Month: June 2008

Enthusiasm rising

Over the last two days, I spent much of my time at the Delmarva Chicken Festival working the Republican Party’s tent there. Having done these sorts of events for awhile, I’ve determined that people fall into three groups politically.

Group number one is by far the largest. The vast majority of the people are there for the food! These are the folks who walk around and, if they’re not already in a conversation with the ones their with, will strenuously attempt to avoid any sort of eye contact once they notice your booth is a political one. The subset of that group are the ones who get dragged in because their kids come by and want a sucker out of the jar we keep on the table. Once in awhile those parents belong to group number two but generally they’re just happy we’ve occupied their kids for a few moments.

The second group are the well-wishers. These folks basically stop by to give us the thumbs-up and tell us they’re glad we’re out here keeping up the good fight. The percentage of the festival patrons that comprise this group tends to be inversely proportional to the number of days remaining until the election; thus, it will be somewhat larger at the Farm and Home Show in August, increase yet again at the Salisbury Riverfest on September 13, and reach a fever pitch at the Autumn Wine Festival in October. (You’ll probably see my smiling face at all of these events.) The AWF should be very interesting as far as a gauge of the Kratovil vs. Harris contest goes because the wine-drinking crowd tends to be more affluent and not necessarily as strictly party line.

And then you have the third group, God love them. There’s only one or two who appear at any of these events, but this group is those people who have a complete, all-consuming beef with someone in or something about the Republican Party. Yesterday’s case was a gentleman who claimed the Bushes moved away from Kennebunkport to Texas because no one could stand them, railed on how many jobs Dubya failed at prior to becoming the owner of the Texas Rangers, how the oil companies run the nation, etc. I had fun with him once I let him go through his rant because I threw a lot of things back in his face and did my own rant about how Congress has specific duties assigned to it by the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8 ) and asking him to query the Democrats about what their principles are since we had the framed poster detailing Republican principles sitting behind us at the tent. (I have issues with some on our side who tend to forget these principles too.)

Now I fall into the third group to some extent when I walk around and see a Democratic booth. Hey, I had a legitimate question over the weekend, and since the Democrats had their table tucked away in the large vendor tent I went over to ask why Barack Obama had decided to drop public financing? I didn’t get blank stares but the upshot of the thoughts of those poor folks working there was that Barack had raised plenty of money so he didn’t need public financing. Well then, I asked, since Obama eschewed the process, if he wins would he drop that whole program since he won without it? That question was left hanging, but I need to keep these folks on their toes too.

Of the stuff we did have to give away, the two most popular were the bumper stickers which read “Don’t Blame Me – I Voted For Ehrlich” (an oldie but a goodie) and “Welcome to Maryland – What’s In Your Wallet?” Obviously a good number of Andy Harris stickers left the premises but I lost count of how many people asked us about John McCain stickers and signs, neither of which we had yet. (Trust us, we’ve attempted to get some stuff from the McCain campaign.) On the other hand, I didn’t see a whole lot of Obama paraphrenalia flying out of the place (which the D’s had) so I suspect the Democrats didn’t have much luck getting their stuff out.

Both main players for the Congressional race managed to make their appearance yesterday. Andy Harris circulated through the crowd in the early afternoon after stopping by and saying hello at our tent, while Frank Kratovil did the same about an hour later. (He also came over to introduce himself to us.) It was good old-fashioned retail politics. I was told Senator Cardin was also in the house but he didn’t stop over to say hello. (Bummer, I had a question to ask him too.)

So while it’s a little early to be thinking about electoral politics for most of us, the campaigning is underway in earnest. Hopefully it will reach a level where it makes my life easier insofar as interesting items to comment on while further increasing my readership.

Active in 50…or is it 57?

I still haven’t figured out where those extra seven states that Barack Obama has claimed to visit are (perhaps he’s an adherent to the 1844 James K. Polk electoral slogan “54’40 or fight!”) but having modified his claim to the correct number of states, Obama claims to be ready to go in every one of them – all because he’s broken his promise to use public funds for his campaign:

Since we announced our decision not to accept taxpayer funds for the general election, tens of thousands of people like you have come forward to declare their independence from a broken system.

This decision frees us to build a movement of millions of people giving whatever they can afford to a campaign that is truly reforming the way our political process works.

It also frees us to take our campaign for change to parts of the country where Democratic presidential candidates haven’t spent too much time in the past.

Our first television ad of the general election season goes on the air today.

Sure, we’re on the air in places like Ohio and Florida, the typical battleground states. But we’re also on the air in North Dakota, Montana, and Alaska — places that have emerged as competitive because of the unprecedented grassroots energy supporting our campaign.

These ads are supporting a 50-state ground operation that is being built right now by staff, volunteers, and thousands of Obama Organizing Fellows.

(snip)

Choosing not to accept these taxpayer funds was not an easy decision. I remain committed to fundamental campaign finance reform, and as president I will work to fix this broken system.

But we’re facing opponents who have become masters at gaming the broken system as it stands today — collecting money from Washington lobbyists, special interest PACs, and relying on so-called 527 groups that can take unlimited contributions to peddle lies and smears.

It’s not that hard to break a promise, Barack. Think of it as practice for if you do win. By the way, you are familiar with special interests like George Soros and Big Labor, aren’t you? Something tells me you’re not returning all that union money.

But let’s face facts here. Just like any other campaign, the Obama team is going to focus its resources on those states they have the best chance of swiping from the GOP column. While they bravely claim to be active in all 50 states, something tells me that not much attention will be paid to a solidly red state such as Utah, nor will Obama have to sweat too much to win here in Maryland (barring a colossal screw-up). When your primary votes in just two counties (Montgomery and PG, of course) more than equal the total GOP registration in the portions of Maryland which are the most Republican (the Eastern Shore and the four counties comprising Western Maryland) it’s not too difficult to place Maryland in the win column and move on to other states. (By the way, the actual numbers are 228,848 primary votes for Obama in Montgomery and PG counties vs. 220,551 registered Republicans in the 13 counties of the Eastern Shore and Western Maryland. We need to work on that.)

It’s the sad reality that we as Republicans face, one that says we’re at least a generation away from having much hope for more than a scant majority in the General Assembly. This is even true should 2010 bring a Reaganesque landslide for the Republicans in state elections. The liberal mindset in those big-government addled parts of the state is pretty strong and, like crack, it’s a tough addiction to counter. It’ll be even more difficult if we get early (and often) voting passed in this election.

In the meantime, our work needs to be in building a base of operations for the 2010 election. It means a strong show of support from those areas we already have GOP members of Congress.  Would not a 60-40 win by Andy Harris send a message? This is OUR territory and we’re coming after you next, Martin O’Malley! Maybe we should turn a phrase from that 1844 slogan and declare as Republicans in the First and Sixth Districts that for 2008 it’s “60-40 AND fight!”

I plan on being the aggressor in this one, and I have a few tricks up my sleeve to help us win.

Crossposted on Red Maryland. 

Radio days volume 14

Gee, it had been awhile since I was on the radio. As always, I had fun participating in my little 10-minute segment and managed to get through most of what I wanted to go through about Barack Obama vs. John McCain.

Besides the upcoming party events I wanted to bring up the points about energy independence (done) and whether Frank Kratovil could openly be a Barack Obama backer in this district. While Andy Harris was quick to endorse John McCain after McCain secured the GOP nomination, I haven’t heard a lot about whether Obama has strong support from his party’s local Congressional candidate. Apparently Democrats in some of the more conservative districts they’ve won in recent years know better than to openly back Obama as he would be electoral poison.

I can tell you that the mood of Republicans I talked to is sort of mixed on McCain – most view him as the lesser of two evils against the “inexperienced” Barack Obama. One beef I had is that the McCain campaign’s a little slow on the uptake in getting us stuff; however, I scoped out the competition today and they don’t have a plethora of Obama items either, nor did I see a lot leaving the premises. (Then again, the D’s are sort of tucked away in the corner and we’re pretty much dead center at the Chicken Festival.)

Tomorrow I’m going to have more on Obama, but tonight I just wanted to bring up the point once again about the buyer’s remorse among some in Democrat circles.

I also had to borrow a Michael Ramirez cartoon I saw today on the Center For Individual Freedom e-mail update I get weekly:

 

 

A cartoon by Michael Ramirez, former LA Times cartoonist.

Shorebird of the Week – June 19, 2008

Shorebirds pitcher Brett Bordes checks out the crowd before a recent game.
Lefty Brett Bordes is becoming the lefty stopper of choice for the Shorebirds this season. Here he is in an early-season contest.

Each season it seems the Shorebirds have a guy whose sole job it is to get left-handed hitters out and this year’s squad was no exception. But Brett Bordes is getting more than just lefties out, he’s shutting down most opposition batters regardless of which side of the plate they’re hitting from. Bearing this out is the fact lefthanders are hitting just .188 against Brett. In itself that’s quite stingy but righthanded hitters are hitting an even more anemic .172 against his offerings.

This is the second tour of duty with Delmarva for the Arizona State product. Even though his 2007 overall numbers weren’t terrible at all (3-2, 3.09 ERA with 2 saves in 32 appearances covering 43 2/3 innings) what likely held him back was allowing 37 walks against just 34 strikeouts. This season he’s cut the walks in half and it shows in the much-improved 2.22 ERA and 1.19 WHIP (vs. a 1.58 WHIP last season.) Since he’s still only 23, the native of New Orleans can still stay with his peer group by moving up to Frederick either by the end of 2008 or to begin 2009. Obviously the Orioles thought well of his talent since Brett was a 9th round selection in the 2006 draft.

One other reason to like Brett is that he’s one of the more fan-friendly Shorebirds – Bordes is one of a group of players who seems more willing to sign autographs and interact with the fans than most. I enjoy seeing him and those other friendly Shorebirds talking to kids because it gives the young’uns a good impression of baseball players and may entice them to embrace the sport themselves. After all, when Brett is through with baseball we’d like someone to take his place and it’s the youth of today who will be Shorebirds in a few short years.

Shorebirds begin 2nd half tonight

Theoretically the Shorebirds have 35 home games down and 35 to go, tonight begins the second 35. (They actually only had 31 home dates in the first half because of rainouts, not to mention I think it rained on another 10 or 15 games – or so it seemed.) Anyway, our cross-state rival and Washington Nationals affiliate Hagerstown comes in this weekend for the final time this season. You can go to the Delmarva Chicken Festival by day and catch the Shorebirds in the evening, even on Sunday as the Shorebirds switch over to a 6:05 start time for all but one of those remaining Sunday contests.

Also wanted to make mention that both of our SAL All-Stars saw action in Tuesday night’s 13-4 victory by the SAL Northern Division All-Stars over their Southern Division counterparts. Pitcher Sean Gleason protected the North’s 4-2 lead by pitching a scoreless fourth inning, allowing two hits and fanning one. Outfielder Joe Nowicki entered the game in the top of the fifth inning as a defensive replacement in right field and batted twice. Nowicki struck out and walked, scoring the North’s 12th run when Lakewood’s Michael Durant homered in the eighth inning to plate the game’s final runs.

Tonight will be another Shorebird of the Week and tomorrow I’ll get back into politics.

AP pressures bloggers

This started out as a comment on Michelle Malkin’s site, but I decided to make it into a post here.

While I appreciate the attempts at humor from all the commentors above who want a crack at Michelle’s money, this “new tone” by AP opens up many a can of worms.

For starters, what if Michelle writes a newspaper column that takes a quote from an AP story and decides to place a reprint of it on this site? Would “fair use” in the print media overrule the payment due for the blog post? How about if Michelle uses the quote on FOX News?

On another front, as a dittohead I know Rush Limbaugh has quoted extensively from AP stories, again under “fair use”. Will the AP send him a bill if he reprints a transcript of the monologue on his website?

These questions definitely don’t seem to be covered because many of the major players in the blogosphere are also employed as providers in other areas of media; Malkin and Limbaugh are just two examples of this cross-medium phenomenon.

Obviously, I toil with a much smaller sphere of influence but this decision by the AP could affect me even more. For example, my local paper has been known to do “hybrid” stories where the hometown reporter adds items to an AP story that detail a local angle of some sort. If I take the quote from a local paper on such a story, would I still be liable to the AP?

Another question arises on simply linking to a story without quotation. You’re still using the story to make an argument, so in theory either one of two outcomes is possible: there’s no charge because you’re not directly quoting from the story; or, you’d be charged for every word even if you only cared about a couple sentences. I can only guess which way the AP would decide on that question.

Michelle properly notes that bloggers like me enjoy being linked – in my case, I also crosspost on occasion between three other websites, Elbert’s (#22) happens to be one of them. Would liability fall equally among all crossposted blogsites or just on the originating site, and how would they know which site originated the post? As another example, I can post to Red Maryland first then come back to my home site, or vice versa.

I know the AP is looking to fatten their bottom line and perhaps control the dissemination of their information. But I think fair use is fair use regardless of the reprinting media. When I cite a story as part of a post, I give credit to both the source and the writer (e.g. a Baltimore Sun story by Mary Gail Hare). Conversely, if people wish to link to my site all I ask is credit and the link back to the post.

We may be seeing the opening salvo of a new war between the “drive-by” media and the “pajamas” media, with the strategy being one of attrition through deeper pockets. Fortunately, I have enough news sources who are practically begging me to get their word out that I can do my work but some others may have a difficult time keeping on the straight and narrow.

Almost on cue

It’s been less than 24 hours since I asked the question whether First District Congressional hopeful Frank Kratovil would risk alienating environmental voters and instead side with those of us fed up with $4 a gallon gas. Courtesy of my cohorts at the Maryland GOP, we may have some of the answer:

In an hour-long interview on the Delmarva Today radio show on WSLD 90.7 FM, Frank Kratovil showed his out-of-touch values when discussing the rising energy costs. Kratovil stated he opposes domestic exploration and a gas tax holiday and would rather support more funding for mass transit. “Kratovil’s pro-tax, anti-consumer stances are out of touch with the voters in the 1st Congressional District,” said MDGOP Chairman Jim Pelura.

Kratovil rejected the idea of a gas tax holiday outright, saying that it would be an insignificant help to consumers. Dr. Pelura responded, “I don’t think paying $.42 less a gallon would be viewed as insignificant by Maryland’s working families.” Kratovil also seemed to celebrate the high gas prices. “We have an opportunity with gas prices being as high as they are to actually make a change.” Kratovil said. “We have the opportunity to use the high gas prices to do what we should have done before, to invest in alternative energy, to invest in alternative vehicles, to look at public transportation again.”

“Mr. Kratovil should remember that he is running for Congress in the Maryland’s rural Eastern Shore and not the DC suburbs where he was raised,” replied Chairman Pelura. “Voters on the Eastern Shore and other parts of Maryland are tired of their gas tax money going to fund mass transit in the Washington suburbs.”

While a vast majority of Americans are calling for the United States to decrease its dependence on foreign oil, Frank Kratovil opposes expanding domestic oil production. “Frank Kratovil’s lack of concern on the rising costs of energy shows he lacks the leadership and understanding that the people of the 1st District need in a congressman,” concluded Chairman Pelura.

Granted, this statement is cherrypicked from an entire hour-long interview (one I’ve not listened to as I write this) but I’m fairly confident that what’s being said by Pelura and company is fairly representative of Frank Kratovil’s philosophy insofar as energy policy goes.

While I think a gas tax holiday isn’t a bad idea, I can understand the argument of opponents who claim that prices won’t necessarily fall by the full amount of the taxes deleted from the price. It may serve as an opportunity for long-suffering station owners to recoup some of their expenses as oil prices continue around their all-time peak, so the price may initially drop by 40 cents or so but slowly rise back to a smaller decline from the original pricing point. Conversely though market pressures may allow the price not to go back up the full 42 cents once the holiday comes to an end. Either way, it’s academic because we know that government is the last entity to do without.

More telling to me is the insistence by Kratovil that we need to turn our back on a resource which is still in ample supply domestically and artificially game the energy market by subsidizing alternative sources. There’s already a plethora of incentives for investing in alternative energy to those who wish to do so; apparently Frank thinks they’re not robust enough. He’s backing what amounts to a shell game in taking the tax money that we already pay into the system through gasoline taxes, adding any windfall profits tax on oil companies that he can help shepherd through Congress, and redistributing it to those whose behavior he and the Democrats seek to reward (mainly large energy companies who are looking for a rent-seeking opportunity to increase their bottom line at our expense.)

Pelura brings up his best point in bringing up Kratovil’s advocacy of mass transit to cure our transportation ills. Certainly some commuters have shifted over to taking the bus or Metro when possible to save a few dollars, but even with the increased ridership these services depend mainly on subsidies from government to stay financially afloat. And those transit authorities also have to deal with the rising cost of fuel, meaning that fare increases are likely. Then we’ll hear the sob stories about poor working people now being priced out of mass transit, which will mean government will have to step in and figure out another way of redistributing wealth in order to allow the poor working folks to maintain their “right” to transportation.

To me, a much simpler long-term solution is allowing the energy companies who already know best how to deal with the problem to do so. Allow them to domestically drill for oil, mine the oil shale, get back into nuclear energy, and if those companies see a viable market for a particular technology, pay for their own research into alternative forms of renewable energy. Government needs to step back and let the real experts in the private sector work their magic, not overrun the market with incentives targeted to those areas which need a taxpayer-funded subsidy just to maintain a tiny market share and survive. Unfortunately, I’m not sure the Democrat who’s seeking your vote here in the First Congressional District trusts a free market enough to allow the proper solution to be put into place.

Tracking the Shorebirds

While I always enjoy doing my website, certain posts are more fun to research than others. This was one I enjoyed doing so much last year at the Shorebirds’ mid-season hiatus that I decided to do it again this season. Of course, I make these assertions of where players are currently playing with some risk because June is a cruel month for many a baseball dream. Minor league organizations are in transition all month as rookie league teams are assembled and players shifted around to where the organization feels they can be most challenged in an appropriate manner professionally. And for a few players the influx of new talent via the amateur baseball draft means that their days with a particular organization will come to a close.

With the Shorebirds being the next step above the rookie leagues, this time of year marks the departure of a few guys who the Orioles feel would benefit from additional time with Aberdeen (considered the most advanced of Baltimore’s three rookie squads) so when the Shorebirds return to action Thursday we’ll likely see a few new faces and jerseys with no name on them yet.

Between 2006 and 2007, I named a total of 41 players as Shorebird of the Week – 22 each season, with three players being named both years. By mid-season last year, we’d already lost five players in the “class of 2006” to release or retirement, and apparently that number has grown by four. I found no information on the activities this season of Josh Potter, Arturo Rivas, (both of whom played for Frederick last season), Jarod Rine (played for the Frontier League’s Washington, PA WildThings), or fan favorite Stu Musslewhite (also a SotW in 2007 who had a season-ending injury with Delmarva.)

Other 2006 Shorebirds remain in baseball at various levels outside the Oriole system. Highest among them is Lorenzo Scott Jr. who’s now a member of the Albuquerque Isotopes, Florida’s AAA team. Meanwhile, both Trevor Caughey and Vito Chiaravalotti continue to toil in independent leagues. Caughey shifted from the Kansas City T-Bones of the Northern League to the Chico (CA) Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League, while Vito stayed in the Atlantic League but found a new home with the Somerset Patriots. (A number of former Shorebirds dot the rosters of that league.) We may also see a former Shorebird late next month when Kannapolis returns – Mark Fleisher was recently added to their roster.

The remainder of my 2006 crop has moved up in the Orioles system, most of them to the AA Bowie Baysox. Now facing Eastern League competition are pitchers David Hernandez, Chorye Spoone, and Brad Bergesen; catcher Zach Dillon, and infielders Blake Davis, Jon Tucker, and my 2006 Shorebird of the Year selection Ryan Finan. Two of the Orioles’ recent top draft picks out of high school have only moved up to Frederick; those two would be pitcher Brandon Erbe and infielder Brandon Snyder. Given their age it’s probably the appropriate team for this career stage.

I seem to have done a better job picking prospects in 2007. Only the aforementioned Stu Musslewhite wasn’t found when I scoured the various minor league rosters. Almost en masse, the 2007 SotW picks were moved up to Frederick for 2008. One exception was early-2007 pick Brad Bergesen (now with Bowie). Two others are on Delmarva’s 2008 roster, although only catcher Victor Castillo is active. Outfielder David Cash was lost early on with a serious injury and likely will not return this season – whether he’ll get a third chance with the Shorebirds remains questionable. Finally, pitcher Josh Tamba will finally get a chance to begin his season as he’ll be a member of the Aberdeen IronBirds.

Joining Tamba from the 2008 Delmarva roster will be a number of other pitchers: Joe Esposito, Cole McCurry (a SotW earlier this season), Aaron Odom, and Chris Salberg. Completing the list of those demoted is outfielder Calvin Lester. Aside from McCurry and Odom, none of the others saw a significant amount of action with Delmarva so this will be an opportunity for them to get more playing time.

With that, the stage is now set to resume action on Thursday as the Hagerstown Suns make their final trip into Perdue Stadium for the weekend. As always, look for my Shorebird of the Week that evening.

Pssssst…wanna run for Congress?

If you’re unhappy with the crop of current Congressional candidates nationwide and think you can do a better job, the bad news is that your desire would normally have to wait until 2010 because the fields for this November are practically all set. However, if you live in Maryland I have good news (and it has nothing to do with auto insurance.)

This came to me from the Maryland Libertarian Party:

The Maryland LP’s candidate for the US House of Representatives seat in the 8th Congressional District (mostly western Montgomery County) will not be able to participate in the election, due to personal reasons. Therefore there is a vacancy for this race.

We want to have a candidate for this race so the voters in the 8th will have a choice from the usual legacy-party candidates, and so the MDLP can run a full slate of candidates.

You do not have to live in the 8th Congressional District to run and serve in that district! You can live in Elkton, Ocean City, Point Lookout, or Cumberland and run for this seat.

Requirements:
*   must be 25 as of the day of the election
*   must be a resident of the state of Maryland
*   must have been a US citizen for at least 7 years
*   must be a registered Libertarian upon submitting the Certificate of Candidacy to the state Board of Elections

If anyone is interested, please contact me as soon as possible at chair@md.lp.org, or call me at (443) 310-5373. Time is of the essence: there needs to be scheduled a special meeting of the Central Committee, with the proper minimum notice, to vote on any nominations, and a Declaration of Intent must be filed at the state Board of Elections in Annapolis by July 1st.

Bob Johnston
Chairman, MDLP

Did I mention the bad news is that you have to run against entrenched Congressman Chris Van Hollen? I just think it’s quite odd that one need not live in the Congressional district in order to represent it; however, given the tendencies of some in Congress I’m not certain they’ve always lived on this planet, let alone their Congressional district.

We don’t hear a whole lot about the Maryland Libertarians, in part because many who would subscribe to their party line instead reside in the Democratic or Republican parties – or as the MDLP calls them, “legacy” parties. While I applaud their limited-government stance, I’m not as keen on the non-interventionist portion of their platform nor am I pro-choice like many Libertarians. (It comes down to my contention that you are doing harm to another when you abort a fetus.)

With this unique appeal for help, it will be interesting to see if the party can find a candidate in time to fill the ballot space or if they’ll only be able to field seven candidates for the eight places on Maryland Congressional ballots. Since they are a certified “minor” party, the Libertarians don’t hold a primary but are still assured a spot on the General Election ballot (as is the Green Party.) And while I’m a confirmed Republican I certainly feel that the more choices a voter has, the better citizens are served – so I wish the Libertarians good luck in finding someone to fill that ballot void.

A roundhouse kick to the pump?

I think this video was a little on the strange side, but the guy is everywhere now…

It makes you wonder what Chuck Norris is going to be running for in the next few years. After all, he wouldn’t be the first actor who went into politics. Certainly he got his share of face time (when he still had the beard) standing behind Mike Huckabee during the Huckster’s Presidential campaign.

Years ago, Chuck began to make the transition from an actor in front of the camera to the television and movie producer behind the camera and in the latter stages of his Hollywood career appears to be moving into the realm of political media. Not only was he a well-known Huckabee backer, but he’s also parlayed his name recognition into becoming a weekly columnist for the WorldNetDaily website and apparently becoming a recognizable face behind the “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” political movement. (Unfortunately, in his most recent WND column Norris shows he’s not quite in sync on the ethanol issue. But I digress.)

I’m still glad he’s on our side, though, because I’m sure Chuck can still deliver a pretty mean shot to the chops. But I have to ask – not only did he lose the beard but what is Chuck doing filling up a Honda Ridgeline?!?!? I still associate him with Dodge trucks after all those years of Walker, Texas Ranger.

Despite all that, the good news is that the DHDNPL count has climbed over 800,000 and soon Congress may be feeling the heat from more than just the July weather. If you haven’t done so, sign the petition today and join me in standing for a sensible solution to our energy woes.

Finally, this item from the American Solutions blogsite makes me ask the question: how quickly can Andy Harris sign this pledge? Would Frank Kratovil risk losing his environmentalist base to appeal to the larger number of voters who have had it up to here with $4 a gallon gasoline? And my crossposted friends across the border in Delaware may want to ask this question of their Congressman, Mike Castle. Where’s his John Hancock on this pledge?

Sometimes the strangest event can be the spark for a revolution. I’m beginning to think the ’10’s are going to be scary yet exciting years to be an American because a day of reckoning is bound to come on a number of issues. Let’s hope we can resolve them the right way.

Crossposted on That’s Elbert With An E.

Signs, signs, everywhere signs

I’ll start with my apologies to both the Five-Man Electrical Band and to Tesla, and throw in a hat tip to those folks at PolitickerMD for this one. But the story I’ll refer to actually appeared in the Baltimore Sun last week, written by Mary Gail Hare.

The story details Andy Harris’s Congressional campaign taking advantage of a court ruling that threw out restrictions on when political campaign signs could be posted – the former limit was no earlier than 45 days prior to the election. In 2008 that date would have been September 20, well after the “traditional” Labor Day start to election season. Reported Hare:

U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake said in striking down the Baltimore County law restricting political signs that time limits violate the right to free speech. She recently issued a written opinion on a suit brought by the ACLU on behalf of three former candidates and four Baltimore County residents who wanted to place political signs in their yards.

“A political sign is an important method of expressing support for a candidate,” Blake wrote. Many courts “have recognized the importance of official campaign signs and the message they provide” as a form of protected speech, she added.

She also got a statement from a Democrat in Harris’s district:

Michael G. Comeau, chairman of the Harford County Democratic Central Committee, said a reasonable regulation is competing against the exercise of free speech.

“I have always despised political signs,” Comeau said. “They do nothing for the landscape. In Harford, there is a tidal wave of this eye pollution that certainly does little to influence voters. I doubt anyone will vote for president based on seeing a sign.”

Leave it to a Democrat to consider free speech “eye pollution”. Somehow I doubt he objects to the anti-Bush signs and stickers I see on occasion. This is one of the rare times I actually agree with the ACLU, or maybe a better way of putting it is that it’s a rare occasion of the ACLU embracing common sense.

The more important question is this: if signs do little to influence voters, then campaigns wouldn’t spend money on producing them, would they? They’re an extremely cost-effective means of advertising for campaigns, and while they tend to be the bread-and-butter of acquiring name recognition in a local race, they serve an important purpose in larger races too. Since people tend to have a herd mentality, seeing several yard signs in your neighborhood advocating a particular candidate can subconsciously make you feel it’s all right to support him or her too.

To me, it’s a little early to put out my yard sign but probably sometime in August I’ll put out my Harris sign again. I’m noticing both sides are getting the large 4 x 8 signs out and to me the early start just means that the campaign is going to get a lot more interesting as November 4 draws near.