December 9, 2009 – monoblogue

MDGOP gets new Executive Director

The revolving door which has been the Maryland Republican Party leadership hopefully has been stopped with the appointment of a new Executive Director – by resume she could be a winner. This from the Examiner:

Kim Jorns will be starting in the position as of January 1. She is currently the Director of Finance of the Virginia Republican Party, and comes highly recommended by contacts in Virginia. “They are very sad to lose her,” said Ms. Scott, “which speaks volumes.”

Ms. Jorns is originally from Wisconsin, serving as Director of Finance for the state party, and being instrumental in helping the struggling Republican party in that state to rebuild. She repeated the performance in Virginia with its challenged state party. Ms. Scott said, “She’s got the experience we need here in Maryland, from fundraising to a reputation for hard work. Our focus now is on fundraising, so one of the first things she is planning to do is to develop a finance plan for the party.”

All well and good, and with the background I wonder if a couple of my friends know her from days gone by in Wisconsin and Virginia.

The key element is indeed finance. Unlike the Democrats, who can count on union dues confiscated from workers being transferred magically to their campaign accounts (assuming they’re good little Democrats and back the union line on their key issues) the GOP relies mainly on smaller donations from interested individuals. Given the success Republicans enjoyed in Virginia a month ago, it’s good we can get a winner on our team.

So once Jorns gets on board after the holidays, it would be nice if she (and new party Chair Audrey Scott) begin to reach out to the smaller counties. While we’re in the midst of filling two new positions on our Central Committee, choosing from a number of well-qualified candidates (and I presume Worcester County is doing the same), surely we can make time to meet with Scott and Jorns because you can call us skeptics at the moment. Bear in mind that Wicomico was the only county not supporting Scott at the recent convention.

It’s time for the squeaky wheel to get the grease. Do I want to see more Republicans elected? Of course I do, although my preference is for the most conservative ones we can find, people who favor limiting the size and scope of government, to be placed into positions of power. We’re happy to help but we want our concerns addressed too.

So good luck to Kim Jorns as she assumes this task. It’s a formidable one but we’ll help any way we can.

Message to TPX3: don’t forget Delmarva

Having interviewed one of the main protagonists not once, but twice as a result of cross-country bus tours, I probably have a little more insight than the average person on what the goals of the Tea Party Express were and continue to be.

That’s why I’m a little disappointed with the first look at the route planned for next March and April as TPX3 rolls across the country once again. The route covers 27 states and does briefly run through Delaware and Maryland (via I-95) on its way to the final stop in Washington D.C.

But unless they’re planning a whistle stop somewhere in the northeast corner of Maryland they’re forgetting about a vulnerable Democrat freshman who voted in favor of cap-and-tax, and wouldn’t necessarily pass up a chance to support Obamacare and restoring the death tax if certain conditions were met (I refer to them as his thirty pieces of silver – needless to say they come at taxpayer expense.)

With the looping path being taken already, I don’t think it’s all that difficult to spend an afternoon (most likely April 14, the eve of the next major taxpayer rally in Washington, D.C.) traversing the Delmarva because there’s a lot at stake in the 2010 election in our neck of the woods, too. We’ll have two freshman Democrats (Kratovil of Maryland and Nye of Virginia) running for re-election as well as an open Congressional seat in Delaware as Mike Castle tries to move to the Senate – most likely against Joe Biden’s son Beau, the First State’s current Attorney General. The Democrats already have a pretty strong candidate eyeing that Congressional seat, former Lieutentant Governor John Carney. The “Delaware Way” doesn’t have to be the only way.

Perhaps a good way to convince them to work our way is to show them the money. But I’d rather do it through a simple application of logic because we’re not a people of vast means.

They have the opportunity to influence four different races (if you count Maryland’s U.S. Senate seat which is up for election and held by Barbara Mikulski) in a few hours’ work on a peninsula which too often feels shut out of the political process. So that’s my bid and hopefully they’ll listen.

Early endorsements

Andy Harris is at it again, as he’s piled up endorsements from his fellows in the Maryland General Assembly who live in the First District:

Andy Harris for Congress today announced that it has received the endorsement of 26 members of the General Assembly from Congressional District 1. The endorsements demonstrate the strong support Dr. Harris, a State Senator, has from within the ranks in Annapolis. Dr. Harris released the following statement:

“In my time in Annapolis, I have worked with senators and delegates, Republicans and Democrats, to do what is right for Marylanders,” Harris said. “I am grateful for the support of my colleagues and humbled by their willingness to back me nearly a year out from Election Day. My campaign is built around principles that most Marylanders agree on: the need for fiscal responsibility in Washington, limited government, a strong national defense, and for doctors, not politicians, to be making our health care decisions. I will continue to seek the support of every voter in the district and work with our communities to ensure a better future for Maryland.”

Republican General Assembly members who are endorsing Andy Harris for Congress:

Senator Larry Haines
Senator Ed Reilly
Senator Bryan Simonaire
Senator Barry Glassman
Senator Nancy Jacobs
Senator Richard Colburn
Senator Lowell Stoltzfus

Delegate Wade Kach
Delegate Susan Aumann
Delegate Joe Boteler
Delegate Bill Frank
Delegate J.B. Jennings
Delegate Pat McDonough
Delegate Rick Impallaria
Delegate Donna Stifler
Delegate Wayne Norman
Delegate Susan McComas
Delegate Ron George
Delegate Steve Schuh
Delegate Nic Kipke
Delegate James King
Delegate Don Dwyer
Delegate Tony McConkey
Delegate Addie Eckardt
Delegate Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio
Delegate Page Elmore

I don’t know about you, but I noticed that, aside from the sprinkling of Democrats who hold seats in the First District, one name in particular was missing from the list. Think Upper Shore.

It was about this time in 2007 that Senator E.J. Pipkin jumped into the Congressional race and once again he’s not publicly backing Harris. This may or may not mean that he’s going to make another bid in 2010 but the omission is glaring enough for me to notice. (In fact, no representative from Pipkin’s District 36 is on the list because Delegates Richard Sossi, Michael Smigiel, and Mary Roe Walkup are also missing. But they didn’t run for Congress in 2008.)

You may also recall the rumor that Pipkin was simply a stalking horse placed by former Congressman Wayne Gilchrest to siphon votes away from Harris in return for a Gilchrest endorsement of Pipkin as his heir apparent in 2010. Obviously what came to pass was much different as Gilchrest ended up endorsing the Democrat instead, and there’s little to suggest that Wayne would back off that stance in 2010 to give Harris the nod.

So it’s not particularly surprising to me that most of Andy’s colleagues in the Maryland General Assembly would back him because they did last time too. The trick will be seeing how much help they can give him next year as many of them run for their own re-election.

NPR pressured Liasson to leave Fox News

According to a recent Politico story, National Public Radio reporter Mara Liasson was asked to “reconsider” her regular appearances on Fox News programming. Liasson, whose most recent duties have involved commentary on the “Special Report” and “Fox News Sunday” programs, has worked for the network since 1997 but NPR executives were concerned about Fox using her and fellow NPR political analyst Juan Williams as “balance” for their other conservative commentators, leaving the perception that NPR is a left-leaning outfit. NPR tries to project itself publicly as a middle-of-the-road network.

While this can be considered a small part of the Obama admistration’s war against Fox News, it’s very interesting to note that NPR was a cheerleader for government intervention in the newspaper business. Readers may recall my Red County commentary last week where NPR CEO Vivian Schiller hilariously claimed that government funding doesn’t affect their reporting, that it actually makes them even more of a government watchdog!

The facts suggest otherwise.

NPR has been among many news outlets asleep at the switch as Fox News has uncovered damaging information about a number of Obama nominees and led the way on other investigative reports, while smaller, upstart publications have exposed other scandals, ACORN included.

In its own right, Fox News has placed so much heat on the administration that the White House fought back, attempting to shut Fox out of a reporting pool and continually referring to the network as an arm of the Republican Party. Obama himself snubbed Fox when he made the rounds of five other Sunday morning network commentary shows back on September 20.

For her part, the reporter in question has decided to continue her work with Fox, reportedly stating she’d seen no significant change in the network’s news coverage. It seems Mara Liasson is too good for NPR, but the network is too blinded by ideology to realize it.