Now Wayne (hearts) Barack
I heard it from a friend of mine that Wayne Gilchrest, our so-called Republican Congressman, went out and pledged his support for Democrat Barack Obama today. This according to a Politico.com article from Ryan Grim at The Crypt blog that came up just after noon today, which in turn led me to this from WYPR-FM in Baltimore. Quoting Wayne:
“My perspective is that the ticket is Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden that they have the breadth of experience, I think they are prudent, they are knowledgeable. We just can’t use four more years of the same kind of policy that’s somewhat (haphazard) which leads to recklessness.”
In all honesty, you could argue that Senator Biden has plenty of Washington experience but Gilchrest’s nine terms have placed him in Washington a full 14 years longer than Senator Obama has served in that august body. If Republicans pegged Gilchrest as being too much of an insider before, this endorsement will seal his fate.
The obvious question is how this affects the First District race. There are a number of voters who would have probably assumed that, while Wayne was backing a Democrat in the Congressional race, he would stay loyal to the GOP and back John McCain in the Presidential race – after all, my friend also informed me that Gilchrest was the chair of McCain’s Maryland efforts in the 2000 Presidential race. But these voters were incorrect, and there’s many of them who may question the benefit of the Gilchrest endorsement for Obama when Frank is trying to run as far away as he can from being pegged a liberal Democrat. I don’t know if there’s a lot of Gilchrest’s former supporters in the GOP who are going to admit to previously backing him now that he’s gone all the way to the other side, or at least as far as possible without actually switching parties. Wayne does join a few who claim to be Republicans for Obama; it’s worthy of note that Rep. Leach and Sen. Chaffee are both former elected officials who no longer serve in office.
Perhaps this is the final step before Wayne says goodbye to the GOP for good. It’s worth thinking about a possible matchup in 2010 should Andy Harris succeed in being elected to Congress; a contest that would see Harris seeking re-election against a former Republican-turned-Democrat who would be somewhat to the right of that party at-large but well left of Harris. While Harris soundly thrashed Gilchrest west of the bay in February’s GOP primary, it was a fairly even race between the two on this side of the Chesapeake. (However, you can’t discount the Pipkin effect on that primary – a race between Harris and Gilchrest without Pipkin may have turned out more favorably for Andy.)
In the meantime, it may be whatever advantage Kratovil had with moderate and independent voters because of Gilchrest’s backing may evaporate somewhat by the addition of Obama’s far-left policies to the equation. With the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate, it’s difficult to have an image of Barack Obama being a centrist and voters in the First District are going to have a more difficult time buying the argument that Obama, O’Malley, and Kratovil aren’t just different flavors of the same unappetizing gruel.
This time it’s about service
So far, so good. At least as far as television spots are concerned Andy Harris has yet to go negative in this general election campaign. His latest spot is called, “Service”:
For the most part, the commercial is relatively biographical and not issue-oriented. It is worth noting that Harris did serve in the Naval Reserve during Operation Desert Storm but didn’t serve in the Middle East theatre. However, it doesn’t diminish the service because the Navy didn’t place him on the front lines – thousands of active military personnel likely didn’t see combat in the Persian Gulf during that conflict. This actually ties in nicely with some of the themes evident during the Republican National Convention and certainly backs up the character aspect Andy wants to focus on here.
Quite honestly, aside from quibbling over the factual extent of Harris’s claims, there’s not much of a response possible from Frank Kratovil’s camp. Yes, Andy is a medical doctor, he served in the Naval Reserve, and he is a legislator who has proven to be taxpayer-friendly for the most part. (Devotion to taxpayers has led Harris to make votes which Kratovil and his allies have deemed anti-environment, like voting no on the “flush tax.” In my eyes, that’s the proper balance.)
Kratovil did have an objection to last week’s fundraiser Andy Harris and Governor Mitt Romney shared, and threw in for good measure more bashing of the Club For Growth:
(Last Friday), Queen Anne’s States Attorney and Democrat for Congress Frank Kratovil released the following statement concerning a fundraiser in Baltimore featuring his Republican opponent Andy Harris and Former Republican candidate for President Mitt Romney.
“Andy Harris was able to win the Republican primary by bringing in out of state money like the more than $1 million from the Club for Growth, an organization that has labeled senior citizens “the new welfare state.” Bringing in Mitt Romney is just more of the same, it’s not a surprise, considering so many of his individual donors have been from out-of-state, this strategy just won’t work in the general.”
“My campaign is broadening as I garner support from Democrats and Republicans who live right here in the First District. I couldn’t be happier with the support I have received from my friends and neighbors who share the same ideals and principles.”
First of all, I’m happy that Frank Kratovil again is proud to be a Democrat. If you watch his TV commercials he won’t admit to it. Maybe he’s pleased his good friend Martin O’Malley bumped the approval rating back up to 45 percent.
However, I do have to warn Frank to be careful about that out-of-state money commentary. At least it’s evident by FEC records that Andy Harris gets contributions bundled by the Club For Growth, which is a group of like-minded individuals who believe in the same concepts of limited government that Andy Harris believes in. We don’t truly know from which state the many labor unions who contribute to Frank Kratovil get their funds from or whether those workers whose dues are used would even vote for Frank if they had the chance to do so.
And be very, very quiet, Frank about some of these out-of-state campaign committee donations you received earlier this year:
- Congressman Barney Frank (MA) – $2,000
- Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL) – $2,000 (This is the woman who repeatedly called Sarah Palin a liar for her correct claim she’d been to Iraq.)
- Congressman Rahm Emanuel (IL) – $2,000
And the biggie…
- Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (CA) – $2,000 (Gee, will Frank be owned by Nancy Pelosi?)
So if you’re one of Frank’s friends and neighbors who share the same ideals and principles as Nancy Pelosi, well, chances are I’ll hear about it in my comment section.
The other item I want to have verified (and generally Frank’s staff is pretty good about this when they write releases, which makes the omission here questionable) is where the Club For Growth states that senior citizens are “the new welfare state.” That deserves to be looked at in context.
Now the question becomes – will Kratovil throw the first negative stone in his next 30 second commercial?
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