February 21, 2006

The Honorable Congressman Ben Cardin
2207 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
fax: 202-225-9219

Dear Rep. Cardin:

In a recent forum it was noted that you predicted I would get 10 percent of the vote in a Fall election between you, me and Michael Steele. (See relevant portions of the memorandum from Chris Bush of Democracy for Baltimore reporting this comment included below.) While I appreciate you recognizing the legitimacy of my campaign, my goal is to make this into a three-way race where the results are unpredictable – where anyone can win.

You went on to urge people to stay with the Democratic Party in such a circumstance in order to prevent the election of Michael Steele. Your advocacy for “lesser evil” voting is becoming an unfortunate tradition for Democrats who take views at odds with their political base – views like you take: refusing to vote for an exit strategy from Iraq, continuing to fund the illegal occupation of Iraq and voting for the misnamed Patriot Act, as well as by Democrats who take most of their funding from wealthy interests who profit from defense contracts, overpriced pharmaceuticals and health insurance that results in unaffordable coverage for most Americans and tens of millions without health insurance,as you do. Anti-war voters, voters opposed to the Patriot Act and voters opposed to corporate-controlled government should not 'hold their nose and vote’ for you as they oppose your views on these matters.

Rather than relying on the straight jacket of lesser evil voting in our two party system, I urge you to support SB 292 currently before the Maryland Senate. This bill would put in place Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) also known as Majority or Ranked Choice Voting. There is still time to put this in place for the 2006 election. No doubt, with your support the chance of the bill passing would greatly increase.

I urge you to join me in letting Marylanders vote for their hopes and dreams rather than forcing them to vote based on their fears. You can learn more about IRV at: http://kevinzeese.com/content/view/111/40/. This would create a resurgence in our Democracy – people voting for positive reasons rather than negative fears.

Sincerely,

Kevin B. Zeese
Unity Candidate for U.S. Senate
www.KevinZeese.com

Subject: Cardin Won't Rule Out Force Against Iran/ Cardin Predicts Zeese Could Get 10%

(note: others present, please add, modify, expand upon any comments herein; also, people reading this should know the perspective of the writer- I'm leaning for Mfume, and have a great deal of respect for Zeese in the election, and have been a sharp critic of Cardin in the past)

Ben Cardin, Democratic Candidate for US Senate, made headlines tonight by saying he would not rule out the use of force against Iran regarding Iran's nuclear facilities. Also, Cardin predicted that Kevin Zeese could get 10% of the vote in the general election in a 3 way race between himself, Steele, and Zeese.

Cardin spoke and answered questions at Democracy for Howard's meeting last night, Monday, January 9th.

Cardin's comments about Iran came in answer to a question concerning recent news reports that the Bush administration was planning for air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities in early 2006. Cardin's comments were somewhat unclear at first: he said that, if the US initiated an air campaign against Iran, that such a military action would involve ground forces as well, and that the US wouldn't be able to supply such forces as it was overstretched already; he also indicated that he didn't favor the use of military action against Iran, and that the US ought to engage Iran with the international community and use diplomacy as well. But, when an audience member subsequently commented that he, the audience member, disagreed with Cardin on Cardin's position opposing military action against Iran-and, to many in the room, as well as this writer, Cardin appeared to say this at first-Cardin then when on to clarify his position and said that he, Cardin, did not say that he wouldn't back the use of force in Iran.  Cardin, therefore, won't rule out the use of force against Iran.

As for Zeese, Cardin's comments were that Zeese could obtain 10% of the vote in the general election and, as such, could act as a spoiler, tipping the election to Steele. He called on audience members not to support Zeese in such an instance, but stay with the Democratic party.