Just one day after he was nominated by the Wicomico County Republican Party, State’s Attorney candidate Matthew Maciarello announced his withdrawal. In a published report, Matthew said, “I would not have entered this race if I knew the race would devolve into free-for-all attacks against candidates that I respect.”
(continued on my Examiner.com page…)
One quote I didn’t use in the Examiner piece was where Matt said, “I know my opponents are strong enough to endure the deluge of ridiculous attacks, however, I am ashamed and embarrassed that my entry into this campaign has had this negative effect.”
Well, they didn’t come from me, although I did bring up the Davis Ruark DWI incident from my archive because it was a legitimate issue of job performance – remember, he took a leave of absence because of it and there was serious debate as to whether or not Ruark should resign. The negative effect came from a number of people who were going to have this negative effect whether Matt jumped in or not.
But should Matt decide again to run for public office, this decision may come back to haunt him. He seems like a bright and likeable young man, so hopefully he will reconsider this perhaps rash decision and finish the job he agreed to do.
What can be construed as immature behavior by Matt may erode his credibility. Politics is a rough and tumble world and often times very dirty. It takes a person with strong principles and deep character to persevere successfully in the political arena.
It may be that Matt needs a few more years to grow in these areas.
Hopefully he can take the weekend and think about. Voters need choices. Hopefully this will not have a “Perot” effect on his campaign.