Debate Combat

Tonight's Senate debate between Michael Steele, Ben Cardin, and Kevin Zeese was almost surrealistic in its contrasts with the recent gubernatorial debates. While the Ehrlich/O'Malley clashes were contested, but in a somewhat non-combative tone, it was go-time from the opening bell with these three combatants. A full hour of three-men talking over each other.

Some points with an assist from the Sun:

• Cardin once again seemed to forget that he was running against Michael Steele. At points, every other word out of Cardin's mouth seemed to be "George Bush."
  
  
• Steele finally said what a lot of Marylanders were thinking: "You were hand-picked by Congressman Steny Hoyer to get in this race...If you weren't, Kweisi Mfume should be sitting here." And this will likely play extremely well in the D.C. Suburbs.
  
  
• Ben Cardin the policy wonk got stumped: after pressing and pressing and pressing Steele on specifics about the war in Iraq, Cardin had it given right back to him regarding Metrorail and Metrobus plans in and around the DC area, particularly seeming to know nothing about the proposed Purple Line. Of course, when the Lt. Governor pressed Cardin for a response, he got snarky.
  
  
• The angry Ben Cardin was in the house tonight. He was visibly angry at Steele for most of the night, and got even angrier at Kevin Zeese, particularly when Zeese challenged him on his liberal bonafides.
  
  
• Speaking of Zeese, he was on tonight as well. Sure, he has a picture of himself with noted moonbat Cindy Sheehan on the front page of his site, but he does not present himself in look or demeanor as your typical Green Party candidate. He is articulate and while extremely left-wing was able to present himself as a contrast to Cardin.
  

All in all, this is what I get out of this:

• The Cardin camp is sweating bullets. Why else would they agree to this debate days before the Meet the Press National showdown on Sunday.
  
  
• The Cardin camp is really sweating bullets. Cardin's aggressiveness aimed at Zeese tells me that Cardin view Zeese as a spoiler and that they need to keep the far left in line, which also tells me that Steele's crossover appeal is pretty high in Cardin's internals.
  
  
• Don't believe the hype: one of the things the Democrats have been harping on is Steele's perceived lack of understanding of issues and lack of experience. This was clearly not a problem tonight, as the Lt. Governor was extremely comfortable and confident with the issues at hand.

Untelevised debate tomorrow at the Charles County NAACP. National debate (without Zeese) on Meet the Press Sunday. This race is going to get a lot uglier before we get to November 7th.