Tuesday, October 2, 2012

No kidding. In a recent Gonzales Research statewide poll, incumbent Ben Cardin got support from 50% of the 813 respondents, versus Dan Bongino’s 22% and Rob Sobhani’s 21%. Add the two latter numbers together, you get 43% with 7% undecided, and Dan Bongino’s thinking he’d be within striking range if this were only a two-candidate race.

And so, the Bongino campaign is doing what it can to discourage voters from supporting Rob Sobhani’s candidacy, including the following email that the campaign sent out this afternoon. (Click on the image to make it larger.)

Note that the email, which was from a “Deputy Campaign Manager,” impugned Rob Sobhani’s integrity by virtue of the contractor he is said to have hired to collect signatures. Personally, I think that, if Dan Bongino, or any candidate, has something to say about the integrity of his opponent, he or she should make that statement personally, as face-to-face as possible.  I, in turn, replied to the campaign with the following email. (Once again, you can click on the image to make it larger.) My question about a debate goes to the point that neither the Bongino or Cardin campaigns want to include Rob Sobhani in a debate between the two major party candidates. Truth be told, incumbent Ben Cardin has nothing to gain from debating Dan Bongino. Why should he debate either one of his opponents?

I’ll publish the campaign’s response as soon as I receive it, unedited and unabridged, as promised.

In any case, Dan Bongino’s logic is flawed, more wishful thinking than reality. According to the Gonzales poll and despite having campaigned for months, while Rob Sobhani only entered the race on September 4, Dan Bongino showed support from only 60% of Republicans. He’s their standard bearer, and only 60% of them support his candidacy? Only 4% of Democrats? Only 10% of Independents? The fact is, for whatever reasons, Dan Bongino’s campaign has not caught on, is no where in the vicinity of catching fire.

The announcement, in a second email today, that the Bongino campaign has collected third-quarter contributions totaling $650,000 is good news for the campaign, although the claim that this is a record breaking accomplishment is unsubstantiated and suspect. (From the campaign email announcement, “Preliminary estimates show the Bongino for Senate campaign’s 3rd quarter haul beats the previous quarterly totals of any Republican or incumbent running for federal office in Maryland this election cycle.”)

Money certainly helps sell a candidate provided, of course, his or her message is compelling. The problem with Dan Bongino’s campaign is less about Rob Sobhani, than it is about the impression Dan Bongino has made, or failed to make on likely voters.

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