September 2008 – Page 4

Firing up headquarters

I’m not first with the pictures, I’ll simply settle for having the best article with them.

Despite a lack of other press coverage (something about this little rainstorm blowing through) the Wicomico County Republican Party opened its headquarters yesterday. I counted about 80 people crammed into the front lobby of the building at the peak of festivities, so there were about 100 people in attendance insofar as I could tell. And we were all fired up.

Let’s begin with how the place looked when I arrived, just before the rain hit.

The space is quite nice – let me tell you, having worked in the last location we used this will be about a 100% improvement. Hopefully we can find a similar space for 2010.

Undoubtedly, we had a guest of honor – our next Congressman, State Senator Andy Harris. But most of our local Republican elected officials participated in the actual ribbon-cutting ceremony. My camera timed that just right for once, and I was just a smidge left of ideal. I think I got everyone though.

The young lady who served as a master of ceremonies but more importantly spearheaded the effort to secure the space is our county McCain campaign chair, Bonnie Luna.

In turn, each of the state representatives there got to say a few words, with Andy Harris leading off. If you hold your mouse over the photo, the caption will have the notable quote or thought each expressed.

We also heard from Wicomico County Republican Party chair Dr. John Bartkovich, who said this was an “opportunity to show people that Wicomico County is Republican and conservative” by supporting both Harris and McCain.

Our final speaker was Luis Luna, who had a firsthand report of how the GOP convention went. He even dressed the part.

It’s hard to believe that even with the nasty weather, the turnout was this good. This brought together almost every GOP elected official in the county and the gathering was abuzz with talk about the McCain-Palin ticket. Okay, moreso on the Palin side, but either way we soundly beat the alternative when it comes to experience and ideas for real change, not the dimestore phony variety that other side pays lip service to.

I added the last picture just because I liked it.

Labor Day leftover

It’s going to be a busy day for the purveyor of monoblogue (not to mention the question of how much online access I’ll have with Tropical Storm Hanna working this way), so this video will hopefully suffice for today. This “undercover” video of a Service Employees International Union rally came to me from the Waterman (Aquaman: Questing For Atlantis) who also asked me to crosspost it over on Red Maryland. It’s definitely worth 4 1/2 minutes of your time to watch and learn a little bit more about unions.

In case you didn’t catch the portion at the end where the primary interviewee reveals her name and secondary job, she’s Delegate Veronica Turner of the 26th District. Out of 141 Delegates who served in 2008, she ranks 110th in the monoblogue Accountability Project with a term score of 3.22. Wonder if she reports her income from her other job on her ethics paperwork? We know that her fellow PG County member of the General Assembly, State Senator Ulysses Currie, has a few issues there.

So I appreciate the heads-up from my young friend and will happily share the news before I head out to help open a campaign headquarters, camera in tow for both monoblogue and the Wicomico County GOP website.

Crossposted on Red Maryland.

How about that Palin?

This post is a reminder to those who are interested locally that the Wicomico County Republican Party is opening its 2008 Election headquarters at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. The headquarters is located at 800 South Salisbury Boulevard in Salisbury, across from Giant and next to FedEx/Kinko’s.

There are two additional items of interest since we put the word out earlier this week regarding the opening. First of all, the time was changed from its original noon start to 10 a.m. in order to enable State Senator Andy Harris to attend – after all, his election is our primary objective locally. So voters will have yet another chance to meet and greet our next Congressman and the local media will have the chance to give him some face time. (Bet the Daily Times skips the occasion.)

Then yesterday I received the following in my e-mail:

McCain – Palin Rally

Immediately Following

Firsthand report from the Convention
Update on Campaign
Get your new McCain-Palin Bumper Sticker
Information on getting involved
Volunteer Opportunities
Drawing for two complimentary tickets to Senator Stoltzfus’ October 4th – Picnic & Rally

Everyone invited!

Refreshments will be served

You know, I think local Republicans are so fired up about the selection of Palin that they might just show up even if Hanna was a Category 5 hurricane. (Well, all right, that is hyperbole because we do have some common sense, but this little tropical storm doesn’t appear to be stopping us. On the other hand, hurricanes don’t come near Alaska because they know Sarah Palin is there, so if we invoke her name we should be in good shape.)

However, I have one other request from the McCain/Palin campaign. Perhaps you aren’t going to pay much attention to the Eastern Shore here in Maryland but if you sent Sarah Palin to Delaware with an offer to mend fences because of the jabs she took at the First State with her speech Wednesday night, it would be a shot in the arm to all of us around here. Anywhere south of Dover would be fine.

This also gives me an opportunity to address another purported allegation about the Palins, with wild rumors going about that Todd Palin was a member of a political party which advocated secession from the United States. While this AP story by Jim Kuhnhenn clears up the mud slightly, it brought up two things I hadn’t known but am pleased to find out.

First of all, while there were members of the party who favored secession, the Alaska Independence Party was officially in favor of having the federal government turn over land it controls to the state of Alaska. While this isn’t an issue in Maryland, for many states in the western part of the country federal control of land is a huge issue because Fedzilla has so much of it. Only Nevada has more land under federal control than Alaska’s 69.1% share; by comparison only 2.8% of Maryland’s land is federally controlled. While we on Delmarva joke about seceding from Maryland, these guys had a more serious aim.

The other really cool thing about Sarah Palin is her taste in Presidential candidates – no, not Pat Buchanan. Instead it was pointed out that Governor (then-Mayor) Palin was a Steve Forbes backer in 2000, just as I was. Perhaps she can clean up the taxation system in Washington as a side job since that was a prime Forbes issue. It’s just another thing to like about the woman from Wasilla.

Shorebird of the Year – a 2008 season wrapup

While the goal of a minor league team is to develop prospects for the big-league club, every so often the fans in a city get the bonus of having a contending team come out of nowhere. Such was the case for this year’s Delmarva Shorebirds. Out of the 16 SAL teams, they had a rather respectable 5th place finish, including second overall in the Northern Division with a record of 78-61. Ironically, the two best teams in our division failed to make the playoffs as neither Delmarva nor Lakewood put together a good enough half-season to win – Lake County and West Virginia were the two hot teams during the two halves. On the other hand, Augusta and Asheville were the two top dogs down south and are meeting in the SAL playoffs.

Offensively, the team was improved from previous efforts, finishing sixth in the loop with a .261 aggregate batting average. Other offensive categories and their league rankings:

Runs: 636, 10th (4.57 per game)
Doubles: 265, 2nd (West Virginia led with 265)
Triples: 35, 4th
Home runs: 91, 9th
Walks: 427, 9th
Strikeouts: 1209, 15th (Asheville had the most with 1214.)
Stolen bases: 141, 7th
OPS: .722, 5th (.331 on-base percentage was 4th and .391 slugging percentage was 5th.)

I think the large disparity between having the good batting average and power numbers yet only ranking 10th in runs can be traced directly to that strikeout number. A strikeout doesn’t advance runners and there were plenty of innings where the Shorebirds would get runners to scoring position with less than two out yet fail to score as they struck out once or twice.

On the other hand, pitching was really good at times during the year. Despite only ranking 6th in the league, their overall 3.66 ERA was improved from the 2007 version of the Shorebirds. Rankings in other categories were as follows:

Shutouts: 8, 8th
Saves: 40, 6th
Runs allowed: 605, 7th (the 493 earned runs allowed were 6th, and the differential was third-highest in the league.)
Hits allowed: 1083, 2nd (Lake County allowed just 1053.)
Home runs allowed: 85, 6th
Walks allowed: 442, 13th
Strikeouts: 992, 13th
WHIP: 1.26, 3rd (the low hits allowed total helped in this case.)

One stat that isn’t available on the SAL site is fielding, but during a late-season radio broadcast it was claimed that the Shorebirds were last in the league in fielding percentage. Given the number of multi-error games I sat through, I have no doubt in my mind this was true. That hurts the pitching staff by extending innings, and it’s the little things like that and not making productive outs which at least advance the baserunners that turn championship teams into also-rans.

Unfortunately, there are other also-rans below us in the Orioles system. Aberdeen was the best of a bad lot with their 35-39 finish while the lowest-level Gulf Coast League Orioles team finished 14-41 on the year. Delmarva and Bowie (who won its division in the Eastern League and is currently battling in the EL playoffs) were the only two teams to finish above the break-even mark in the entire Orioles organization.

Now let’s turn to the players. During the season I selected 22 Shorebirds of the Week and here’s how they all ended up faring in 2008.

April 3 – Pedro Florimon

At the league’s All-Star break in June Pedro was injured and had just a .161 average to show for his effort up to that point. Things finally clicked in July and August and it’s likely Pedro wouldn’t have minded an extra month tacked on to the season. He ended up hitting .223 overall, which doesn’t sound great until you look at his numbers after August 1st. During the last month he hit .270, collected nine of his 19 RBI on the season, and ten of his 19 extra-base hits. Given that he’s not 22 yet, starting a third season here is not out of the question – the bigger question is whether he’ll give up switch-hitting (a .197 batter from the left side and .333 on 18-for-54 from the right side.)

April 10 – Brendan Monaghan

The catcher position was pretty much a revolving door for the Shorebirds, and it was compounded by stints on the disabled list for Brendan which kept him out of the lineup for extended periods. For the season Monaghan only managed to get into 47 games, and the limited action likely kept him from finding his batting eye as he hit only .197 in 137 at-bats. He did have a home run and 14 RBI in the limited playing time and even stole 4 bases. Still, with him turning 24 in the first week of the 2009 season, it’s no safe bet he’ll return here for 2009.

April 17 – Sean Gleason

When I picked Sean as a SotW, he was in the midst of turning in several quality relief appearances for the Shorebirds. But what turned his season around was another’s misfortune – John Mariotti was a last-minute scratch from a game on May 2nd and Gleason became the emergency starter that evening. After throwing four shutout innings in that start, Sean never looked back and finished with a 12-2 record and 2.63 ERA in 150 2/3 innings, striking out 108 while walking just 46. One would think he’ll be a fixture in the Frederick starting rotation to begin 2009, and may not stop there.

Other honors: Sean was a SAL All-Star this year, along with being selected as Mountaire’s Pitcher of the Year and the Shorebird Fan Club Player of the Half for the second half of the season.

April 24 – Matt Angle

While as a whole the Delmarva squad suffered from defensive shortcomings, those weren’t often attributable to the center field play of Matt Angle. Matt was another player who picked up his game in the second half, bringing a .244 batting mark at the break to a final .287 total in nearly 500 at-bats. (He likely would’ve easily eclipsed the mark but never played in the final homestand.) Naturally for a leadoff hitter, Matt led the team with 82 runs scored and 37 stolen bases in 48 attempts. Matt also put himself into the running for Shorebird of the Year with his fast finish, but should be running in Frederick’s center field next season.

May 1st – Tony Butler

While the centerpiece of Baltimore’s offseason trade with Seattle last winter was Eric Bedard, one of the young talents Andy MacPhail was hoping to build his minor league system with was Tony Butler. And he got off to a pretty decent start here but ended up losing almost half a season to injury this year, with his final appearance a three-inning shelling against Hagerstown on June 19th, the day play resumed after the All-Star break. For the season Tony ended up 3-4 with a 4.42 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 55 innings, allowing just 11 walks while fanning 44. He’ll be back next spring, most likely in a Delmarva uniform to hopefully pick up where he left off.

May 8th – John Mariotti

As I mentioned earlier, it was Mariotti’s misfortune which allowed Sean Gleason to shine. And while Mariotti did briefly return this season after that injury, he wasn’t the same pitcher and returned to the DL after just three outings, culminating with a 1/3 inning start at Lake County on August 8th. In those three post-injury appearances, John only managed to last 2 2/3 innings while allowing 8 hits and 5 earned runs, so it was obvious the location was gone. The injury put a damper on a season that started out with promise: John was 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP before his first stint on the DL. He ended up 3-2, 3.74, 1.01 WHIP after the disastrous return. John just turned 24 so hopefully he can recover and return to the dominance he showed early on in 2008 in a return visit next season.

May 15 – Matt Tucker

Matt was my third selection in a row who had his season cut short by injuries, succumbing in late July. Matt was putting together a solid season beforehand, hitting .286 in 77 games covering 255 at-bats. More importantly for the scouts, his OPS was a very solid .776 and 23 of his 73 hits were for extra bases (18 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 home runs to go with 33 RBI.) Since he turned 25 during the season, there’s probably enough of a resume there to give him a chance at Frederick because he’s getting a little old in baseball terms for SAL competition.

May 22 – Cole McCurry

Having come up to Delmarva at the tail end of 2007, I thought McCurry would have a better season than he turned out to have for the Shorebirds. Instead, he finished his stint here with a 2-6 record, 6.51 ERA, and allowed 67 hits in 56 2/3 innings, elevating his WHIP to 1.48. So he was sent down to Aberdeen to pitch for the IronBirds. Well, Cole must have decided he had something to prove because he finished 8-3 in 15 starts, throwing 2 complete games and 1 shutout, and improving to a 2.76 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 81 2/3 innings. One would be fairly safe betting he’ll be penciled in as a starter here next season for round 3 in Delmarva.

Other honors: Even with his bad numbers here, Cole still managed to put together some good starts and was named SAL Pitcher of the Week on May 26th. He also was selected as a NY-Penn League Midseason All-Star.

May 29th – Anthony Martinez

When I originally selected Anthony, he was platooning between first base and designated hitter with Joe Mahoney. But by season’s end Martinez was the everyday starter at first and he put together a fine season overall. Martinez finished with a .258 average (109-for-423), 11 home runs, 54 RBI, and 27 doubles. His OPS was .720, which is considered above-average. Anthony is another guy who will be 25 before next season so it’s probable that the Orioles would ticket him for Frederick to ply his trade and see if he can advance from there.

June 5 – Mick Mattaliano

I honestly don’t think SAL batters quite knew what to do with this guy; perhaps hope he had a bad day and the sinker didn’t sink. There were a couple of those days I saw but this guy otherwise was lights-out for Delmarva in the ninth inning. In 41 appearances, Mick had 27 saves and a 2-2 record. But his most remarkable numbers were a sick 0.71 WHIP and a really filthy 3.23 groundout/airout ratio. Those poor opposing hitters just hit ground out after ground out when Mick was on the mound. It wasn’t quite as good for him up in Frederick, although his 6.43 ERA in 7 innings is a little deceptive when you notice he gave up runs in only his first two appearances of the five he made there. He did pick up one save for the Keys near season’s end, and that will probably be his baseball home to start next season.

June 12 – Wally Crancer

Wally was definitely lobbying for playing time with his performance when I selected him, and although he tailed off somewhat in the second half by season’s end he was a regular in the outfield, escaping the revolving door that was Delmarva’s catcher position. Wally finished .287/6/39 in 286 at-bats with a nifty .798 OPS. His power numbers were evident in the fact he had 20 doubles and 3 triples sprinkled in among his 82 hits on the season. So Wally got the playing time he deserved and being another guy who turns 25 next season he’ll have consideration at the next level too.

June 19 – Brett Bordes

Of all the Shorebird players this season, perhaps Brett was the most outgoing. Fortunately for Shorebirds fans, he could pitch pretty well too. Before his promotion to Frederick, Brett was doing well in his second stint here, 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 2 saves in 25 appearances. He’d held his walks down to 17 in 33 1/3 innings which gave him a WHIP of 1.32. The bad news is that Brett unraveled in Frederick, allowing 21 hits, 19 walks, and 16 runs (all earned) in 16 innings of work – and a 2.50 WHIP isn’t going to get one very far (he allowed 2 1/2 baserunners per inning; naturally a bunch of them came around to score.) Since he turns 25 over the offseason, it may be the end of the line for Brett but I’m hoping for the best for him.

June 26 – Joe Nowicki

Lllllllleet’s go Joe! Nowicki was the offensive leader for the Shorebirds in 2008, pacing the team in triples (6), home runs (19), RBI (76), and OPS (.835). He also ranked near the top with 136 hits overall and 74 runs scored. Joe was another definite contender in the Shorebird of the Year competition, although he finished the season in a bit of a slump; one that dropped his average to a more pedestrian .276 mark. He’s already 25 and was a non-drafted free agent out of college, but has certainly merited a promotion for next year.

Other honors: Joe was the SAL Player of the Week on June 2nd, a SAL All-Star selection, Mountaire’s Player of the Year, and the Shorebird Fan Club Player of the Half for the first half of the season.

July 3 – Luis Noel

Luis put together a solid season for the Shorebirds and established his rank as a prime prospect in the Orioles organization. Just 20 years old, Luis pitched 138 2/3 innings and had a 10-8 record, 3.96 ERA, and 1.42 WHIP while taking each of his 27 turns in the starting rotation. The Orioles don’t need to rush him ahead because pitching is a strong suit in their minor league system, so Luis could be back next year to work a bit on his control – he did walk 73 and allow 13 home runs in 2008. He’s one of those guys who may end up in a package deal if the Orioles contend in the next couple seasons and need to rent a player.

July 10 – Joe Mahoney

Joe definitely struggled in the season’s second half, hitting just .180 after July 1st and all but welded to the bench during the last couple weeks of the season. For the campaign as a whole, Mahoney hit .222, ripping only 7 home runs but knocking in 61 in 352 at-bats. With an OPS of just .624, the offensive side of Joe’s game is still a work in progress; but unlike many of his position player cohorts on this year’s squad Joe is on the young side as far as league competition goes as he will be only 22 when the 2009 season begins. I’m counting on Mahoney to provide the power and anchor first base in the 2009 Shorebird lineup.

July 17 – Cliff Flagello

“Jello” is another guy who’s fun off the field but wasn’t much fun for opposing hitters to face. Cliff was downright untouchable toward the end of the season, combining July and August into a 0.76 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in 17 appearances covering 35 1/3 innings. For the year as a whole, Flagello was 5-3 with a 2.29 ERA in 82 2/3 innings pitched. Perhaps the only blemish on a otherwise great season was allowing 39 walks, but otherwise he’ll be a fine fellow in Frederick next season.

July 24 – Brian Valichka

At a time when three of Delmarva’s five catchers who played this season were battling injuries, the Orioles sent Valichka down to assist our cause and Brian performed well here, hitting .272 in 30 games while with Delmarva. More importantly for him, Valichka got to sample some home cooking before season’s end with a promotion to Frederick, which just happens to be his birthplace. For the Keys he made it into 4 games and hit a robust .455 in 11 at-bats. Whether that’s the swan song for Valichka, who just turned 25 in August, is yet to be determined but it’s likely we’ll not see him again at Perdue Stadium unless he pays for a ticket.

July 31 – Tyler Henson

Henson might be the guy who, day in and day out, had the dirtiest uniform. Tyler was definitely a blue-collar player who played almost every day and put in a workmanlike season, hitting .265 with 11 home runs, 62 RBI, and 20 stolen bases in 127 games. He was the only Shorebird to reach the 500 at-bat plateau this season. Perhaps that steady workload wore him out a little bit as time went on though, as his average dropped each month during the season and he went from a .293 average prior to the All-Star break to a .235 average afterward. Henson is likely one who is on the cusp between promotion and retention since he’ll only be 21 to start next season.

August 7 – Zach Britton

Zach was another contender for Shorebird of the Year with his outstanding performance over the course of the season. In 27 starts Britton was 12-7 with a 3.18 ERA in 147 1/3 innings. Zach allowed only 49 walks and 118 hits for a WHIP of 1.13 while fanning 114. Another 20 year old who was a high draft pick out of high school, Zach is most likely going to be on the fast track up the organization so I’m selecting him as my Prospect of the Year. Chances are he’ll be in Frederick next year but don’t be too shocked if he’s pitching in Camden Yards by the end of 2010.

August 14 – Ryan Adams

Another young’un who was a high draft pick out of high school, Ryan showed his offensive prowess after a bit of a slow start, only failing to hit .300 or better in the month of April. As a whole his .308 mark led the full-season players, and he began to swing the bat with authority in the second half, hitting 8 of his 11 home runs after the break while knocking in 37 of his 57 runs. With an overall OPS of .829 there’s no doubt Ryan can hit. The odd thing is that he only hit .221/2/19/.588 at home but just killed pitching in other parks to the tune of .383/9/38/1.035. And if I were a betting man I’d bet the larger share of his 52 errors occurred here. But I’d also bet that he’s probably played his last game here as well, so it’s going to be interesting for Frederick or even Bowie fans to track this oddity next season and see if he settles in at his position too.

August 21 – Brian Parker

While I unknowingly gave Brian a good birthday present by naming him SotW, that very night he made his debut for Frederick after being promoted. For us Brian was 7-5 with a 3.65 ERA in 35 appearances, striking out 70 in 66 2/3 innings while walking just 22 and carrying a 1.28 WHIP. He struggled a bit for the Keys, though, giving up 9 hits and 3 earned runs in 5 innings spread among 4 games. The strikeouts were still there, however, as he fanned 6 more hitters at the advanced-A level. At 23 Frederick is probably right on schedule for his development so I’m thinking he’ll start there in 2009.

August 28 – Nate Nery

My final SotW didn’t come on board until June but once he got comfortable here, he pitched some dominating games at the end of the season – starting pitching was hardly an issue in the second half with four solid starters going for the Shorebirds. When you add his last victory he picked up on Monday to his season totals, the 7-3 record and 3.39 ERA in 15 starts looks pretty good. His other numbers check in well, too – 82 1/3 innings pitched, 74 hits, 22 walks, 59 strikeouts – so the biggest question for Nate is where he’ll start the season next April and how will he handle a full season? In essence, he pitched an Aberdeen-style season at the next level up so Nate (who recently turned 23) may be back here in 2009 to anchor a new staff.

That’s how my 22 Shorebirds of the Week fared in 2008 – most did reasonably well but there were a few disappointments mixed in. But there’s one player who I feel exceeded expectations, and while I’ve noted that Matt Angle, Joe Nowicki, and Zach Britton are all deserving of the honor I can only pick one guy, and many’s the time I saw this player just flat out dominate.

Sean Gleason put together some of the best starts I’ve seen out of a pitcher at this level, and even when he struggled he still gutted his way to a few victories or at least kept the team in the game. Throw in the fact that he barely made the Delmarva roster as one of many in the bullpen but took advantage when he got the chance to become a starting pitcher, and it’s hard not to think the guy drafted way down in the 20th round last year and assigned to Bluefield (instead of Aberdeen where the more advanced rookies go) didn’t deserve this honor.

With that, I wish nothing but the best to each and every one of the 2008 Shorebirds and thank them for making my first season as a season ticket holder a wonderful experience. Next week I turn my attention to the front office with my Shorebird Picks and Pans.

Too bad I don’t have the local franchise for this

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last week, the buzz around the nation is the selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as John McCain’s Vice-Presidential candidate. Overnight we learned much more about a heretofore semi-obscure governor that we knew about most of the other 49 governors combined. (If only we knew less about Martin O’Malley, particularly his love of spending other peoples’ money.)

Unfortunately, a lot of what we’ve learned about Mrs. Palin is of the tabloid variety, particularly about her 17-year-old daughter who’s unmarried and five months pregnant. Conversely, Governor Palin is a working mother, part of a two-income family who has four other children, one being a son who’s set to ship out to Iraq with his Army unit and another son who was born just months ago with Down’s Syndrome, plus two more daughters. That alone would keep most mothers’ hands full, but she’s like most moms who handle the tasks with aplomb and love.

But the pick has struck a chord among millions of women who can sympathize with the Palin story of juggling work, family, and having a husband who also works. While Palin’s not a prototypical soccer mom, it’s only because there’s not much of a soccer season up in Alaska – instead, she’s a hockey mom. (As she quipped last night, “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bill? Lipstick.”)

Yesterday, Michelle Malkin chimed in on the controversy with a piece called “Waking up the sleeping giant.” In it, she pointed out as I did above that the Palin pick seems to be a hit with women. (It’s also swept the messiah Obama off the front pages, meanwhile people are now asking “Joe who?”) And it wouldn’t surprise me to see a few women around here with this shirt (it’s gotta be flying off the shelves. Can I at least get a commission?) The reaction among those I’ve spoken with about the pick is just as enthusiastic – it may have saved John McCain’s bacon in this race.

Speaking of folks wanting commissions, I also got this e-mail from the Obama camapign (yes, I get e-mail from both sides.) In it, Obama spokesman David Plouffe assured me that:

In the next 36 hours, the McCain campaign will be pouring millions of dollars — if not tens of millions — into negative attack ads against Barack Obama.

Before John McCain accepts the Republican nomination on Thursday, his campaign has to spend every last dollar of primary funds they’ve raked in from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs.

Just yesterday, they aired a new negative ad in 14 swing states. His campaign manager even admitted that all McCain has to rely on is attacks, saying that for them, “This election is not about issues.”

He doesn’t want Americans to notice that the Republican platform is the most extreme we’ve ever seen — opposing stem cell research, denying a woman’s right to choose no matter what the circumstance, and continuing to spend $10 billion a month in Iraq.

With so much at stake, we can’t allow another election to be determined by petty and divisive political tactics.

After that, it was blah blah blah send us money. But what David Plouffe doesn’t let readers know is that the reason McCain is spending money on these commercials is because John McCain cannot use the money after he’s nominated. As of tomorrow, any checks McCain gets from contributors (which may be from “special interests and PAC’s” but are more likely from the general public) would have to be returned because John McCain has stuck by his pledge to use public financing for his election campaign – unlike Barack Obama, who’s done what he does best and thrown public financing of his campaign under the bus.

Seems to me that politics comes before promises to Barack Obama, but that tends to be true with Democrats once they reach a certain level. It’s just something else to keep in mind when you watch the debates and the thirty-second commercials sure to come – especially with the real special interest money which is paying for Barack Obama’s spots.

Kratovil comment spam?

For the most part, I welcome comments of all stripes but a few days ago I had some interesting comments come my way. And after a little bit of investigation, I found out this same person had commented on at least a couple other local blogs in what appears to be a concerted effort to put out the word about where Frank Kratovil stands.

What got me interested in these comments were that they came in response to posts which were months old, from earlier in the spring. Normally the comments I get come in response to much more recent posts, generally ones on the front page of my site. In this case, my guess is that this person did a search here for Kratovil-related items and found the two posts in question much to his disliking.

Here’s the comment in question, from Joe. This same comment appeared on two different posts:

Frank Kratovil is better on the war –> He wants to end it.

Frank Kratovil is better on Social Security –> He wants to save it and not privatize unlike his opponent Harris.

Frank Kratovil is better on Immigration –> He has a long record as a State’s Attorney fighting illegal immigration on the front lines, which is why Harris never talks about it.

Frank Kratovil is better on the environment –> He believes in renewable energy and a modern solution to the energy crisis, while Harris has the 6th worse lifetime voting record on the environment out of 188 legislators in the Maryland Legislature.

Frank Kratovil is better on Health Care –> He wants to ensure it for everyone, Harris thinks the free market will take care of that which is what free market thinkers have said for 20 years, guess it doesn’t work.

Frank Kratovil is a better man. Andy Harris showed during the Primary that he would say or do anything to get elected and that included demeaning a sitting United States Congressman, the Honorable Wayne Gilchrest, and in doing so showed his true colors of extremism and irrational thinking.

That was one thing, and I shrugged my shoulders, approved the comments and life went on. But then in doing my reading I found a post on Delmarva Dealings and a post on ShoreIndie with essentially that same comment! Also, another commentor named Austin made his rounds about the same time, but with different comments.

So I guess Joe has been blogged. But I may as well have some fun addressing Joe’s comment while I’m at it.

Frank Kratovil wants to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Has he not figured out that the radical Islamists will just follow the troops back? I don’t know about you but I’ve no interest in dealing with another day like 9/11 was.

And what exactly would be wrong with privatizing Social Security? After all, it is MY money, not the government’s. I’d be damn happy to have my 40 large back and certainly my employers could use their share too.

I’m sure Frank is doing a great job fighting illegal immigration from his current post, which is why I’d like him to remain right there until his term is up in 2010. Andy Harris would be more useful fighting in Congress.

While I can’t speak for Harris on the energy issue, I’m in full support of his voting record which supports common sense over additional restrictions on what we can drive, how we do our dishes, and particularly what we can do with our own private property. Renewable energy will come in time, but let’s allow the entrepreneurs of the private sector their crack at making themselves a fortune finding it, not taxpayers paying a fortune to have favored friends of those in Congress lurch down blind alleys on our dime.

Joe, let me say this again: health care is NOT a right! If a person doesn’t want to buy insurance, they assume a risk. It should not be up to government at any level to force us to have health insurance. Please tell me where we have a free market in health care when the federal and state governments spend billions in that field and constantly place new restrictions on what has to be covered.

If demeaning Wayne Gilchrest means taking a look at his record and showing that he votes with Nancy Pelosi as much or more than he does with this party – when he’s sent to Washington to represent the interests of a district that would maybe give the said Mrs. Pelosi 5% of the vote if she’s lucky – then I’d consider him guilty of that charge.

Joe, don’t be scared about having less government. I’m looking forward to having Andy Harris fight for my interests in Washington D.C. Perhaps he could set an example like Senator Tom Coburn does in his legislative body, and not just be another Beltway politician who treats the taxpayers like a piggy bank for his favored special interests.

“Drill baby drill, and drill now!” – Michael Steele at this evening’s Republican National Convention.

Organization man once again

It came to my attention that yet another organization is looking for help spreading the word in the blogosphere. Naturally, NoTaxHikers.org is a product of the National Taxpayers Union, a group that also rates Congressmen on how “taxpayer-friendly” they are. (Out of Maryland’s delegation, only Roscoe Bartlett has a grade above C with a B+ while Wayne Gilchrest has a D and the eight Democrats all graded an F. Delaware’s Mike Castle picked up a C- while both Senators also garnered F’s.)

As they say, “NTU is making notaxhikers.org a signature effort for this fall, and we’re committing significant resources toward getting the word out about the site. We hope you’ll join us in this effort.” Well, folks, I’m going to give it a shot here in my little corner of the country – something tells me most people about these parts will agree with you.

As you’ve probably read here if you’re not a first-time visitor, I’m all for lowering the tax burden on all of us, with a corresponding reduction in the size and scope of government. The NTU also points out as I do that the tax code as it stands also keeps thousands of lobbyists busy angling to adjust the tax code to serve their own special interests. They’re even doing a questionnaire for 2008 Congressional candidates, hopefully every candidate within my reach will fill one out and inform the voters about their taxation stance.

Government Bytes blogger Kristina Rasmussen chimes in:

The election this November will be extremely important. In it, we’ll choose the officials who will control the public purse strings. Many candidates would try to stuff that purse with more of your hard-earned dollars. If you’re sick of the same old tax-and-spend mentality, then you need to let your politicians know it!

If that name sounds familiar, Rasmussen also sent me an announcement about the 2007 NTU ratings I cited above. So I’m happy to spread the word about this organization when I see the opportunity to do so. As they say, I don’t vote for tax hikers.

The transformation appears complete

While the rumors had been swirling for some time, over the last 48 hours the official transformation of Wayne Gilchrest to Republican In Name Only became complete as he endorsed Democrat Frank Kratovil for his current Congressional seat. Naturally, the Kratovil people wasted no time getting the word out and the Baltimore Sun cooperated with this story in today’s edition by Chris Guy. More importantly, they rolled out a new TV commercial dubbed “Reach”:

Naturally Andy Harris’s campaign fired back by bringing up the opposition of both Glichrest and Kratovil to common-sense energy policies and mentioning some other endorsements which have been made on Kratovil’s behalf:

“Voters want a change from the failed policies of Congress of raising taxes, increasing wasteful spending, and failing to solve our energy crisis. Andy Harris represents a change, Frank Kratovil obviously represents more of the same. If you are tired of the way business is done in Washington, then Andy Harris is your candidate.

“Voters are tired of politicians who put the radical environmental special interest groups ahead of the needs of Maryland families. Sadly both Gilchrest and Kratovil oppose expanding domestic exploration of oil and natural gas. Both oppose expanding capacity at domestic refineries. Both support raising energy taxes. In contrast, Andy Harris supports a comprehensive energy solution that includes expanding domestic exploration of oil and natural gas, developing the next generation of alternative energy technology, and more conservation.”

Kratovil has also received endorsements from liberals like Martin O’Malley, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Chris Van Hollen. This support shows he is clearly out of touch with the values of the district.”

Obviously Frank Kratovil is playing up the similarities that Gilchrest and he have on several areas of common interest, particularly the environment. (You’ll notice that Wayne did his portion of the spot out by some wetland someplace.) Also, while Gilchrest mentioned his party affiliation the spot never does call Frank Kratovil by his affiliation but as “independent.” Without question this is a bid to peel moderate Republicans away from Andy Harris by aligning the two together.

Personally, my main differences with Wayne Gilchrest have come on two fronts: his opposition to the Long War – which included votes to defund the troops – and his fervent opposition to securing our own domestic energy supplies. These two issues show that Gilchrest and Kratovil indeed can both be called “peas in a liberal pod.”

But this strategy of using Gilchrest comes with some risk. Prior to this, both Kratovil and Harris had been running as Washington outsiders, but gaining the support of a man who originally promised not to be a career politician but instead stayed 18 years may backfire on Frank. No longer can he truly portray himself as an outsider, even though Gilchrest has had the reputation for bucking the party line (which now has been shown to be true in spades.) By touring the district with Kratovil, Wayne may be campaigning harder in this election which he’s not a part of than he did for most of his nine terms.

One other question that needs to asked is what Newt Gingrich and Michael Steele think about a man who they supported in the Republican primary election turning around after his defeat and, in the ultimate case of sour grapes, crossing party lines to endorse the Democrat? It’s one thing for disgrunted workers or minor county officials to endorse across the aisle, but having these two heavyweights be associated with a Congressman who does that means that Lucy has some ‘splainin’ to do.

While it’s Wayne’s right to reach across the aisle and endorse the Democrat in the race, it’s worth pointing out that, for Republicans reaching across the aisle in Congress, reaching across means more often than not you end up with a bloody hand full of teeth marks and a larger, more intrusive federal government. Bear that in mind when you vote November 4th.

Also, reaction from the Maryland GOP:

“While Congressman Gilchrest’s action is certainly not a surprise to us, it is disappointing. The Maryland Republican Party and Republicans in the 1st Congressional District have supported Wayne for years and many Republicans will view his decision as a betrayal of that support,” said Chairman Pelura.

“Voters clearly want a change in how Washington D.C. does business. John McCain, Sarah Palin, and Andy Harris are going to go to Washington and fight to reform the way our government does business,” Pelura concluded. “The Obama/Biden/Kratovil team represent business as usual in Washington D.C. Frank Kratovil will vote with Nancy Pelosi a majority of the time. McCain as President and Andy Harris as Congressman will ensure tax relief, energy independence, and a strong national defense for citizens of the 1st Congressional District and our country.”

Crossposted on Red Maryland.

Campaign trail winds through Salisbury

Over the weekend I happened to catch two appearances by the major-party hopefuls in the 1st Congressional District. On Saturday Andy Harris stopped by on his way about the Lower Shore for about 45 minutes and waved to the hundreds of passers-by going eastbound on Route 50.

Andy Harris stood on the back of a truck Saturday and greeted those driving by.

He had a little bit of help from local GOP volunteers too. We were out for about 1 1/2 hours on Saturday morning after the same time devotion Friday evening, watching and waving our signs to hundreds and hundreds of passing cars. Reaction seemed to be in our favor, we were guessing three thumbs-up for every thumbs-down or middle finger raised. It wasn’t all Harris, we were also doing McCain as well. (No McCain/Palin signs yet – those may get an even better reaction. Personally, given the choice if one of the two were to make an Eastern Shore appearance I think the majority may prefer Governor Palin.)

A number of GOP stalwarts also took time Saturday morning for a little sign waving.

On Sunday, less than a mile away, Democrat opponent Frank Kratovil took himself out to the ballgame.

Frank Kratovil winds up to start Sunday's game against Lakewood.

Judging by the crowd reaction and this expression I don't think Frank threw a strike.

He also brought a few dozen friends with him, their yellow shirts sort of clashing with the hundreds of orange Orioles shirts given out as part of a promotion.

The group of Kratovil supporters enjoying a spirited seesaw battle with the Lakewood BlueClaws Sunday evening.

As a comparison, here’s some of the photography from Andy Harris’s Shorebird game appearance back in July. And if you’re looking for some sort of symbolism in the team’s performance, here’s the two games in question:

July 25th: Lexington 5, Delmarva 0; attendance was 6,706.
August 31st: Lakewood 5, Delmarva 4; attendance was 4,214.

Unlike after the Harris game, the Kratovil campaign didn’t put together a commercial specifically for the occasion or sponsor fireworks. Definitely a missed opportunity for their side with a somewhat captive audience. But count on both to be around more and more as most folks begin to pay attention to the race and the days leading to November 4th dwindle down.

Enjoy your Labor Day!

After writing, blockquoting, or otherwise placing about 10,000 words over the weekend on next week’s Delaware state elections, I’m taking a little bit of a break today. And since it is Labor Day, what better group to point out on this day of celebrating American workers than one of my favorites, the Center for Union Facts.

The video I’ll leave you with is a couple years old, but Congress will certainly be debating the so-called Employee Free Choice Act in their next session. (It passed the House this time, but failed to achieve cloture in the Senate.) This Big Labor-backed provision, commonly referred to as a “card check“, eliminates the secret ballot in union organization elections and allows the union to be installed if 50% plus one of the affected workers signs a card which states they wish to join. Obviously the prospect of intimidation exists with such a scenario – imagine if you went to your polling place and people were looking over your shoulder to see which candidate you voted for.

One piece of good news regarding card check is that the Bush Administration is reportedly issuing an Executive Order prohibiting the practice for certain government contractors.

So hopefully you are enjoying (or have enjoyed) what is turning out to be a pleasant and warm Labor Day here on the Eastern Shore. Just don’t forget about those who aren’t fortunate enough to have this weather as Hurricane Gustav bears down on Louisiana today.