IN MARYLAND? – AT 10:52 A.M. ET:  Could this be real?  Maryland is one of the bluest of the blue states.  Dominated by Baltimore, it is safe Dem territory.  But the gubernatorial contest has, very suddenly, become a horse race.  An upset in Maryland would be music.  The odds are still against it, but the trend is unmistakable.  From Fox:   

The campaign for Maryland GOP gubernatorial nominee Larry Hogan earlier this week enthusiastically predicted that a win Tuesday would be the surprise, upset victory of the midterm elections.

And it might well be correct.

Left off essentially everybody’s list of hot governors’ races, the tightening Maryland contest has now captured the national spotlight with big outside money and A-list politicians coming in to close the deal for Hogan or Democratic nominee Anthony Brown, who has served eight years as Gov. Martin O’Malley’s lieutenant governor.

That Hogan, a businessman and son of a former congressman, would even be close this late is a surprise.

Democratic voters outnumber Republicans 2-to-1 in Maryland. And only two Republicans have held the governor’s office the past four decades.

But a sluggish local economy and years of tax increases by the O’Malley administration -- including an infamous “rain water tax" -- appears to have voters looking for a change.

Brown had led the race by double digits from the start. But recent polls -- including one by The Baltimore Sun in mid-October that indicated Brown ahead by just 7 percentage points -- have shown his lead starting to slip.

However, the turning point seemed to occur after a Republican-sponsored poll released Monday showed Hogan trailing Brown by just 2 percentage points, 46-to-44 percent.

COMMENT:  The problem, of course, is that in states with large cities like Baltimore, Dems have a way of finding votes.  Oh, there's a box of uncounted ballots!  Oh, the tally on that voting machine is wrong.  Let's correct it.  Oh, here comes Aunt Millie to the polling place, even though she died 20 years ago.  Hi, Aunt Mil.  Nice to see you again.

We'll dream of an upset.

November 2, 2014