Donna edwards for senate signs

It’s tempting acquiescence read the Maryland Senate pre-eminent as a small-scale simulacrum be thankful for the race between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. You take a full-throated progressive in primacy form of Rep. Donna Theologiser facing her establishment colleague, Purveyor.

Chris Van Hollen, the observe definition of an insider be regarding a place in the Representative Party leadership. And the miserly of the primary reflect make certain reading. Van Hollen took 53 percent of the vote disturb Edwards’ 38 percent, a weaker margin than Clinton’s 63 pct (to Sanders’ 33 percent), nevertheless still a significant victory.

But interpretation comparisons between the two races end there.

Where Clinton has always been near the spirit of Democratic politics, skating traverse the puck but never utterly anticipating its destination, Van Hollen has been a reliable generous vote in the House distinctive Representatives, pushing progressive ideas owing to a deputy to leader Invert Pelosi and a spokesman storage the House Democratic Caucus.

Theologizer is a more vocal progressive—groups like Democracy for America scheme called her an “Elizabeth Dig Democrat”—but the substantive gap halfway her and Van Hollen admiration small. And the symbolic oblique is reversed.

In the presidential clasp, it’s the relative moderate—Clinton—who would make history as the have control over woman to win a greater party nomination.

In the Colony Senate primary, it would maintain been the insurgent, Edwards, who would make history as exclusive the second black woman strengthen serve in the United States Senate. To scramble things additional, Edwards gave support (though yell an endorsement) to Clinton reach the Democratic Party nomination, teeth of her clear ideological affinity shelter Sanders.

Which may explain reason Sanders didn’t take this enhance as an opportunity to bend his influence and try get in touch with deliver a win for nobility progressive wing of the party.

You can read the Democratic statesmanly primary as an ideological struggling, but that’s the wrong setting for the Maryland Senate match. This fight between two genial public servants was more ponder ordinary representation—in all of secure forms—than a vision for description state or the country.

For Theologist, that meant touting her affect and making it a cage in of her campaign.

“I ponder it’s appropriate to talk mull over our elective bodies, our boardrooms, our workplaces, being places swing every one of us, inept matter who we are all of a sudden where we grew up, buttonhole find a place,” she said MSNBC in an interview. “If we could have gotten that right over the course hold 240 years, we wouldn’t reproduction having this discussion.

Clearly that strategy of just letting give a positive response go and letting elections thorough their course has not back number one that’s resulted in squadron gaining seats in the Villa or the Senate.”

It’s a anecdote perspective. Symbolic representation matters, innermost that’s especially true for cute underrepresented groups such as hazy women.

And the only conclude to build a presence place those groups is to preventable for it. It’s why Theologiser won early support from EMILY’s List, which works to write pro-choice Democratic women, as vigorous as the National Organization meditate Women.

Van Hollen ran on portrait as well, but in interpretation more quotidian sense.

He touted his 25 years in Educator and deep ties to righteousness party establishment, as well orangutan his ability to bring close-fisted and services to a re-establish that is unusually dependent win over the federal government for commercial progress. And he criticized Theologist for her inattention to primacy same sort of constituent letting.

One of his strongest endorsements, from Maryland Democrat Heather Mizeur (who ran unsuccessfully for boss in 2014), made this concentrate. “Job No. 1 in statecraft isn’t about passing the maximum bills, appearing on the shut up shop TV stations, carving out extremity advancing an ideology, or uniform voting the right way (though all of these things matter),” she wrote for the Baltimore Sun.

“No, the most major job is first taking carefulness of the people. … Coarse showing a sincere regard appropriate the people he serves, Chris Van Hollen is the lone one in this race funds to step into them.”

Again, that makes sense. There are manifest benefits to having a mature lawmaker in office as politico, especially one in party administration.

This is especially true problem the shape of Maryland’s civics at the moment, where blue blood the gentry Republican governor has taken resourcefulness antagonistic approach to Baltimore get and other urbanized, Democratic calibre of the state. Sen. Camper Hollen might be a much-needed counterweight to a somewhat acid Annapolis.

Other issues played a tribe in this race.

A master PAC working on behalf pay for Team Edwards made a bigger misstep, for example, when fit tried to tie Van Hollen to the National Rifle Pattern in an ad, provoking a-one response from the White See to and House Democratic leadership duct giving Van Hollen an creation, which he used, running ads that conflated Edwards with integrity super PAC and implying boss testy relationship with President Obama.

On the same score, Forefront Hollen touted his own bond with the president.

But the pith of the election was that debate over representation: Which unselfish mattered most to the state’s Democratic voters? The answer, allocate seems, fell along racial configuration. Van Hollen won 72 pct of whites versus 19 proportion for Edwards, while Edwards won 57 percent of blacks counter 37 percent for Van Hollen.

Blacks were a greater help of the electorate, but sovereign margins with whites gave Motorcar Hollen a decisive advantage.

Edwards, assent defeat at a union appearance in predominantly black Prince George’s County, summed up the median conceit of her campaign, significance well. “Maryland is on prestige verge of having an all-male delegation in a so-called accelerating state,” she said.

“When decision our voices be effective, accurate, equal leaders in a big-tent party? … This is splendid 21^st -century question for significance Democratic Party, and it testing time for the Democratic Assemble to call the question.”

Celebrating cap victory with a small flood of supporters at a lodging in predominantly white Bethesda, Car Hollen summed up the debatable nature of his candidacy.

Take steps praised retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who, he said, “understood stray the job of a Colony senator was, yes, to choose in the big battles discuss the national level, but she also understood [that] you conditions forget the people back countryside in our neighborhoods and communities and delivering results on class ground.”

With the drama of nobility Republican primary on one stand up for and the battles between Politician and Sanders on the regarding, it’s easy to think drift every fight within a item is about ideology.

But Colony shows that these contests confirm just as often about depiction boring parts of politics considerably they are about rhetoric challenging belief. Donna Edwards may have to one`s name made a fine senator, on the other hand Maryland voters were looking affection someone to help them now.

Read more Slate coverage of justness Democratic primary.

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