When the good guys win
It's been a long road for the two men, who outshone their contemporaries in the General Assembly during the 1970s and 1980s. Hoyer was silk-tie smooth as Senate president during a rocky period of government scandals; Cardin was a solid legislative craftsman and insightful leader as House speaker during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.
Both proved themselves under fire. Each represents a bridge between the old Maryland-style machine politics and today's shifting alliances and consensus-building.
Hoyer tried to run for governor in 1978 but gave up and joined Acting Gov. Blair Lee III's ticket as his running mate. The Lee-Hoyer team lost by 20,000 votes, largely because of Lee's inability to separate himself in voters' eyes from the corruption scandal enveloping then-suspended Gov. Marvin Mandel.
Cardin eyed the governorship, too. In the 1980s, he was viewed as a successor to Gov. Harry Hughes, but his bland persona led to anemic poll numbers. So he shifted his focus to Congress, where he won election in 1986 to succeed Barbara Mikulski in a Baltimore congressional district.
A decade later, Cardin met with key Washington-area leaders to discuss a challenge to unpopular Gov. Parris Glendening. Once word of that meeting got out, though, Glendening played hardball and Cardin, ever the cautious politician, backed down.
Both Hoyer and Cardin came to Annapolis right from law school. Cardin had the easier task. He was named in 1967 to replace an uncle who had resigned his House of Delegates seat for a state job. He thus joined the Mandel-Kovens machine that ran Northwest Baltimore politics and later the State House.
Hoyer took advantage of the ‘‘one-man, one-vote" reapportionment of 1966 to win a seat in the Maryland Senate seat from fast-growing Prince George's County. He was part of a reform team challenging the long-dominant Sasscer machine. Attorney Peter F. O'Malley and Hoyer ruled the county for several decades. They were more democratic but every bit as powerful as the old-time politicos.
In 1974, Hoyer outmaneuvered other contenders to become Senate president. Sharp as a tack and with a winning personality, Hoyer proved a popular leader. He remained loyal to the governor's legislative goals as corruption scandals closed in on Mandel — a recognition of political realities since Mandel still controlled the Annapolis power structure. Hoyer, though, managed to work with reform elements in the Senate, and enacted a steady flow of solid, progressive laws during those troubled years.
After Hoyer lost his bid for lieutenant governor, his career seemed stalled — until serendipity interceded. Congresswoman Gladys Noon Spellman of Prince George's County suffered a stroke and remained in a coma until her death. In the 1981 special election to replace her, Hoyer defeated Spellman's husband, Reuben.
Ever since, Hoyer has been a Democratic stalwart and worker bee in Congress. He's done the heavy lifting of keeping members in line and, more recently, developing new candidates and raising money for them.
No wonder he was rewarded by House Democrats and elected House majority leader over the objections of the new House speaker and longtime Hoyer rival, Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi.
In many respects, Hoyer is Pelosi's mirror image. She rules in a partisan, dictatorial style reminiscent of her father, a congressman and Baltimore mayor for 12 years. She neither forgives nor forgets those who cross her. Her far-left politics (Pelosi represents San Francisco) puts her at odds with many House Democrats.
Hoyer leads not with an iron fist but a velvet glove. He is in touch with the pulse of the Democratic caucus. He's a flexible moderate, perhaps because of the growing conservative nature of his district.
If Pelosi fails to adapt to the more centrist and less doctrinaire cast of the new Democratic caucus, her reign as House speaker could be relatively brief. For now, though, Hoyer shows no signs of being anything other than the loyal No. 2 who keeps Democrats united on issues and unified behind Pelosi.
Cardin, meanwhile, is set to join fellow Baltimorean Mikulski in the U.S. Senate. He waited patiently for his chance to move up the political chain.
In the State House, he was viewed as a policy wonk, a master of political detail and an even-handed legislator. As speaker, he enlarged the leadership ranks to include more women and blacks and thus increased his control over the chamber. He mentored younger lawmakers, including Maryland's two black congressmen, Al Wynn and Elijah Cummings.
Cardin straddled the old ways of the Mandel machine and the new politics of the suburbs. He was so focused on crafting good legislation that political maneuvering usually was kept below the radar screen.
Once in Congress, Cardin quietly mastered federal issues and became a key committee consensus-builder. He comes to the Senate as an acknowledged expert on Medicare and Social Security. Not surprisingly, he was given a coveted spot on the Senate Budget Committee.
Hoyer and Cardin know the federal legislative system inside-out. They have gained powerful positions after decades of dedication to public service and old-fashioned hard work. The best and the brightest of the Annapolis State House could well be big-time national players for years to come.
Barry Rascovar is a communications consultant in the Baltimore area. His Wednesday morning commentaries can be heard on WYPR, 88.1 FM.