Maryland voters get their rare chance to have an impact in a presidential primary today, particularly on the Democratic side, where Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are in an exceptionally tight race. Along with serious challenges against incumbent Reps. Wayne T. Gilchrest and Albert R. Wynn in the 1st and 4th Congressional Districts, there's ample motivation for a record-setting turnout at the polls.
The reality, of course, is that "record-setting" doesn't have to be all that high. An exceptional turnout would merely have to surpass 40 percent of registered voters - that's the percentage recorded the year Maryland Democrats chose Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas over Bill Clinton in 1992. Presidential primaries in Maryland generally average around 30 percent and usually suffer from irrelevancy because they coincide with primaries in bigger states, or they've been staged so late in the election cycle that the nominee is already essentially chosen.
But this year's Potomac primary turned out to be all its promoters could have wanted - a chance for Maryland, along with neighbors Virginia and the District of Columbia, to represent a significant enough event to attract the candidates and national attention. Whoever wins today isn't a lock for a party nomination, but the momentum generated by a victory could prove crucial, particularly for candidates scrambling to build on their base and find donors who aren't yet tapped out.
That makes the customary excuses for not voting unacceptable. And this year's primary ballot shouldn't prove particularly time-consuming. Once Democratic and Republican voters select their preferred presidential nominee (and expect to see a few also-rans, like Fred Thompson and Dennis J. Kucinich, on the ballot, too), there's just the matter of the local congressional race, perhaps a judge or two, and a vote for convention delegates, which is largely a formality.
We won't try to explain the rather byzantine delegate selection process (quite a few are chosen by party central committees weeks from now), but suffice to say that if the Democrats end up in a brokered convention, a great deal more scrutiny will be given the so-called superdelegates, the political insiders who could end up with a big say in what happens.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Don't expect new voting technology- it's the same touch-screen equipment as in 2006. And thanks to last week's Court of Appeals decision, eligible voters include 17-year-olds who turn 18 before the general election in November and had the foresight to register.
Now, what's your excuse?