On September 26, Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies released a poll of the U.S. Senate race in Maryland. The results: incumbent Democrat Benjamin Cardin 50%, Republican nominee Dan Bongino 22%, independent Rob Sobhani 21%, undecided or other 7%. There are four candidates on the ballot; the one not mentioned by the pollsters is Libertarian nominee Dean Ahmad. Thanks to Doug McNeil for the link.
This is amazing, and the thing is now Cardin has to start getting worried, because Sobhani can only pull some much of the vote from Bongino. Pretty soon, Cardin will start to really feel the pressure.
Cardin’s best strategy is to build up Sobhani at Bongino’s expense. Dan Bongino is a rising star in the Maryland Republican Party — maybe. He’s a newcomer to our electoral politics, and how well he does in this election will determine his future in the Maryland Republican Party.
So, if by some chance, Bongino were to come in third in the general election, then he’s basically finished in the MD RP — and that’s what he should be worrying about the most.
So — Cardin could just sit tight and not campaign at all, and still he would get reelected. (That’s the strategy that Mikulski always uses, but she’s not up this year.) Cardin is different on this issue — I’ve been here before — and we may be able to get him to agree to 4-way, inclusive debates.
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Is the tooth fairy coming to Delaware to swing 1/3 of the Dem’s current supporters to another candidate in fewer than 50 days?