"Ehrlich did win the gov's seat in '02, but Sauerbrey gave it a good run in the two previous gubernatorial elections. And Maryland stayed true to form in the '04 Presidential election."
President Bush got 42.9% in 2004, a bit better than the 40.2% he got in 2000. The Ehrlich-Steele ticket got 51.6% in 2002, and assuming that Gov. Ehrlich can get reelected, it should provide Michael Steele with enough coattails to win the open Senate seat, especially if the Democrat candidate is a black liberal who will run poorly outside of PG County, Baltimore City and a few heavily black Baltco suburbs.
President Bush got 42.9% in 2004, a bit better than the 40.2% he got in 2000. The Ehrlich-Steele ticket got 51.6% in 2002, and assuming that Gov. Ehrlich can get reelected, it should provide Michael Steele with enough coattails to win the open Senate seat, especially if the Democrat candidate is a black liberal who will run poorly outside of PG County, Baltimore City and a few heavily black Baltco suburbs.Mmmmm, I just think that's a very optimistic scenario. Heck, Glendenning only won four counties in the entire state in '98, but that was enough. And just by the numbers, I think Ehrlich's got some significant support from Dems, which means you likely can't count on them to vote GOP for an open Senate seat.