Mobtown Votes
It's Election Day here in Baltimore. Strictly speaking, this is just the primary—the day when local voters select two candidates for each race, the Republican and the winner. We will then wait 14 months for the general election, a weird one-time quirk that, among other effects, has temporarily granted the franchise to high school juniors.
Candidates keep calling us with prerecorded messages, but not one has personally come to our door. That may be a blessing. According to the Baltimore Sun, five candidates for City Council or mayor "have been convicted of serious offenses. Among the charges: impersonating a police officer; handgun violations; credit card theft; breaking and entering. Nearly a dozen other candidates have arrest records, but in each case the charge was dropped."
Baltimore has its own presidential contender, too: one Mildred Glover, who declared her candidacy at her 50th high school reunion in Savannah. Glover is upset that she was not allowed to take part in tonight's Democratic debate at Morgan State University. Notes The Sun: "The plight of unknown presidential candidates fighting unsuccessfully to get into campaign forums is hardly new. What makes Glover's situation unusual is the coincidence that she is being blocked from the stage of a debate being held at the institution where she is a veteran administrator."