Harris out to clean up earmarks

Yes, I got the same press release other outlets did. I’m guessing eight blogs got them because Andy links to eight blogs on his site (including monoblogue). But here’s what the Harris campaign has to say:

Harris Calls on Gilchrest to Join Republican Efforts to Clean Up Earmark Process

After watching Democrats add billions of dollars in wasteful pork-barrel government spending in the form of earmarks to appropriations bills in recent months, Andy Harris today called on Wayne Gilchrest to join the House Republican leadership in their attempts to clean up earmarks. “Earmarks waste taxpayer dollars and breed corruption in government.” said Harris. “To clean up Washington, we must first reform the earmark process, with the goal of eventually eliminating them.”

Republican Minority Leader John Boehner introduced H. Res. 559, which would require consideration by the House of H. Res. 479. H. Res. 479 would require all earmarks to be clearly disclosed regardless of where they are found. “H. Res. 479 is the first salvo of the process to end earmarks. By shedding daylight on all earmarks, it gives Americans a chance to see just how corrupt earmarks like the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ have become. And when they see, they will demand an end to earmarks,” Harris added.

At the time of this release, 142 Republican members of Congress have signed the discharge petition, but not Wayne Gilchrest. “By not pursuing action to stop the backroom ‘earmarks’ process, Gilchrest is showing he supports the Democrat status quo,” said Chris Meekins, Political Director for the campaign.

An article in Roll Call on September 19, 2007 titled “Mr. Murtha’s Money” explains the dirty side of earmarks. The article uncovered that Representative Murtha received campaign donations from EVERY ONE of the companies receiving earmarks he placed into bills. Murtha received over $410,000 in campaign contributions from the PACs and employees of the companies receiving the earmarks he placed into legislation.

“Apparently Gilchrest sees no problem with Congressmen blatantly using the earmark process to bolster their campaign coffers,” said Meekins. “We sent Wayne to change Washington, but with his opposition to REAL earmark reform, it is obvious that Washington changed Wayne.”

“If elected to Congress, I will support real earmark reforms, and work to end earmarks althogether.  If the government has enough money to waste on pork-barrel earmark spending, the government simply has too much money,” Harris said. (Editor note: links added to original.)

One item in the release that can be questioned by Congressman Gilchrest and his supporters is the implication of using Murtha’s PAC money as an example in the release. The campaign finance site opensecrets.org shows that typically Gilchrest receives 1% or less of his money from political action committees. (I haven’t seen data yet on the 2008 campaign but it’s probably similar.)

And honestly, even if Andy is elected it would be an uphill battle to enact true earmark reform as the vast majority of the electorate looks to their Congressman and says, “what can you get us in our district?” It’s almost like we need about 250 Republican Study Committee types (just in the House, plus 60 Senators) who want to stop earmarks before anything could be done, with Democrats still kicking and screaming about it even afterward. While I think Harris would be a good Congressman (moreso than the incumbent) we have to look toward instilling a sea change in attitude through education as part of the process, too.

Crossposted on RedMaryland.

Is Wayne Gilchrest a liberal?

Now I can delete the tease part, I’m actually writing this article up. As I stated last night, this website says Wayne Gilchrest is a liberal. While one would think it’s a creation of the Andy Harris campaign, it’s actually funded not by his campaign but by a known Harris supporter group, the Club for Growth PAC.

I looked through the site today and checked out the votes the group cites here and here. While the evidence is damning in a number of cases, I was sort of surprised and disappointed to find that there were many other GOP voters with Gilchrest on a number of issues, including all 46 earmarks noted in the “Porker” post. Those amendments tended to fail with just the true GOP fiscal conservatives in the House voting to kill the earmark. Meanwhile, the “sampling” post took into account a small number of votes over the last 7 years. Of those 12 votes, the GOP voted in the majority on 6 of them so the Club For Growth’s complaint shouldn’t just be with Gilchrest on a number of those.

While I did not verify yesterday’s claim, that “Gilchrest votes more often with Democratic leadership than with GOP leadership. So far this year (as of Sunday), he has voted with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer 514 out of 866 times. Conversely, he’s voted with Boehner 470 times out of 866,” it’s very plausible given a CQ Politics survey I posted on in July (about halfway down) that showed Gilchrest voted with the Democrats 48% of the time on key issues.

However, I did decide to link to the site on my sidebar so you can check it out for yourself anytime.

In other First District race news…

Andy Harris’s campaign did let me know about an article by Aaron Blake in The Hill Tuesday that talks about the First District battle for endorsements and fundraising.

Also, I found out today that another Gilchrest challenger has signed on to appear at the Wicomico County GOP Straw Poll Monday night, that challenger being John Leo Walter. He’ll join Joe Arminio at the event. I’m still awaiting word on who will be representing both Harris and Gilchrest at the Straw Poll.

Finally, an interesting Arminio aside. On his website under “The Campaign in the News” he has two links – a link to a WJZ-TV article and a “local blog”. It’s my post I did on his entering the campaign back in July. Hey Joe, at least properly cite the source will you?

Can Ron Paul help Wicomico Republicans?

On Monday I got an interesting letter in my mailbox. As most of you should be aware, I’m the driving force behind the Wicomico County Republican Straw Poll being held this coming Monday (which helps to explain the busy week in my last post.) The letter in question was hand-addressed from Ron Paul’s campaign.

I had contacted all of the campaigns regarding sending a representative to the event, and Ron Paul’s workers had gotten back to me regarding doing just that. So I thought this was a confirmation, but instead the note was a little different. This is what it read:

Dear Wicomico County Republican:

While the Republican primary election is still several months away, you have a change (sic) to indicate your support for the GOP nomination at the Monday, September 24, 2007 Wicomico County Republican Club straw poll. Club members and guests are welcome. It will occur at the monthly club meeting in the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce building at 144 E. Main Street in downtown Salisbury. The social period begins at 7:00 p.m. and the meeting begins at 7:30. Representative (sic) of Presidential and Congressional candidates will make presentations and then you’ll have a chance to register your preference. And you can purchase additional votes with the money going to the club’s efforts to get Republicans elected.

As you think about the best candidate and the best person to be the next president, give serious consideration to Dr. Ron Paul, a ten term Texas Congressman, who believes in liberty and freedom. Who? Dr. Ron Paul, the only true conservative whose philosophy follows true Republican thinking. Smaller government, adherence to the Constitution, avoiding foreign entanglements, and individual liberty.

Well, you may be saying he hasn’t got a chance and he’s not even showing up in the poll numbers. It’s true that he’s not showing up in the mainstream polls but most polls rely upon land-line telephones and not on cell phones like many Ron Paul supporters use. Additionally, the traditional news media are not providing coverage to Ron Paul’s campaign and therefore he is not well known and therefore is showing up poorly in the polls. The news media won’t cover him until he shows up higher in the polls but he won’t show up high in the polls until the news media give him coverage. It’s a vicious cycle. But among Internet users and freedom believing Americans, Dr. Paul is a champion. And in many recent straw polls he is the leader. Check out the enclosed sheet (website).

Dr. Paul is the man. Momentum is building. Yesterday (which would have been September 13th – editor) was the most successful fundraising day in the campaign’s history. If you believe in traditional Republican values and smaller government and getting out of Iraq and stopping American intervention in foreign nations and individual liberty, then we seek your support for Ron Paul. Cast your vote at the Wicomico County Republican Club meeting on September 24.

I believe you need a couple commas in that last paragraph and a proofreader – not necessarily a spell-checker because the wrong words were spelled correctly. And doesn’t that paragraph about being so low in the polls sound just a little bit like a conspiracy theory? Anyway, it’s obvious they got the information on the event I sent to each campaign, so a plus for them. Moreover, they’ve been by far the most responsive campaign since they also sent me a package with 300 palm cards and other items. It’s more than I’ll ever need for this event but we have others coming up.

Also, as I sit here I recall that I had placed in my original note to the Presidential campaigns that we were having our recent Crab Feast as another event where plenty of GOP supporters would be. Guess whose signs were there bright and early?

What also surprised me about it was that apparently someone hand-addressed a number of similar letters to others in the club. We had an officers’ meeting tonight where I was told about them getting a similar letter. While there’s nothing wrong with that, I suppose it just looks less professional.

With all that said there is one question that bears asking. Given the response my requests received from the Paul campaign, along with what is apparently passionate support from the true believers in the Congressman from Texas, what kind of turnout and results will he get in our version of the GOP Straw Poll? We’ll all find out Monday night.

Crossposted on RedMaryland.

Pollitt to keynote WNC inaugural meeting

Just got this press release in my e-mail and wanted to pass it on. Next week will be a busy week for me!

Wicomico County Executive Richard M. Pollitt, Jr., will deliver the keynote address at the opening session of the Wicomico Neighborhood Congress at 6 P.M. at Salisbury University on September 25th. Pollitt announced the formation of The Neighborhood Congress as one of the first initiatives of his administration following his election as Wicomico County’s first executive.

Thanks to the dedication and organizational skills of Salisbury City Councilwoman Debbie Campbell and neighborhood activist George “Rocky” Burnett, appointed by Pollitt to bring the concept of the Congress to reality; the Neighborhood Congress Steering Committee first met on March 13 and subsequently elected James Ireton as chairman. The Steering Committee met regularly thereafter, laying the groundwork for the formation of the Congress.

The Congress is designed to be a representative body for all neighborhoods in the county. It will address issues that have a major impact such as public safety, transportation and the environment. In anticipation of the group’s first meeting, Mr. Pollitt said, “I am very excited to have the opportunity to see a dream become a reality. I want the Neighborhood Congress to include every neighborhood in our county. This group will, I hope, play a large part in making our lives here even better.”

If nothing else one can say that Pollitt is a politician who followed up on his promise, so I too encourage those who are interested in bettering their neighborhoods to attend. As formulated we still have room for individual memberships although the preference is for established neighborhood organization representatives to attend.

So mark it on your calendars!

Fun with comments

Let’s see how much fun I can have with this comment I got today on my post called “So long, Delmarva Democrats“. I’ll glorify the one “Final Frontier” made, he (or she) seems to be a fairly regular Delmarva blog commenter. And yes it was all one paragraph, sort of like the parodies Duvafiles does of another local blogger. It’s placed here just like the original, spelling errors and all:

I think the Republic Party is really the one that has abandoned the good ol’ boy white males, they just don’t know it yet. So where are those blue collar white males going to work under the Republics? They are selling your jobs to India and Mexico, my friends. And when you do lose your job, God help you if a Republic is in charge, ’cause you are going to lose your healthcare. Tax and spend Democrats? Well, how about the spend and spend Republics? Sure, the Republics have cut taxes, but not for the NASCAR dads. They are cut for the owners of the teams. When are you guys going to take notice that the Republics do NOT have your interest at heart, they just put on a Southern drawl, wave a flag, and hope you don’t notice what their policies are really doing–crushing the middle class, allowing education to be pitiful (especially in areas that are bastions for the Republic party), and setting up boogeymen to make you freak out (look out, here comes a roving band of gays for our children)! I’m not saying the Democratic Party is perfect, and I realize there are hypocrites there, but come on, people. Look at their actual policies, not just the cool tv commercials and the slogans. The Republics have done a masterful job convincing poor and middle class white men that they are the party that represents them through propaganda that says the democrats will get rid of the Second Amendment, and other nonsense. Think about it it–it is REALLY hard to amend the Constitution, it ain’t gonna happen. You may not like the Democrats, but look beyond the rhetoric and ask whether the Republics truly are looking out for you in important areas such as the economy, health care, and education.

Where to start?

First of all, while I’m going on memory I believe the U.S. is still a net insourcer of jobs – in other words, foreign companies employing American workers outweigh American companies outsourcing jobs. (A quick glance at Wikipedia appears to back me up.) Just ask those NASCAR dads who are building Toyotas in several Southern and Midwestern states, along with California. Toyota is just one company who felt American workers would do a quality job building their vehicles for the American market. Further, part of the reason the companies who outsource do so is the excessive regulation, unfair taxation, and poorly thought-out trade rules those on the Democrat side tend to favor (along with a few misguided protectionist Republicans.)

Now to health care. Far from wishing the working class to lose their health care, principled Republicans are trying to make it more affordable by encouraging health savings accounts that combine with high-deductable health insurance plans intended to cover catastrophic events. Compare that to HillaryCare, where everyone will have to have health insurance regardless of risk. See just how fast that drives good health insurers out of the marketplace.

(A good resource on the health care issue as well as the educational one I’ll discuss below is the Maryland Public Policy Institute.)

I will agree with part of FF’s comment about “spend and spend” Republicans, which is some of the reason the base stayed home in 2006 and moderate voters decided to give the Democrats (who campaigned on earmark reform) a chance. Of course once in power suddenly earmark reform just wasn’t as important to the Democrats. They will probably send our first $3 trillion budget to President Bush, rushing it through at the last minute to hide all the goodies they want like a renewal and expansion of the SCHIP program.

But FF loses me on the argument about NASCAR team owners getting all of the tax breaks. FF uses the old class envy argument about “tax cuts for the rich” while forgetting that the higher-bracket taxpayers foot most of the bill so any across-the-board cut will benefit them more in real dollars (but not necessarily propotionately). Besides, who do higher income taxes hurt the most? Small businessmen. The truly wealthy who live off their trust funds (like Ted Kennedy) have very little real income and don’t mind high rates on that pittance.

Now, let’s talk about education. Where are America’s truly pitiful schools? In urban areas. And what party tends to run those urban areas and their school districts? Why, it’s the Democrats of course. But the Democrats are the party who stands in the way of allowing parents to have more choice in where they send their child to school so that maybe a working-class family could send their child to a better school.

While FF notes regarding the Second Amendment that it’s hard to amend the Constitution so it “ain’t gonna happen”, there’s nothing said about the judges who read things into the Constitution which aren’t there (like a “right to privacy”) and ignore things plainly stated (“the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”) Which party tends to appoint those judges? You guessed it.

I suppose the crux of this whole disagreement comes down to one definition – the meaning of “looking out for you” as FF puts it. Apparently FF takes it to mean that the government should make as many of your life decisions as possible – how much of your money you get to keep, which doctor you should go to and when you’ll be allowed to get the treatment you need, and how much parenting you should do because little Johnny and Sally will be under their watch from the age of three all the way through college if Hillary and the Democrats get their way, making sure to teach them that values and morals are whatever the schools feel those values and morals should be.

I happen to think that people should be allowed to look out for themselves. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t be charitable to those in need, far from it. I put my trust in the people. They know how best to spend their own money so the government needs to have the attitude that it’s the people’s money first, not confiscate it all and give them a small portion back in the spring. The common man is prudent enough to shop for an employer who provides health insurance and would probably prefer that the government not interfere with the health care market through overly burdensome federal regulations on care and insurers.

Above all, the people want to look out for the next generation. They don’t need educators telling them how to raise their children and they strive to give their children the best in education. Allowing money currently distributed willy-nilly to public schools to instead follow the child regardless of chosen educational venue would give them a wonderful opportunity to be parents and direct their child’s upbringing in the manner they see fit.

The Republican Party is far from perfect. At times, they fall prey to the same disease that Democrats have suffered from for years, thinking problems are only solved by government. But while FF seems to place trust in government to look out for people, I trust the people can do wonderful things for themselves; even moreso when government steps out of their way.

Placing our demands

Had an interesting e-mail over the weekend and I have to hand it to Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee for thinking out of the box.

Huckabee hit upon a novel idea I hadn’t heard about by using the Eventful website to “demand” Huckabee make a campaign appearance. So I went ahead and did it. While frequent readers know that I endorsed Duncan Hunter, I also recommended Mike Huckabee as another of my top-tier candidates.

Once there are three “demands” for Huckabee in a particular location, they’re added to his map. Right now in Maryland only the DC area, Baltimore, Waldorf, and Annapolis are represented so I’d like to get some additional support from Salisbury and the Eastern Shore. After all, why would Huckabee want to go to Democrat territory when he can come here?

So give it a shot; hell, make up an e-mail address if you want, half my commentors do. Let’s see if we can get some love from the Presidential race here.

So long, Delmarva Democrats

Nope, I’m not leaving – but the Democrats are leaving you.

As I often do in the afternoon I was listening to Rush Limbaugh when he cited an article by Thomas F. Schaller. Writing on Salon.com, Schaller’s article entitled “So long, white boy” talks about how the Democrat party is finally starting to abandon its appeals to the “NASCAR dads”; you know, the ones whose daddy was a Democrat but they turned away from the party when the Democrats began questioning the NASCAR dads’ passion about God, guns, and country. Schaller puts it this way:

Start looking on milk cartons for Bubba because he has vanished, and not a moment too soon: The Democratic obsession with the down-home, blue-collar, white male voter, that heartbreaker who crossed the aisle to the Republicans many decades ago, may finally be coming to a merciful end.

The first thing that gets you is the tone. Schaller seems to relish the thought of those redneck men leaving the Democrat party – let the GOP have those stupid God-fearing NASCAR fans with their pickup trucks and the gun racks, those HICKS. They don’t outweigh the black vote that we get 90% of anyway and we really want the Latino vote because their population is growing. Apparently the only white guys Democrats want are the union members, but that number is shrinking too except for those who inhabit government positions and that group pretty much knows which side its bread is buttered on.

It got me to thinking about local politics. Here in Wicomico County, we have the situation where a lot of Democrats fit in one way or another into the group Schaller disdains in his piece. Accordingly, many of them are registered Democrat but in the privacy of the voting booth vote GOP or at least split the ticket, maybe voting Democrat for the downticket races and GOP statewide. As I see it, many Democrats here are what remains of the old-fashioned Southern Democrat – for the common working man and with a love of God, guns, and country. As Schaller said, most crossed to the GOP decades ago but many here still hang on despite the state- and national-level party abandoning them to seek an anti-religious, anti-Second Amendment, anti-Long War base – in other words, the academic and effete snobs of the world.

That crossover to the GOP is reflected in voter registration statistics. Here are the Wicomico County and state voter registration numbers for January 2000:

Wicomico County:

  • 20,873 Democrats
  • 14,911 Republicans
  • 4,648 non-affiliated

State of Maryland:

  • 1,478,881 Democrats
  • 765,999 Republicans
  • 320,347 non-affiliated

 

Now here’s the latest numbers (August 2007) available from the state Board of Elections. Actually, the local rolls were purged after July so both parties lost several hundred voters.

Wicomico County:

  • 22,473 Democrats (up 7.67% from 1-00)
  • 18,471 Republicans (up 23.87% from 1-00)
  • 6,868 unaffiliated (up 47.76% from 1-00)

State of Maryland:

  • 1,714,431 Democrats (up 15.93% from 1-00)
  • 884,963 Republicans (up 15.53% from 1-00)
  • 437,806 non-affiliated (up 36.67% from 1-00)

The GOP and non-affilated growth locally outpaces the state’s numbers while the Democrats lag behind. Already in Wicomico County the unaffiliated voter is the kingmaker and both parties strive to appeal to them because neither party can get a majority on its own. However, I’d prefer the Democrats just go right ahead and come on over to the GOP because your party has left you. Does Hillary Clinton really represent your views? And as you can see the Democrat party, home of our tax-and-spend Governor O’Malley, is growing faster elsewhere in Maryland so the old-style Democrats on the Eastern Shore are seeing their party influence dwindle.

In sum, Schaller’s piece just says out loud what many area Democrats have already suspected – the Democrat party is saying so long to its faithful on the Eastern Shore. Maybe it’s time for you to say goodbye to them as well.

(Late edit: the final date for switching party registration is November 19 for the February 2008 primary.)

Crossposted on RedMaryland.

Election Calendar: September 17-30

Another short and sweet calendar, just two “for sure” events and a couple tentative ones. It so happens that all of the events are the week after next so I’ll have another week to get further details from my hundreds of eyes and ears out there; once I can vet them I’ll know more and can spread the news. This is what I have at the moment:

Monday, September 24: The first Wicomico County Republican Straw Poll will be held at the Chamber of Commerce building at 144 E. Main Street in Salisbury, 7 p.m. If you’re a Republican you’re invited to participate. We’ve confirmed one Congressional candidate to attend already (Joe Arminio) and expect the other three candidates to either attend or send a representative. I’ve also been contacted by one Presidential campaign about sending a representative and am working to get others here. Obviously this will be a developing story during the next week.

Thursday, September 27 (tentative): If the every other week pattern established over the last several months holds, expect Wayne Gilchrest to appear on the AM Salisbury radio show (WICO, 1320 AM) around 7:40 a.m.

Thursday, September 27 (tentative): A h/t to Duvafiles for this. Congressional candidate Christopher Robinson is slated to hold an invitation-only fundraiser “locally” on this day. The reason I include this is to see what reaction (if any) occurs in the local media or from his campaign afterward, and if the CR campaign reads monoblogue they can confirm. As I said, I’ll put the Democrat events in for the benefit of those Democrats who read monoblogue, just don’t expect me to stroke a check.

Saturday, September 29: He’s not on the ballot this year, but State Senator Lowell Stoltzfus is holding his annual “Picnic in the Park” on this date. Last year it was actually indoors at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center. I’m certain I’ll have more details by next week. It will likely also draw one or more of the GOP Congressional contenders; if memory serves we had a Gilchrest sighting there last year. Late word (Monday) is that Andy Harris is slated to attend.

Bear in mind that the GOP holds a debate in Baltimore a week from Thursday so who knows? We may get an area visit from one of them since this is known to be GOP-friendly territory. If I find out, I’ll certainly share what I can!

2007 WCRC Crab Feast in pictures

It was a perfect day for a picnic that overlooked this pond.

We had a great turnout for our event today. The early morning clouds and rain exited and it was a awesome day weather-wise for the event. The walkup number turned out pretty good.

I got there about 11:00 for a 1:00 event to help set up, but the early-arriving crew were pretty much done. And someone else beat me there too:

While the 'establishment' Republicans call his supporters 'Paulbots' I have to say that someone was on the ball getting his signs to the event. They were the only Presidental signs there. More on Ron Paul in a little while.

Of course, I got a little bit of an early start on the eating and drinking. It also gave me an opportunity to check out the silent auction items. Wonder of wonders, I actually brought my checkbook!

This was one of the two silent auction tables. We had about 30 items donated from supporters, including myself.

This is the book I bought, naturally it's on one of my political heroes.

A little before 1:00 the crabs arrived and so did the real crowd. I have a couple shots taken during the day that give you an idea of the turnout we had.

A long-range shot taken of the entire picnic setup.

This was the scene at the outside tent we set up because the pavilion wasn't large enough.

While the food and fellowship was fun enough (not to mention the silent auction, door prize, and 50/50 raffle) the political junkies also wanted the opportunity to meet at least two of the challengers to incumbent Congressman Wayne Gilchrest. In this case, I’m going to work in chronological order of arrival. And as you’ll see in the next shot I wasn’t the only local blogging correspondent there.

Local blogger Joe Albero talks shop with Lower Shore coordinator Dustin Mills of the Harris campaign.

While Andy Harris had some advance personnel there, in reality the first Congressional candidate to arrive was John Leo Walter. He took the prudent step upon meeting me of praising my work on monoblogue. Complements aside, I did speak to him for a few minutes and he certainly came across to me as planted squarely in the conservative camp and probably the most “average Joe” in the race. John’s facing a pretty steep learning curve as far as running a race goes, though.

Congressional hopeful John Leo Walter (right, in red) enjoys his lunch with family and friends.

John Leo Walter gives brief remarks to those assembled at the Crab Feast.

As I mentioned earlier, Andy Harris had a little more of an entourage. Also I was told this was stop number three of six today. But the yard signs were plentiful and in place and Andy was warmly greeted by a number of folks there today.

State Senator Andy Harris arrives at the Crab Feast.

Harris and Wicomico County Republican chair Dr. John Bartkovich share a conversation.

Andy Harris speaks to the diners at the Crab Feast.

Andy Harris campaigning the good old-fashioned way, one to one.

Last night I wondered aloud if the change in Wayne Gilchrest’s Bull Roast to the fourth Saturday in September (which, by the way, conflicts with Yom Kippur) wasn’t made to allow him to make it to the Crab Feast. Sure enough, the Congressman made it down.

Congressman Wayne Gilchrest speaking to Wicomico County Republicans.

The Congressman makes a point in his remarks.

I must say that in maybe a five minute timespan Wayne managed to talk about heading down to our traditional Crab Feast (although he’s missed at least the previous two I attended), the Canadian geese heading south, and evoke the name of Martin Luther King, Jr. among other things. Very philosophical. I did get to speak to him a little bit as well since I’d never met the man, so I did mention the upcoming Wicomico County Straw Poll. Still disagree on him on a bunch of things, but I can’t say he’s not a pleasant sort of guy.

In discussing the Straw Poll, I kidded Wayne saying “if you can come, see if you can bring (Tom) Tancredo and (Ron) Paul with you.” (Sheesh, I forgot Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback, and John McCain.) But Wayne noted that he liked Rep. Paul and, while stopping short of an outright endorsement, stated that Paul was probably the one in the race most well-read on the issues, even including Newt Gingrich if he were to enter the fray.

We also had a number of the local GOP politicians in attendance who weren’t running this year, including State Senator Lowell Stoltzfus, Delegates Page Elmore and Addie Eckardt, Wicomico County Council representatives Gail Bartkovich and Joe Holloway, Sheriff Mike Lewis, and Orphans’ Court Judge Bill Smith.

Overall we were pleased with the attendance albeit maybe a little disappointed by the silent auction take. Since this event is a main fundraiser of ours, that’s the bread and butter for us. However next week’s Straw Poll will hopefully make up all of the difference and more.

And it didn’t rain for once!

You know, I wrote this and forgot one other thing I wanted to mention. I finally got to meet the blogger Karen, who writes out of Delmar. She has a nice website that I encourage you to read so I wanted to make sure I gave her a shout. Karen wasn’t there to write about the goings-on but to have a nice time, which I’m sure she, hubby, and kids did!

From retirement to campaign

Crossposted at RedMaryland.

I just happened to catch this on the Daily Times website. While it doesn’t fall within the area I use to do my Election Calendar, next Saturday the 22nd will be the annual Bull Roast hosted by Wayne Gilchrest up in Queen Anne’s County. (I don’t know if it’s coincidence or not that he finally shifted the event off the day the Wicomico County Republican Club holds it annual Crab Feast – will this mean a Gilchrest sighting there tomorrow the 15th?)

Anyway, Wayne got as a Bull Roast special guest another of the candidates the bull-slinging Democrat front group VoteVets.org was running campaign ads for until he decided to up and retire – Nebraska’s “Republican” U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel. So it’s going to be the peaceniks on parade up there next Saturday.

In other Gilchrest news, he was a telephone guest Thursday morning on the AM Salisbury radio show. In the conversation with host Bill Reddish, Gilchrest praised General Petraeus as “stunningly competent” and the “essence of integrity” but also opined that our ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, should be talking more to Iran and Syria, a country Wayne termed as more free than our ally Saudi Arabia. The Congressman disdainfully noted that Crocker had only talked to Iran twice during his tenure. Further, Gilchrest spoke out in favor of a broader policy that included direct conversations with Iran and Syria. And regarding his cohort Dennis Kucinich’s trip to Syria, Gilchrest termed it “irrelevant” while most on the right have been up in arms about Kucinich’s trip.

Gilchrest is a regular guest on the WICO-AM morning radio show, alternating with Sen. Ben Cardin on Thursdays when Congress is in session. It’s quite informative radio if you’re in the Salisbury area at 7:40 a.m.

**********

On a personal note, I was honored to be asked by the folks at RedMaryland to become one of their contributors and tonight’s post will be the first one I humbly submit and crosspost for inclusion.

Posts worth mentioning

Just a short post this morning to point out a few things I found that were worth checking out…sort of like a mini-Carnival of Maryland. (By the way, I’m hosting CofM’s edition #17 coming up in October.)

Mike Netherland, on his appropriately-named Mike’s Nether Land site, goes into the recent power struggle in the Anne Arundel GOP and also talks about another political pet issue of mine, one reason I ran for my WCRCC post. It’s excellent reading, even though I didn’t catch it until last night and it was posted Sunday.

Streiff at Red Maryland calls Wayne Gilchrest out on the carpet. One thing I like about the blogosphere is its collective memory. For good or bad, having many voices out there ensures things said will not be as easily forgotten. If you have never read Red Maryland, it’s well worth the time; moreover, it’s updated frequently because of its nine contributors.

Aptly, Gunpowder at Gunpowder Chronicle rates this post TV-MA. As he says, you have been warned. I just enjoyed the Deadwood reference because I remember the character well. I also like the point because he’s dead on with it and his passion shows.

So a few things for your morning reading (as I allocate a phrase from Duvafiles) in order to give props to some of my favorite blogs.