Why I support Jamie Raskin, and why people should not follow the Washington Post's editorial endorsement of Kathleen Matthews

Today, the Washington Post endorsed Kathleen Matthews -- former local TV news anchor, Marriott executive, and spouse of MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews -- for the Democratic Party nomination in Maryland's 8th Congressional District. While the editorial was complimentary to her fellow candidate State Senator Jamie Raskin, the Post concluded that Ms. Matthews would be more effective, notwithstanding Senator Raskin's long record of successful advocacy in the Maryland General Assembly. The Post concedes, in today's editorial endorsement of Ms. Matthews, that Senator Raskin, "the Maryland Senate's majority whip, is recognized in Annapolis as an effective legislator. A constitutional law professor at American University, he played key roles in ending the death penalty, legalizing same-sex marriage and tightening gun control laws. He is respected in his legislative district... for granular attention to his constituents's needs."

Yet the Post endorsed Ms. Matthews, a corporate executive who has never held public office (elected or otherwise) and has little if any discernible history of local community involvement, other than as a spectator.

Both Ms. Matthews and wealthy businessman David Trone, who also has no such history, have been flooding the airwaves with television advertisements. Those who get all their election information from the tube might think that they were the only candidates.  Last week, the Post quoted Senator Raskin's response to the campaigns of Ms. Matthews and David Trone: "Public office isn't something that you buy, it's something that you earn through your devotion to the public good and your service to the community."

Exactly. Jamie Raskin has not only earned our support but has demonstrated his effectiveness, as the Post editorial concedes. So why did the Post choose to endorse Ms. Matthews? Because, in the Post's words, Ms. Matthews "would be more pragmatic and less doctrinaire than the left-leaning Mr. Raskin, whose passionate liberalism is unsurpassed in Annapolis."

The Post's assertion that Senator Raskin is too doctrinaire echoes the attack recently made on the senator by Mr. Trone, who is quoted in an earlier Post article as saying that the senator is a "polarizing figure from the left" who would be unable to build coalitions with House Republicans. Senator Raskin answered that charge by presenting his actual record, which includes his co-sponsorship with Republican State Senator Michael Hough of the Second Chance Act, designed to help those with nonviolent misdemeanor convictions return to the job market, and his introduction, with then-Senator David Brinkley, also a Republican, of medical marijuana legislation. So Senator Raskin has demonstrated that he can work across the aisle, while still being a strong advocate for progressive values.

Nevertheless, the Post's argument for Ms. Matthews over Senator Raskin (the Post dismisses Mr. Trone as unprepared for the job) is that "as a local reporter and anchor for WJLA for 25 years, and then as head of public affairs for Marriott International, she has developed a deep facility with policy and politics." Stripped to its essentials, the Post's position is that Ms. Matthews, as a product of corporate America, "is better positioned to be effective."

But not in this case, certainly given the qualifications and experience of Jamie Raskin. Our representatives in Congress need to balance the power of corporate America -- not be an arm of it. Jamie Raskin is the best choice for the 8th Congressional District.

(For more information, see this Facebook video and the Raskin campaign website.)