Folks take their leftism seriously in the Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C. where I live. It outweighs celebrity, money, and race/ethnicity.
That’s why the race for the Democratic congressional primary in the Eighth District was always going to favor leftist law professor Jamie Raskin. One of his opponents — Kathleen Matthews, wife of Chris and for years a local news anchor — had celebrity (okay, mini-celebrity) status in her favor. Another opponent — ultra-wealthy beer and wine merchant David Trone — had a personal fortune, $12 million of which he poured into the race.
In addition, the race included an African-American, a Hispanic, and even an Asian Indian.
No matter. Jamie Raskin was the proven leftist. As a State Senator, he led the charge for repeal of the death penalty, same-sex marriage, and a ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons. He was a supporter of Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.
Clearly, he had the upper hand in this race.
In the end, Raskin captured 34 percent of the vote. Trone was next with 27 percent. Matthews finished third with 24 percent.
The Republican nominee Dan Cox, stands virtually no chance of defeating Raskin. Cox won 45 percent of the GOP vote, but that amounted to only around 20,000 votes, significantly fewer than Matthews obtained in her third place finish.
Raskin is the very model of a modern limousine liberal. He teaches constitutional law at American University law school, whose faculty is ridiculous. He’s part of a “power couple” thanks to his marriage to Sarah Bloom Raskin, deputy treasury secretary in the Obama administration. He’s a multi-millionaire, worth around $7 million (not bad for a law professor).
I will consider calling on Raskin for constituent service if the government is fixing to burn down my house. Short of that, I’ll look for help elsewhere.
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