The following article was published on CQPolitics.com. For the original article, visit CQPolitics.com

MD 4: Wynn the Latest Dem to Draw an Anti-War Primary Foe
By Brendan Spiegel | 5:59 PM; Jul. 21, 2006 |

The challenge Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman is receiving in his Aug. 8 primary contest is widely viewed as a microcosm of the Democratic Party’s divisions over the war in Iraq. Lieberman is one of his party’s few outspoken supporters of President Bush’s decision to go to war and his calls to stay the course; challenger Ned Lamont is a fierce opponent of the war who has drawn substantial support from liberal activist groups.

Yet while Lieberman’s difficulties are absorbing national attention, there are a few other races around the country in which Democratic incumbents are being challenged over their initial support for the war — including some who have changed their minds and now call the war a mistake.

One of these is seven-term Democratic Rep. Albert R. Wynn, who has drawn an unexpectedly strong opponent in attorney Donna Edwards in the Sept. 12 primary for Maryland’s 4th District seat. Edwards’ late-starting House campaign has primarily focused on Wynn’s “yes” vote on the October 2002 resolution that authorized Bush to use military force in Iraq.

It is not surprising that an anti-war candidate would emerge in the 4th, an overwhelming Democratic district just outside Washington, D.C., where nearly three-fifths of the residents are black (as are both Wynn and Edwards). Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry received 78 percent of the district’s vote in 2004, to 21 percent for Bush.

While Wynn did vote for the 2002 resolution, he has been less supportive of the war since then. Wynn publicly acknowledged in 2004 that he believed his vote was a mistake, and says he was misled by the Bush administration to think Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction.
“I’ve said that I regret that vote. I feel that I, along with the American people, were misled,” said Wynn in an interview with CQPolitics.com. “I thought it was the right thing to do in terms of national security, and I thought that the president was not the type of person who would misuse this authority. But I was wrong about that.”

Asked about his current stance on Iraq, Wynn said he supports a phased withdrawal, bringing 30,000 troops home this year and withdrawing all troops by the end of 2007.

But Edwards argues that Wynn’s revised position does not mean voters should forget or forgive his 2002 vote. “Leadership is not about regret, it is about leading,” said Edwards. “His vote on the war is just unacceptable. While some people may be willing to give a pass on that, I can’t give a pass on that.”
It is too soon to say whether Edwards will emerge as a serious threat to topple Wynn in the primary. But her quick jump start in the area of fundraising suggests that she is not alone in her skepticism toward Wynn.

Edwards reported to the Federal Election Commission that she raised $191,000 through June 30, none of which came from her own pockets. Those total receipts were the most for any candidate challenging a House incumbent in Maryland. She spent about half of that leaving her with $99,000 cash on hand; Wynn had raised $475,000, with $415,000 in remaining cash.

Edwards has long been engaged in a wide range of public policy interests. The executive director for the Washington, D.C., based Arca Foundation, Edwards is a former Capitol Hill lobbyist for advocacy groups such as Public Citizen and the Center for a New Democracy. Edwards also co-founded a Maryland group that has sought to bring community influence to major economic and transportation developments in the area.

She said she worked as a summer law clerk for Wynn when he was in the state legislature and supported Wynn in 1992 when he first won his House seat. But she contends he has moved to the right since taking office.

“I did support him when he first ran for Congress, but I think something has happened in the intervening years,” says Edwards. “When I looked at the failed leadership that Al Wynn had given us, I just decided that he needed to be challenged.”

Her campaign has drawn attention on well-known liberal blogs such as DailyKos and MyDD. On Wednesday, she received the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters.

Being labeled a single-issue candidate can be damaging for a challenger, and Edwards seeks to clarify that her problem with Wynn goes deeper than just the Iraq issue. Edwards says Wynn — a member of the influential Energy and Commerce Committee — has grown too close to both business interests and the Bush White House.

She cites his vote for the 2005 energy bill and his recent vote to repeal the estate tax, along with his support for allowing a casino to be built in the 4th District, which Edwards’ community group opposed.

“We have an incumbent who votes in lockstep with the Bush administration,” said Edwards. “It’s just not acceptable in this district.”

Wynn says that charge is untrue — citing a CQ vote study that showed he voted with most Democrats against most Republican on 87 percent of House party-line votes in 2005 — though he added he reserves the right to disagree with his Democratic colleagues on occasion.

“I am definitely a true Democrat, but I am not a blind Democrat,” says Wynn. “This race is not going to be about who is a better Democrat, but who can get things done. The bottom line is I’ve gotten results.”

Past election results indicate Wynn has a cushion to work with. He never received a serious challenge from candidates of either party in any previous re-election bid. He won his seventh term with 75 percent of the vote in 2004 after taking 84 percent to dismiss a little-known Democratic primary opponent.
He might also be able to take some heart from the other most prominent primary challenge to a Democratic House incumbent accused of being too favorable to the war in Iraq.

Veteran California Rep. Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House Select Intelligence Committee and one of the party’s more hawkish members, was challenged by Marcy Winograd, a teacher and anti-war activist. Harman, who pointed out that she has criticized the Bush administration’s handling of the war, held on to win the 36th District primary with 62 percent, even though Winograd raised more than $360,000 for her campaign, a substantial showing for a first-time candidate staging a long-shot bid.

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