Monday, August 21, 2006

THE PENDING retirement of Paul S. Sarbanes leaves an open U.S. Senate seat in Maryland, the state's first in a generation. It has spawned a Democratic primary featuring, among others, two heavyweights from Baltimore, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin and former congressman and ex-NAACP director Kweisi Mfume. For the state's Democrats, the Sept. 12 primary is an embarrassment of political riches: Both candidates are substantive, serious and broadly experienced; either would make a fine senator; and each dwarfs the other candidates on the primary ballot. Our choice is Mr. Cardin, whose mastery of public policy, pragmatic bipartisanship and even-keeled determination have made him a superb lawmaker. The Democratic winner will face Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, who is all but unopposed in the Republican primary.

First, a word about Mr. Mfume, an electrifying orator and impressive leader with an inspirational life story. Born into a tough neighborhood in Baltimore and in trouble with the law as a youth, he rose to become a community leader, making his mark in the Baltimore City Council before being elected to Congress in 1986, the same year as Mr. Cardin. After service in the House, where he delivered for his Baltimore district, Mr. Mfume left Congress to become the NAACP's executive director, resigning last year to run for the Senate.

Despite Mr. Mfume's generally liberal orthodoxy -- he is an opponent of free trade and job outsourcing -- he has not always been beholden to that wing of his party. He sided with President Clinton on welfare reform and, as director of the NAACP, warned Democrats not to take African American voters for granted. In the current campaign, he has attacked Maryland's Democratic leadership for embracing Mr. Cardin without giving him a fair hearing.

Yet, Mr. Mfume is not Mr. Cardin's equal as a legislator.

Once the boy wonder of Maryland politics, Mr. Cardin has 40 years of legislative experience to his credit, including a stint as one of the youngest-ever and best speakers of the state House of Delegates. In Congress he has forged strategic alliances with key Republicans, thereby breaking from the pack of Democrats who have struggled in an era of GOP dominance to make a mark; he has thus been able to craft important bills to enhance the financial security of retirees and streamline the Internal Revenue Service.

On those measures, his partnership with former representative Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who is now the White House budget chief, is a textbook lesson in how a minority-party lawmaker can wield influence.

The rap on Mr. Cardin is that he is a legislator's legislator -- a quiet, colorless insider who embodies the system but is ill-equipped to shake it up. In fact, a hallmark of Mr. Cardin's legislative record is tough-minded independence. He was one of a minority of Democrats to vote against the war in Iraq, though once troops were on the ground he acted responsibly by supporting bills to fund and equip them. He broke with many Democrats and labor unions to back the North American Free Trade Agreement. At the same time he has stood against the Bush administration's fiscal recklessness, opposing estate tax cuts for the rich.

Mr. Cardin is a recognized expert on health care, tax and trade policy, and his tough-minded, sensible record has made him one of the House's most respected members on both sides of the aisle.

Both candidates favor a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, though neither offers a convincing explanation for how that would improve the situation there. The early efforts by Mr. Mfume and other Democrats in the race to portray Mr. Cardin as somehow hawkish on Iraq fell short, given his vote against authorizing the war.

As for the rest of the Democratic field, none of the other candidates is in the same league as Mr. Cardin and Mr. Mfume, though Josh Rales, a wealthy businessman running as a political outsider, is impressively conversant with a range of issues.

A common complaint with politics as usual is that candidates and officeholders are so caught up with partisan wrangling and point-scoring that they have failed to address everyday issues of pressing concern to American voters -- health care, taxes, retirement security. It's a fair critique. The antidote is electing lawmakers such as Mr. Cardin, whose proven competence, integrity and depth have been his trademarks in public service.