Shooting up the G.O.P.

from the Baltimore Sun

A gunshot fired early this morning shattered the glass door of a Maryland Republican Party field office on the Eastern Shore.

The Salisbury police discovered the vandalism after midnight and are investigating. No motive has been established, but Lt. Rob Kemp of the Salisbury police said the shot was likely "random."

"It just looks like somebody took a random shot. It wasn't multiple rounds or anything," he said. The single round was located in the office lobby but with no witnesses, Kemp said, it's not clear how much more investigating police can do.

State Party Chairwoman Audrey Scott called the incident "very disturbing."

“No motive has been established but whatever the reason may be it is very troubling that someone would do this to our volunteer field office,” Scott said in a statement.

The Salisbury office -- part of the GOP's national "Victory Campaign" -- is in a former Hollywood Video store.

Meet the Harford County Republican Sherriff Candidates

from the Harford County Dagger

O'Malley's Newest Angel

from The Baltimore Sun

Orioles owner Peter Angelos will host a fundraiser for Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley next month before an Orioles-Boston Red Sox game at Camden Yards.

The $1,000-per-person event is to be co-hosted by Angelos, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and real estate guru Wayne Gioioso. Attendees will mingle in a SkyBox at the Sept. 2 game.

Earlier this summer, Vice President Joe Biden and Baltimore developer Patrick Turner hosted pricey fundraisers for O'Malley.

But O'Malley hasn't always been touched by Angelos' "Orioles magic."

Last time around, Angelos favored Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., taking out a full-page ad thanking him protecting his Orioles as the Washington Nationals came to the region. Angelos said at the time, in 2005, that O'Malley was a "Washington suburbanite" who does not understand Baltimore.

Angelos isn't the only sports team owner who likes to play politics. Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder wrote Ehrlich a check for $4,000 this year.

Trouble in Harford County's RNC Paradise

from the Harford County Dagger

A list of candidates jointly endorsed by the Route 40 and North Harford Republican Clubs, controversial for both its content and construction, has caused a rift among club leaders and members, with some claiming club bylaws have been violated and that the endorsements are invalid or should be retracted.

The list was officially released to the media on August 16, but cards naming the endorsements were distributed at the Harford County Farm Fair several weeks ago, leading to clashes between candidates who learned they weren’t endorsed and those who had a hand in the endorsing.

Those familiar with how the list was created claim the endorsements were made during an unauthorized special meeting of the Route 40 Republican Club’s Executive Board, that bylaws were violated because challengers were endorsed over incumbents seeking reelection, and that the general membership of the club was not, but was required to have been, involved in the process.

“These endorsements are in direct conflict with the Route 40 Republican Club Constitution and By-laws,” said Route 40 Republican Club member Fred Mullis.

Mullis said the endorsements were made at a meeting called by Del. Rick Impallaria, “which is also in direct conflict with the by-laws since he is not an elected officer of the club.”

According to Mullis, during a meeting in July, the general membership of the Route 40 Republican Club voted by majority for Carol MacCubbin, the vice president, to serve as the interim president until the club could elect a president to complete the term vacated by the death of the club president Stephen Wright.

According to the club’s bylaws, Article V; Section 3 states that a special meeting of the Board must be called by the president or upon the request of three board members, but Mullis said it was Impallaria, not MacCubbin, who called and presided over the special Board meeting to make the club’s endorsements.

Mullis claims that during this meeting MacCubbin was not only told she would stay as vice president and that Impallaria would run the meetings, but that it was also decided the Board would suspend the bylaws, which Mullis asserts is “not possible.”

The Board then proceeded to make its endorsements, without notifying the president of the North Harford Republican Club and without sending it to a vote by the general membership of either club, Mullis said.

Furthermore, the endorsements seem to plainly violate the club bylaws specifically prohibiting the endorsement of a challenger in a race against an incumbent Republican.The Route 40 and North Harford Republican Clubs have endorsed Rob Wagner over incumbent Harford County Executive David Craig and Dave Tritt and Jason Gallion over sitting District 35A Dels. Wayne Norman and Donna Stifler.

The endorsements for Republican Central Committee named eight individuals for the 12 positions. Mullis’ wife, Paula, was not endorsed despite being an active club member.

Here is the relevant portion of the Route 40 Republican Club bylaws regarding endorsements:

Article XIII: Candidate Endorsements

Section 1: CANDIDATE ENDORSEMENTS. The Club (as an organization) may endorse candidates within the following pre-requisites:

1. The organization shall not endorse any candidate contesting in a Republican primary; e.g. a republican candidate who is running against a republican incumbent. The organization may endorse a republican in a republican primary when the seat is an “open seat” (e.g. a seat in which there is no Republican incumbent).

2. Endorsements may be made each election cycle. The Club may make endorsements for Federal, State and local elected, appointed, or administrative positions. Unless specifically stated otherwise in the endorsement, each endorsement is made for the particular election or appointment referred to in the endorsement.

3. Endorsements of the club, to be effective, official and prior to being made public, shall be confirmed by a majority of the Board and two-thirds of the membership present at a regular meeting or a special meeting called for the purpose of approving such endorsements. These rules shall apply to the endorsements of Republican incumbents.

4. Candidate endorsements shall be made public by the President of the Club, or a representative(s) of the club, approved by a majority vote of the Board.

Mullis believes the violation of these bylaws is obvious and severe enough that the endorsements should be retracted, if not outright invalidated. He said his first step in that process is to bring the matter before general membership of both clubs. Beyond that, he’s looking into whether it would be appropriate to file a complaint with the Board of Elections.

The cards and press release state that the endorsements are jointly made by the Route 40 and North Harford Republican Clubs. All releases have come from the Route 40 Republican Club and it is not clear when or how the North Harford Republican Club joined in making the endorsements.

Gregory Johnson, president of the North Harford Republican Club, would not address the accusations of bylaw violations directly and, instead, issued this statement:

“The North Harford Republican Club is about educating citizens and promoting conservatism in the northern end of the county. Anyone who attends our meetings will see that the group is positive and fair, and is comprised of regular folks whose only interest is to become well-informed to effect positive change in their community. We are backing leaders who will get this county, state, and country back on the right track–one in line with the intentions of the Founders of our Republic.”

Impallaria and MacCubbin did not respond to requests to discuss or comment on this situation.

Thank You President Obama

from the Harford County Dagger

For the first time in its history, Harford County has more voters registered Republican than Democrat – a watershed moment for the GOP, even though it has dominated the majority of local races for the last decade.

When the Elections Office closed its books on Tuesday, there were officially a dozen more Republicans than Democrats in Harford County.

Republicans (61,971) now make up 42.04% of Harford’s 147,408 total registered voters, compared to the Democrats (61,959) who comprise 42.03% of the vote.

“Harford County is officially Republican Red,” announced Republican Central Committee chair Kim Wagner in an email to Harford Republicans on Tuesday.

Harford County Board of Elections supervisor Jim Massey said Friday he had been noticing a lot of Democrats switching to the Republican Party so they can have a vote in the Primary Election. His office is processing about 400 registrations each month and each month he is seeing more voters becoming Republican.

Massey also said he noticed Harford County employees changing their registration to Republican, although he didn’t know if the reason for their change in affiliation was to vote for or against a particular candidate.

Ever since the infamous “Republican Tide” of 2002, which swept through the region when Bob Ehrlich was elected governor, the GOP has been making steady gains in Harford County.

Four years ago, on August 31, 2006, Harford County had 135,084 registered voters, 58,934 of which were Democrats and 57,989 of which were Republicans – a difference of 945.

There was a resurgence of Democratic registration two years ago, when Barack Obama was elected president, but since then the trend has been going toward Republican, Massey said.

As of Tuesday, August 17:

Democrat —— 61,959
Republicans —— 61,971
Green —— 278
Constitution —— 37
Libertarians —— 490
Unaffiliated —— 21,983
Other —— 690

TOTAL —— 147,408

Political Gossip from the Harford County Water Cooler

from Harford County's The Dagger:

The annual Farm Fair typically marks the high point of summer in Harford County. It’s a time to relax and slow down the pace of life, while enjoying the bounties offered by an agricultural and rural lifestyle – unless you’re an elected official or have intentions of ever becoming one. In which case, the Farm Fair gives you four days to shake as many hands and pass out as many pencils as possible, while reminding fair patrons for whom to vote in September.

This year’s fair was no exception. A team from The Dagger canvassed out across the fairgrounds with an ear to the ground for political ruminations, but the election chatter was so loud and thick we ended up fleeing with hands over our ears for fear of being deafened.

What follows is a handful of those stories; all speculative and open to criticism and clarification, but offered up from sources who would know:

ALL SIGNS POINT TO A DEMOCRATIC FEUD: Harford County Councilman Dion Guthrie and former state Sen. Art Helton’s feud dates back to the 2006 General Election, when Ann Helton was making strong gains against David Craig in the county executive race. Guthrie, a fellow Democrat, had arranged with Art Helton to have Dion’s political street team put dozens upon dozens of Ann Helton signs out at the District A (Edgewood/Joppa) polling places on Election Day. For reasons that remain unknown, or at least unspoken, those Ann Helton signs were never put out. Helton went on to lose to Craig by about 3,600 votes. And thus, the grudge was born. This is particularly troubling to local Democrats, who had been working hard for the decade or so prior to stomp out all the previous grudges between Democratic Party leaders in Harford County.

PLAYING THE WAITING GAME: You might have noticed that two of Harford County’s most prominent female elected officials, Del. Mary-Dulany James and County Councilwoman Mary Ann Lisanti, waited until nearly the last possible moment to file for re-election to their respective offices (Lisanti on July 1 and James on July 2). This was not a case of being busy with other things or just not getting around to it. Both women were waiting to see if there would be any late maneuvering by another prominent local female official – Sen. Nancy Jacobs. Speculation had been that Jacobs was once again on the short list of potential lieutenant governor choices being pondered by former Gov. Robert Ehrlich as he began his comeback campaign. Should Ehrlich have picked Jacobs for the spot (rather than Montgomery County’s Mary Kane), James and Lisanti were each prepared to launch a campaign for the next spot up on the political ladder – James for District 34 state senate seat that Jacobs would be vacating and Lisanti for James’ District 34A seat in the House of Delegates. As it turns out, all three women are running to retain their respective elected offices – although Jacobs was apparently closer than most know to getting the call from Ehrlich to join his ticket.

ALL THE KING’S MEN: After an internal coup of Harford legislators overthrew Dels. Susan McComas and Rick Impallaria as the president and vice president, respectively, of the Harford County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly, Impallaria took it personally. He has been working double-time this election season, not just on his own campaign, but playing the role of political kingmaker. Impallaria has hand-picked a Campaign for Liberty candidate to run against each of those who had a hand in overthrowing him in Annapolis. And when a worthy opponent arose to challenge McComas in Bel Air (former County Councilman Mike Geppi), Impallaria is taking credit for strong-arming him out of the race and protecting his House of Delegates compatriot.

A FAIR ENDORSEMENT?: The Route 40 Republican Club and the North Harford Republican Club combined forces recently to issue a list of endorsements that have caused a stir inside the Republican camp. The endorsed candidates were a.) identified before the Primary Election and b.) chosen by the clubs’ leaders and not the general members. That left at least one member, who also happens to be a candidate, out of the loop and paying dues to a club that decided to back his competition in the Republican primary.

REBEL RADIO: With all the brouhaha over how former Gov. Robert Ehrlich remained host of his talk show on WBAL 1090 AM radio show until June 26, when he formally filed the paperwork making him a candidate for governor, how is it that Del. Pat McDonough, who is running for re-election, has remained host of the “Pat McDonough Radio Show” on WCBM 680 AM, airing Saturday evenings from 8 to 10? Some Democrats are beginning to wonder the same thing and may ask for the State Board of Elections to help clear things up.

LASERS, ANTENNAE, AND CAT TREATS: County Councilman Joe Woods had the most impressive Farm Fair booth display of the year; hell, possibly of all time. Forget the fact that he had blisters on his hands after tying several thousand balloons (or that he built the balloon-inflation machine himself). Look beyond the small bags of dog treats, cat treats, rabbit treats, and bird seed he was handing out to passersby or the impressive mini-museum of medals, patches, and fire service commendations he had displayed under glass. Ignore the multi-colored laser light show on display within his tent. The most impressive part of Woods’ tent was what you couldn’t see. Woods eagerly took us around behind his booth and pointed to the 2-ft antennae attached to its top. Woods, who when asked about its legality quickly claimed he has his FCC license, had set up and was broadcasting his on wireless Internet hub. What this means is that anyone with a BlackBerry, iPhone, iPod, laptop, or other wireless device who came within a certain distance of Woods’ tents would be offered the ability to tap into the Internet for free. What’s in it for Woods? Those who took the opportunity to leech the Internet signal from his mobile set-up were first taken to the Joe Woods website before they could begin surfing the web.

TURNING BLUE WITH LAUGHTER: Part-time comedian-turned-Board-of-Education-candidate Tom Myers had some funny riffs as we chatted at the Democrat booth, but it was Sen. Barry Glassman who turned in the knee-slapping performance of the night. Within the confines of a small audience consisting of council president Billy Boniface, Del. Rick Impallaria, Sen. Nancy Jacobs and myself, Glassman proceeded to detail an uncharacteristically blue joke – with a particularly profane punch line. The indelicate joke (which you’ll have to ask him to repeat, because I won’t) had our group cracking up, mostly because of who delivered it.

ONE-LINERS:

- A prominent Harford County elected official very nearly entered the already-crowded Register of Wills race…and would have easily won.

- A flier was circulating featuring the now infamous photos of Gov. Martin O’Malley celebrating the Fourth of July with Del. Wayne Norman at his annual backyard barbecue.

- Any politician who was asked said the polls were looking good and the campaign was building momentum.

- There was the usual grumbling about how some candidates (mostly incumbents) got the best booth locations, but Sheriff candidate Jeff Gahler was disappointed the four GOP Sheriff candidates were split up into different tents. Gahler would have liked patrons to have been able to see and judge all of the would-be Sheriffs at the same time.

- The 2010 elections have definitely been “The Year of the Leadership Teams.” There is the Harford Leadership Team, the Conservative Leadership Team, the North Harford Leadership Team, and I’m pretty sure a couple others that I missed.

- The Campaign for Liberty set up shop, spreading the Tea Party message and handing out copies of the U.S. Constitution.

- In a Farm Fair first, several school board candidates were among the candidates displaying signs and introducing themselves to passersby.

- The Route 40 and North Harford Republican Clubs jointly endorsed a slate of nine candidates for the twelve open seats on the Republican Central Committee, leaving three spots open for voter-choice. With a total of 37 candidates in the running, there will be plenty to choose from.

Did you hear any interesting stories or witness anything worth reporting at the Farm Fair? Would you like to clarify, correct, or expand on any of these political stories? If so, by all means, let everyone know.

Another Maryland Congressional Candidate Weighs in on Mosque Controversy

from The Baltimore Sun

A second Maryland politician has weighed in on plans to build a mosque near the former site of the World Trade Center in New York.

On Sunday, Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Montgomery County told CNN’s Candy Crowley that he agreed with President Barack Obama that the developers have the right to build the project called Park51 on private property two blocks from Ground Zero, subject to local laws and ordinances. Obama said he would not comment on the wisdom of building the mosque and community center on the site.

Now state Sen. Andy Harris is offering his view.

“The proposal to build an Islamic mosque and community center near Ground Zero is blatantly disrespectful to the sacred ground that is a memorial to the 3,000 Americans who died on September 11th,” Harris, a Baltimore County Republican challenging Democratic Rep. Frank Kratovil in the First Congressional District, said in a statement Tuesday.

“The president is once again trying to have it both ways; publicly supporting the project while saying he won’t get involved in local politics,” Harris said. “He is thinking like a lawyer and not like an American, making declarations without America’s best interest in mind.”

Harris said he lost a “very close friend” in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and considers Ground Zero “a place to remember my friend and how she lost her life trying to save others on that day."

“The area around Ground Zero is a special place where Americans should feel comfortable to visit, mourn, and remember what happened on 9/11,” he said. “That will be impossible if this project is allowed to continue. One of America’s founding principles is freedom of religion, but that does not mean you should practice your religion without a sense of respect for others.”

Maryland Candidate Weighs in on Mosque Controversy

from The Baltimore Sun

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the Montgomery County Democrat who chairs his party’s House campaign fundraising operation, is backing President Barack Obama on controversial plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York.

In comments over the weekend, Obama said Muslims have the same right as other Americans to practice their religion, including building a house of worship and a community center in lower Manhattan, “in accordance with local laws and ordinances.”

“This is America,” Obama said at a White House dinner to mark Ramadan, “and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable.”

Sunday on CNN, State of the Union host Candy Crowley cited a recent poll indicating that the project is opposed by 82 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of independents and 54 percent of Democrats, and asked Van Hollen if he would have preferred that Obama not raise the subject.

“I think that when it comes to 9/11 and the memory of 9/11, we should all agree that it would be wrong to politicize this issue,” said Van Hollen, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “And I think what the president said [Friday] was as the president of the United States of America, he was simply stating the principle that under our great Constitution, we do not discriminate against people based on their religion.”

“He went on to say later … that the decision as to where to site the mosque, this Muslim place of worship, was up to the people of New York, and Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg and inter-faith leaders, Christians, Jews, Muslims have said they think it's appropriate; others have said it's not. That's a question for the people of New York …”

Van Hollen said that when Congress had an opportunity to vote on legislation related to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 – a bill that would have extended a healthcare fund for first responders who were sickened – most Republicans voted against it.

“Now, that's a decision to be made by members of Congress,” he said. “We had a vote. With respect to siting the mosque, that's a decision to be made by the people of New York.”

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican appearing opposite Van Hollen, asked why Obama weighed in on the mosque project.

“If Chris is saying this is a New York issue, then why did the president engage in it?” he asked.

“Look, you look at the poll,” McCarthy said. “There is a sensitivity to that area. Yes, we have the freedom. Build a mosque; build more than one mosque, but don't build it there. There are other places to build them. And I think that's really what America is saying.”

What a Difference a Decade Makes

In 2000, the Maryland Republican Party opened it's primary system and allowed registered Independents to caucus with them. In 2010, the Republican Party again turned its' back on Independents and Tea Party supporters, and slavishly shut them out of the election process, reducing their political representation rights to a choice between "confirming" the "lesser of two evils", the de facto Democratic and Republican nominees.

Registered Independents in Maryland total one in seven voters. Given the vast voter registration gap in Maryland of Democrats over Republicans, can the RNC continue to afford to alienate and abuse one in seven Maryland voters? And at what point does this ill treatment lead to a third party challenge?

Independents in Maryland deserve a voice in the political process beginning with inception. If the mainstream parties won't give it to them, then perhaps Independents need to rethink their role in the political process, from merely affirming to actively competing. You can bet your bottom dollar that if a viable Independent third party were to organize and emerge, that the existing narcissistic Republican Party wouldn't last very long.

In the absence of a viable 3rd party run, Independents should consider voting Democratic until the RNC reconsiders its' policy. And beginning in 2012, that's EXACTLY what they should do.

Harford County Primary Ballots for the September 14, 2010 Election

From Harford County's "The Dagger"

The Harford County Board of Elections posted the Primary Election ballots for each polling place this week, allowing voters to see what their ballots will look like in advance and hopefully eliminating any voting booth surprises on Election Day.

The ballots are listed alphabetically by polling location and party affiliation (Democratic, Republican, Unaffiliated) on the Harford County Board of Elections web site: http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/Elections/Primary/

The ballots are fairly straightforward, with the average Democratic ballot running 3 pages in length, while the average Republican ballot is 5 pages long. The ballot for unaffiliated voters consists of only one question – the nonpartisan race between for District’s Board of Education representative.

The Republican ballot is so long primarily because of the highly-contested Republican Central Committee race, which runs two pages long, features 37 candidates, and comes with the instructions, “Vote For No More Than Twelve.”

Time to Count the Benjamins

from The Baltimore Sun

It's not just Cinderella watching the clock today. The stroke of midnight marks the end of a critical fundraising period for Maryland politicians.

Not since January has the public had a look at campaign finances. The reporting period that ends today will show how much a candidate has been able to raise since announcing a run for office, becoming official and diving into election season. This camapign finance report, which will become public in a week, is one way to measure just how serious a candidate is.

The major candidates for governor, Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley and Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., seem to understand the importance of today's deadline and have flooded supporters with last-minute requests for cash.

Ehrlich, who had just about $140,000 in the bank in January, months before he made official his new bid for his old office, has said he'd like to hit $3 million by the end of today.

"We are on the cusp of sending a strong message to the incumbents in Annapolis, but I need your help to cross the finish line," Ehrlich said in an email to supporters. "We have one goal for tomorrow's deadline: report $3 million in contributions since March."

Meanwhile, O'Malley, who had about $5.7 million, says he's raised more than $130,000 in the past 24 hours alone.

"We're all blown away by the support you have given the Governor in the last few days," O'Malley finance director Adam Goers said in an email to supporters. "We set an aggressive goal of $100,000 raised online before tonight's filing deadline, and I'm proud to say that, with your support, we topped that goal before noon today!"

O'Malley's aides have characterized Ehrlich's goal to hit $3 million as a sign of weakening support. They point to an interview in March where Ehrlich aides said they had a goal of raising $1 million in the month of March.

But Ehrlich and his aides have long hinted that they're not planning a dollar-for-dollar battle with O'Malley, whom they said has had four years to raise "piles" of money.

Richard E. Hug, Ehrlich's longtime fund-raiser, said in March that the race will be "about the message and the messenger," rather than the money.

Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said Tuesday that the campaign had devised a "sensible fundraising plan for an out-of-power challenger, and I'm pleased to say that we're very much on target."

The State Board of Elections will make the totals public next week. We'll be able to see exactly how much each candidate -- not just Ehrlich and O'Malley, but everyone running for the state legislature, federal posts and local offices -- has raised. Equally important, we'll know how they're spending their money.

With midnight looming, the candidates are hoping to turn their pleas into cash.

Tired of the Same Old Same O?

from The Baltimore Sun

Rob Fisher, the political newcomer challenging state Sen. Andy Harris for the Republican nomination against Democratic Rep. Frank Kratovil, is doubling down on his self-financed longshot bid.

Fisher has just put another $80,000 into TV advertising, with 30-second commercials set to air over the next three weeks on Baltimore and Salisbury broadcast stations. The ads start Thursday, Aug. 5.

The 43-year-old businessman is financing his run primarily out of his own pocket. He started TV advertising two months ago on cable outlets in the First District, which covers the entire Eastern Shore and portions of Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Harford Counties.

His new buy ups the ante, taking Fisher's outsider message to broadcast stations, which have wider audiences.

The 30-second spot includes footage of Fisher walking down the street with an unidentified man, actually campaign aide Sal Sabatino. The spot is designed to reinforce Fisher's message that he is a political outsider who will "fight career politicians"--like Harris, a 12-year veteran of the Maryland legislature, and incumbent Kratovil, who would face the winner of the Sept. 14 Republican primary.

A Fisher aide said the ad buy would continue until next month's election and is designed to introduce the candidate to Republican primary voters. Harris and Kratovil have yet to take to the airwaves.

Fisher, a government IT contractor, says he is prepared to spend $1 million on his campaign.

More.

The Baltimore Sun - Politically Fair and Balanced?

In a recent MD election writeup in a column entitled "Putting their Nazi past behind them", the Baltimore Sun Newspaper chose to focus on Gubernatorial candidate Robert Ehrlich's campaign staff, with reporters referring to a staffer's "overcoming of the candidate's Nazi past" and having been fired from a former Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate, Kathleen Kennedy-Townsend's election campaign for characterizing the Ehrlich campaign as such. Robert Ehrlich never had a "Nazi campaign past", THAT's a Nazi-like meme his former gubernatorial opponent, Kathleen Kennedy-Townsend had concocted two gubernatorial election cycles ago. Unlike his opponents, Ehrlich has always run a clean campaign. And given Martin O'Malley's recent dirty campaign ads falsely charaterizinging the former governor as a BP owned Big-Oil lobbyist, this deliberate mislabelling and attempt to attack his current campaign is particularly un-called for.

So are the Sun's reporters offering objective information and unbiased reporting, or are they attempting to editorialize and unfairly taint by association the former Governor's previous term and re-cast it as something shameful so as to help re-elect a Democrat? Now had the headline been written in the "singular" vice "plural" tense (ie- Staffer putting his over-the-top rhetoric behind him), one could argue that the former governor was not being "Nazi-fied" in the Sun column, but I'll let the reader divine the reporter's "intentions" for himself. In the meantime...

Shame on you, Laura Vozzella of The Baltimore Sun. Your progressive roots are showing AGAIN. It was dirty politics the first time around, and now that the fall-guy for the Democrats has reconciled with and is working for Ehrlich, you try and twice-taint Ehrlich with former DNC dirty tricks. This is the reason why nobody pays to read your newspaper anymore. It's just one long and uninterrupted ad for the DNC.

*Shakes head*

btw - MD recently passed an emergency law requiring candidates to "label" social media websites because dirty tricksters were trying to hijack and propagandize voters. Not possible you say? Better think again. I think that those who use such tactics should be forced to pay a political price. Help us make them pay it this November. And that goes DOUBLE for so-called Main Stream Media outlets like The Baltimore Sun who pretend to offer "mainstream" and therefore relatively objective news, but give us the most biased forms of political propaganda instead.

Palin Endorses Murphy for MD Governor

from the Baltimore Sun

Conservative darling and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed gubernatorial candidate Brian Murphy today, posting a note of support on her Facebook page. It is the first Palin endorsement in Maryland.

Murphy is running for the state GOP nomination as a more conservative alternative to Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who has most of the establishment GOP support in the state.

So far, Murphy has not shown up in polls or had much of an impact on the race, but in other states a nod from Palin has given outlying candidates momentum. On the stump Murphy says both Gov. Martin O'Malley and Ehrlich have spent too much state money and says he would cut corporate income taxes and reduce government spending.

Murphy’s campaign put out the following statement from Palin:

“I’m honored to endorse Brian Murphy for Governor of Maryland. Brian is a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment commonsense conservative and a firm believer in the free market and the cause for energy independence. As a former energy industry executive and current small business owner, Brian has the private sector experience that is so lacking in government today. He knows how to incentivize industry to get our economy moving again. Together with his running mate for lieutenant governor, Mike Ryman, Brian will provide Maryland with principled and results oriented leadership.”

Murphy said in a statement that her endorsement is "an honor and a privilege."

---

Note: Is Hillary Clinton the "darling of the DNC"? Would any serious reporter ever characterize her as such? This article is just one more example of liberal journalist bias in major city newspaper rooms. It would not surprise me if a majority of the Baltimore Sun's reporters were former members of the Journo-List conspiracy.

GOP Heavyweights Stump for Local MD Candidates

from The Baltimore Sun

The tight gubernatorial race is not the only contest in the state attracting national attention this cycle: Ann Coulter and Ed Meese will stump for various state legislative candidates.

Ben Lawless, a Republican running to unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Katherine Klausmeier in Baltimore County, will host the Coulter event.

Lawless is paying Coulter to speak – but didn’t say how much. The amount should turn up on his campaign finance filing.

The event is billed as Lawless’s “First Annual Baltimore gala;” Lawless said he picked Coulter because she “says what is on her mind.” Top-tier tickets will go for $1,000 and includes an exclusive reception with Coulter and a suite at the Tremont Hotel, where the party will be held.

Depending on how much a donor is willing to pay, the evening could also include: a VIP reception on a yacht, which will be “Butler’d [sic] with Open Bar;” dessert with Coulter; and a photo with Coutler. All participants will hear Coulter give a “dialogue.”

The event, originally scheduled for Sunday, has been bumped to mid-October due to an illness in the Lawless family. Lawless faces a Republican challenger in September.

Meese, an attorney general under President Ronald Reagan, is going to help raise money for incumbent Republican Del. Ron George, who wants to hold onto his Anne Arundel County seat.

“There aren’t many people who will do events for Republicans in this state,” said Ron George. “It is hard.” George said that he has met Meese at conferences, and the two clicked.

George does not have a primary fight, but may face a challenge from Republican Herb McMillian, who is fairly well known is the district.