the U.S. Senate campaign could boil down to the voting preferences of Maryland's large African American population, especially with two prominent black candidates in the running -- Democrat Kweisi Mfume and Republican Michael S. Steele .
But only one of the leading Senate candidates took the opportunity last week to reach out to Maryland's delegation to the NAACP national conference in Washington.
U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) spoke briefly to the group Monday, his aides said, to convey his support for the Voting Rights Act.
Mfume, who once served as NAACP president, and Steele have expressed support for the Voting Rights Act and the NAACP in the past but said they had not been invited to speak at this year's conference, which ran from July 15 to Thursday and had the theme "Valuing Our Votes, Voting Our Values."