Month: December 2010

A new era for local Republicans

For the first time – at least in recent history – as of today the majority of elected officials in Wicomico County will be Republicans once County Council is sworn in at tonight’s meeting.

Traditionally Wicomico has been one of the last vestiges of the old-fashioned Democratic Party that ruled the South for decades after Reconstruction ended. Many’s the case where Democrats are so because “my daddy was a Democrat and he would roll over in his grave if I switched.” In fact, Democrats still hold a small registration edge in the county.

But in the privacy of the voter booth, many Democrats aren’t faithful to their registration. In the last twenty years the GOP has begun to make inroads into the traditional Democratic dominance, beginning at the top of the ballot and working its way downward. In 2006 Republicans became a 4-3 majority on County Council, but, of the 15 elected offices in Wicomico County government Democrats remained in control of nine. As of today, though, that 9-6 advantage flips to Republicans thanks to the pickup of two County Council seats and a new State’s Attorney.

Perhaps even more frightening for local Democrats was that four of their six remaining officeholders were unopposed for re-election – two judges of the Orphan’s Court, the Clerk of the Courts, and Register of Wills are all longtime incumbents. And neither of the contested winners won by huge margins since neither garnered over 60% of the vote.

More telling, though, Democrats could not find a challenger in three of the five County Council districts or for Sheriff. And perhaps their temper tantrum in the State’s Attorney race, where longtime incumbent Davis Ruark was dumped by rank-and-file Democrats in favor of Seth Mitchell, cost them that seat. Mitchell was soundly defeated by Matt Maciarello, who only made the ballot as a Central Committee selection to represent the GOP.

By and large, except for the two-vote margin of victory Bob Caldwell sweated out, Republicans romped to victory in most races. The fact that Sheree Sample-Hughes ran a general election race after facing only primary opposition four years ago is enough to make the contention the GOP was making a local push.

But now it will be up to the Grand Old Party to govern – with a vetoproof 6-1 margin on County Council they will be calling the tune for County Executive Rick Pollitt. Certainly it will push Pollitt toward the center, and most likely this will end Pollitt’s continual call for eliminating the revenue cap – he will have to set a budget which lives within our means and like it. Otherwise there’s presumably enough support for a Council-created alternative.

Personally I don’t think that we’re down to the bone yet, as Pollitt seems to suggest. However, there are a few wild cards in the equation where Republicans could have to tinker with the tax system with the biggest being the prospect of teacher pensions being forced onto the counties as the state attempts to balance its budget. (This will also be a signal that the long-overdue switch to a defined-contribution system from a defined-benefit one is nigh. That may be the only budgetary saving grace, and we may have to endure a teachers’ strike to get it.)

I believe the timing of this changeover couldn’t be better for Republicans, though. Besides the continuing fiscal woes there are other thorny issues like a new comprehensive plan and redistricting on the horizon and I certainly prefer a conservative, common-sense approach to both – insofar as possible with the state always breathing down our necks, that is.

But the onus will be on us now in 2014. Before we had a very tenuous majority on County Council and losing one Republican (as often happened) gave the opposition Democrats a victory to back their County Executive. Now the ball is in our court, and Rick Pollitt could have room to shift blame if things don’t turn out for the best. I think they will, but time will tell.

If I were to make a prediction, though, this could be the start of a new prosperity for our fair county. Sure, Rick Pollitt will get some of the credit (whether deserved or not) but we have the chance now to place conservative principles in action and I’m sure that, beginning today, we will succeed.

Former MDGOP Chair candidate makes surprising choice

So much for my short hiatus from MDGOP politics – you could have knocked me over with a feather.

As he was preparing for a long-planned trip to Algeria, Andrew Langer wrote the following on his Facebook page:

I’m asking you to support Mary Kane for Chairman this Saturday.  I know this may come as a surprise to some of you, but since withdrawing from the race last week, I’ve had the opportunity to have a number of conversations with Mary—and it became clear to me that we share the same vision for the MDGOP.  It is a vision of strength and unity, one in which we all work together towards a common goal of electoral victory.

Mary has expressed tremendous enthusiasm for the principles that were articulated in my Vision 2010 statement—enthusiasm to the point that she has asked me to work with her on implementing those visions.  So those of you who were excited about the ideas contained in that document, you should rest assured that under Mary Kane’s leadership (with all of us working together), those ideas will move from concept into reality.

Mary also has a few key factors which make her the best choice for us in 2010:

1)      She has pledged that she is not using the Chairmanship of MDGOP as a springboard to another office.  I know that is an area of concern for many people, as we want a Chairman who is going to be focused on building and strengthening the MDGOP, not merely holding a post or adding to a resume.  This is implicit in Mary’s understanding;

2)      Mary has proven organizational experience.  This cannot be understated—whoever comes into this job ought to know how to manage an organization.  This is not the same as running things unilaterally—a great leader knows how to bring people together and move them towards a common goal.  She has already offered me some solid ideas as to how to bring the party together, and get the executive team working as a core group.   I think those ideas terrific;

3)      She has excellent fundraising credentials and connections.  Perhaps the most important role of a party chairman is raising money—and as someone who runs a non-profit organization, I can tell you that takes know-how and know-who.  You need to know the art of fundraising, and have some great ideas as to where that money is going to come from.  Again, Mary and I have talked about the development efforts articulated in my Vision statement, and other ideas that she has.  I am more-than-satisfied that she is going to be able to not only build on our fundraising successes of the past year, but substantially pass them.

We need to move beyond the clique mentality.  And I say this as someone who hold deeply conservative and libertarian beliefs.  I believe that we can grow this party by building on those core values, and created a plan for us to get there. 

With Mary Kane as Chairman, we can implement that plan.

Fair enough. However, there are other candidates who fall under each of the aspects Andrew pointed out about Mary Kane as well. I would suspect that, with the possible exception of Alex Mooney, we probably won’t see the other contenders deciding to run for something in 2012 or 2014. And this was the reason Eric Wargotz took a pass on the position.

Personally I would rate fundraising and messaging over organization, and one could also argue that others in the race excelled more at both aspects than Mary did.

Yet what makes this announcement by Langer most surprising is that Kane is perceived by many as the “establishment” candidate while Andrew has deep experience with the TEA Party and the conservative activist movement. Certainly Mary didn’t step far outside her running mate’s moderate campaign to endorse the TEA Party message.

It will be interesting to see whether this endorsement by Langer could convince a few more people within the convention to vote for Mary. The appeal may work for backers of some better than others, but I can’t see those new, more conservative TEA Party activists who attend the convention embracing Mary Kane right away. They’re the ones who feel left out of that “clique mentality” and some may even whisper the word, “sellout.” Unfortunately, Langer won’t be around to refute the charge.

Odds and ends number 23

I’m taking a day off from politics today in order to pursue some of my other interests. Hey, since I had a week unseen around here since my ‘Rushalanche‘ back in 2007, I need a bit of a break from the MDGOP race. These two news pieces aren’t really long enough to merit their own post but I wanted to share anyway.

One piece of breaking news affects my newly updated Shorebird of the Week Hall of Fame. Trading bells are breaking up that gang of mine, as 2009 inductee David Hernandez was shipped off to the Arizona Diamondbacks with fellow reliever Kam Mickolio for 1B-3B Mark Reynolds.

Of course, this also could affect the fate of fellow SotW honoree Brandon Snyder, who plays first base – he now could have a 27-year-old slugger blocking his path to a starting job.

The other piece of news regards my enjoyment of local music. Local and regional bands already have a couple radio outlets, but as part of the programming plan for a new station making its official debut tomorrow (dubbing itself as ‘the Bridge’, it sits at 88.7 on the FM dial) I’m told they plan on holding a regular show for live music from Christian bands. (A band I feature frequently on FNV called Not My Own is one of the first guests, they will be on tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.)

As you may have guessed, I’m definitely in favor of seeing local music catch a few breaks; we have a lot of talented bands around Delmarva and one thing I like to do is to promote the local scene through the videos on FNV and pictorials as part of a continuing series called ‘Weekend of Local Rock’. (I also link to a number of bands on my sidebar.)

So I hope those of you thirsty for Maryland political news indulge me with these items. I’ve gotten more appeals from would-be officeholders today and I’m sure my e-mail and snail mail boxes will stay full over the next week.

Announcing the Chambers Compact

On the heels of its official release yesterday at Red Maryland, I present this guide for the Maryland Repubican Party. We haven’t seen any of the Chair candidates sign this yet – why not?

The Chambers Compact

You can also check out existing signatories (including me) here.

While I certainly agree with the intent of the Compact, it’s sort of a shame we couldn’t add a little more context to it by making a larger-scale event at the unveiling (as with, say, the Mount Vernon Statement earlier this year.) Then again, by and large we’re just a renegade band of concerned citizens who happen to be conservative Republicans, far away from the bright lights inside the Beltway.

An original idea was to unveil it at Whittaker Chambers’ Carroll County farm but that soon proved impractical. (History buffs may recall that Chambers evolved during his life from communist to conservative, briefly working at National Review during its infancy and credited by Ronald Reagan as an influence in his political seachange from New Deal Democrat to conservative Republican.) Instead, the document got a soft launch through its own website.

However, that transformation Chambers (and Reagan) underwent during their early lives is similar to the one Maryland needs to make in order to succeed and prosper, so the comparison is reasonably apt.

So I’d like to see more people climb on board with these principles and a plan of action. After next week the hard work will begin.

MDGOP horserace: the update

It’s beginning to look like there will be five candidates for Chair; at least that’s how many are actively campaigning at this time.

Today we had a quad-county Central Committee meeting (Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester) and close to two dozen committee members were present. While we had no candidates visit us directly, we heard briefly from three candidates for Chair (Mary Kane, Alex Mooney, and William Campbell.) And while Mike Esteve and Sam Hale did not contact us directly, it’s by happenstance that I have received their answers to my questions and I have also gotten an advance copy of what Mary Kane is sending out to the rest of the state. Furthermore, I am told that Campbell will also be answering my questions in the next few days, so hopefully mid-week I can put together a debate-style presentation featuring at least four of the candidates.

One advantage of getting together a group as we had today was getting a real live sounding board for reactions, which helps in determining who is a favorite and who has less of a chance.

Previously I had placed the odds and race synopsis here; consider this post an update of that one.

Reposting the odds:

  • Mary Kane (4-1): I spoke with her at length yesterday and she answered several of my questions. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of her platform is changing the Chair term to be two years, and I can’t say I disagree with that idea. But I still hear the perception that she’s too tied into the old guard which did little to improve the party over the last eight years since Bob Ehrlich was elected, and obviously as a previous member of his administration and running mate she’ll be part of that legacy. Still, she remains the favorite and having fewer people to contend with helps her.
  • Alex Mooney (7-1): The factor affecting his rise most is his decision to go ahead and go for party Chair (although he would accept 1st Vice-Chair if he loses, and saying that he could be first out if he’s an also-ran on the first ballot, even if it’s not fourth or fifth place.) Yet if you look at party building strictly from a fundraising standpoint, Alex has a lot on his side as he was a rainmaker for state Republicans. Also, he is a known quantity to a number of supporters and his conservative stances on most issues (except perhaps illegal immigration) would bring him favor among movement conservatives. (His 88.49 term rating for the monoblogue Accountability Project placed him second in the State Senate, trailing only Congressman-elect Andy Harris.) His conversation today assuaged a lot of concerns about how much time he could devote to the job as well.
  • William Campbell (8-1): I have heard a few rumblings that the state party was a little less than forthcoming with information he requested, so his effort has been more of a face-to-face one. Yet he seems to be impressing those he talks to, and his late-blooming campaign may be hitting its stride at the proper time. Since it’s highly unlikely anyone will secure a first-ballot win I still think Campbell could be a compromise choice when the time comes, or he could get the endorsement of one of the other also-rans to push him onward.
  • Sam Hale (8-1): Certainly there are those in his corner, but the odds don’t improve for him as much as they do for fellow conservative Alex Mooney because Mooney attracts many in the same wing of the party Hale draws from – but with Alex accruing the added benefit of perceived fundraising ability. In addition, there are still a number of people skeptical that a man Hale’s age would have the connections necessary to build the party’s coffers. (By comparison, Mooney is 39, Kane 48, and Campbell 63.) Yet Hale has boundless energy and a background in grassroots organizing so you can’t count that out completely among the nearly half of Central Committee members who are new and may be new to politics.
  • Mike Esteve (20-1): Consider the problem of age and experience that Hale faces and you get the reason Mike faces the longest odds, since he’s even younger. Granted, Esteve has some ability in convincing a voting population that he’s leadership material as the head of Maryland’s College Republicans, but the perception is that the CRs are minor-league while the game that’s being played at this level is the big leagues. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s nominated for a Vice-Chair position from the floor.
  • The field (75-1): As always, we could have the darkest of horses being nominated from the floor. Daniel Vovak has written me (no, he’s not running) that there may be another candidate – Mike Phillips of Montgomery County – but Phillips may decide to run for one of the lesser positions as well. At this point, I would put Phillips among the ‘field.’

For reference, here were the previous odds so you can see how candidates have moved over the last week:

Original odds 11/30/10: Kane 5-1, Wargotz 8-1, Campbell 10-1, Andrew Langer 12-1 (withdrew), Hale 15-1, Amedori 18-1, Mooney 20-1, Esteve 25-1, field 50-1.

First revision 12/2/10: Kane 5-1, Eric Wargotz 7-1 (withdrew), Campbell 10-1, Hale 12-1, Amedori 15-1, Mooney 15-1, Esteve 20-1, field 75-1.

Second revision 12/3/10: Kane 4-1, Mooney 10-1, Campbell 12-1, Hale 12-1, Carmen Amedori (withdrew) 15-1, Esteve 20-1, field 75-1.

Of course, any new developments will be brought to you as I’m able to bring them to you. Watch for my questions and answers provided back to me to be posted around mid-week.

Sidebar change

By popular demand, I have updated the sidebar to add the ‘undercard’ candidates for the MDGOP as those dance cards are filling quickly. I’m not aware of any ‘slates’ but I would presume there are those each remaining Chair candidate would prefer to work with over others. Nor do I see any new faces making a last-minute bid to jump in for the Chair position – yes, it could happen but I think this is the field we’re working with.

I have quite a bit to get done tomorrow, but one thing I’m going to attempt to do is revise my odds in a new post reflecting the myriad changes over the last few days – let’s just say things are working out well for the favorite.  Just think what next week will bring (besides a whole slew of messages to me both through e-mail and snail mail.)

I also have two responses to my questions with a third sort of partial response, so I will be sharing those in the next few days. Readers have a lot to look forward to next week, and I’ll be covering it as best I can.

Another leaves the MDGOP Chair race

I’ve learned today that after exploring the possibility and discussing it with a number of others in and out of Maryland politics former Delegate and 2010 candidate Carmen Amedori is taking a pass on the MDGOP Chair race. Instead, she plans to “concentrate on getting gains in the Party down here right now as a member of the Worcester County Central Committee.”

“I have many things on the burners. It would be something that needs 100% of someone’s time,” she continued.

Like any similar race, the final few days have seen the field whittled down significantly; however, one oddity is that all three contenders currently living here on the Eastern Shore (Andrew Langer, Eric Wargotz, and Amedori) have withdrawn from consideration. It leaves a field of either three or four men and one woman in the race, with most coming from the center of the state. (Former Senator Alex Mooney hasn’t decided yet whether to run for Chair or 1st Vice-Chair; if he runs for Chair it would add a little geographical diversity.)

So the field narrows and the odds change again.

In other news, I was informed by former Wicomico County Executive candidate John Wayne Baker that he’s switched allegiance to the Republican Party. I’d like to personally welcome him and invite any others who believe in conservative principles to follow John.

As one example why, if you follow this site at all you know we’re having a healthy discussion about who should lead our party. Those other guys had their leadership dictated by Governor O’Malley – Susan Turnbull was installed at his behest. That doesn’t seem very democratic. On the other hand, we are being very republican as your elected party representatives will vote on the party leadership.

Just because those other guys control the levers of power and seem to be unaccountable is no reason to stay. As we saw last month, politics isn’t forever.

Wargotz: ‘I will forgo this unique opportunity’

Certainly, some movement conservatives and GOP purists will rejoice at this news but this also helps pave the way for the favorite in the MDGOP Chair race. Eric Wargotz had this to say yesterday:

“I am both humbled and honored to have many central committee members, and supporters rallying me to run for the Chairman position.  The past couple of weeks have been spent carefully considering this opportunity to lead our State party.

The upcoming term presents much opportunity for the Maryland Republican Party to focus its message and thus make substantive gains. Hopefully, a sharpened one carefully crafted based on traditional Conservative values with a goal towards truly achieving a two-party system in our great State. 

In conjunction with family, friends, supporters and trusted advisors I have reached the conclusion that although I am up for the challenge of leading this effort as Chairman, I will forgo this unique opportunity at this time as I continue to strongly consider a run for elected office in the near future.

Thus, I offer my sincere congratulations to all nominees for Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party.  I pledge my support, time and energy in assisting the new Chairman and the incoming Officers and Executive Board. Furthermore, I will continue to work with the Republican Party and others to promote core Conservative values in Maryland and throughout the Nation.”

In the short term, this probably helps the chances of Mary Kane more than anyone since my suspicion is that much of Eric’s support will gravitate toward her. But I think this will also give Alex Mooney the excuse to make his final decision whether to go for Chair or 1st Vice Chair. I’ll certainly be reviewing the odds later today.

Yet there is a longer-term implication to this. The MDGOP bylaws clearly state “(n)o individual may either hold or seek elected public office while serving as an officer of the party.” While Eric has more statewide name recognition and theoretically wouldn’t need to spend time introducing himself to voters, the 2012 campaign beckons and again there’s an U.S. Senate seat up for election, held by Ben Cardin. (In theory, he could also run for Congress if he wants to take on a GOP incumbent, but I doubt he would do that.) With the primary held somewhere in February or March, Eric would probably only be Chair for a matter of months before resigning to seek office.

To me, it’s the clearest indication yet that he’s going to try again, and perhaps it’s a shot across the bow at competition – remember, members of the General Assembly can run ‘from cover’ in 2012, not risking their seats should they be unsuccessful.

In any event, I can scratch another name off the list.

In other news, I just got off the phone with Sam Hale and he told me I’ll have his answers to my questions for the new Chair later today. What sayeth the rest of you in the race – are you chicken? Afraid to answer queries from a voter?

Be aware I meet with a pretty significant voting bloc in the race tomorrow. I know one other contender will be at this meeting in person, so you might wish to take some time today to gather your thoughts. Just saying.

Shorebird of the Week Hall of Fame: 2010 induction

Quite frankly, I’m surprised that I only have one inductee this year for the class of 2010. Yet this man builds the SotWHoF by 50 percent, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain. It’s not all that far from the time I’ll be honoring a Shorebird player each week at 7 p.m. on Thursday (naturally this post was set to that day and time.)

So let me tell you a little about this year’s honoree.

When Brandon Snyder was first drafted in 2005 (a first round pick and 13th overall) it was a rare occasion in the last decade where the Orioles didn’t have a top-10 pick. Originally drafted as a catcher out of Westfield High School in Virginia, he first came to the Shorebirds to begin the 2006 season but struggled both at the plate and with injuries – eventually he hit just .194 here before being shipped off to Aberdeen. Quite honestly, at the time he looked more like a continuation of a series of draft busts the Orioles had endured.

But 2007 brought a more healthy and confident Snyder back to Delmarva and he hasn’t looked back since. He hit .283/11/58 in 118 games here, which was really good considering he changed positions to become a first baseman. Brandon did even better at Frederick in 2008, and aside from a brief rehab stint at Aberdeen this season has steadily moved up the chain after a position change to first base. It culminated with his September callup to the Orioles and 20 at-bats with the big club.

Along with the new inductee, I have also updated the status of the two current members of the SotWHoF, Brad Bergesen and David Hernandez. With more former SotW honorees (there are now eight, including the three already in) added to the Orioles’ 40-man roster, the chances are excellent there will have more than one in the Class of 2011.

With the page updated over the last couple days, it’s now restored to its rightful position on the blog header.

And then one dropped out…

There is one less name in the field for the GOP Chair’s race.

Citing the need to keep his independence in his position as president of the nonpartisan Institute for Liberty, Andrew Langer told supporters that he’d not pursue the position of Maryland GOP Chair. His withdrawal narrows the possible field to around seven names, five of whom have already announced their intention to run. (Update: Mark Newgent has Langer’s official statement at Red Maryland.)

Despite the fact he’s not in the field, though, his set of principles still may influence the race and the direction the party takes over the next four years. Last month he and Mark Newgent (with a little help from yours truly) wrote the Chambers Compact. This document lays out a platform for the party to follow over the next four years, including a call to:

…take a cue from the grassroots and the blogosphere and become (an effective) opposition.  To do the research, to oppose, to poke, to prod, to hold its own hearings if necessary—all of this in order to demonstrate that Emperor O’Malley has no clothes!

We all know this emperor has no clothes; unfortunately enough people didn’t see it the last time we had an election.

While Langer’s withdrawal from the race leaves a void (and several disillusioned supporters) there’s no reason a good conservative voice can’t become the leader of a revitalized Maryland Republican Party. Our job as voting members of the MDGOP is to make sure that happens.

Postscript: Since people had so much fun with the concept, I’ll rework the MDGOP Chair odds later this afternoon to reflect Andrew’s absence. (4:45 p.m. – finished.)

A half-decade of monoblogue

It’s the same bat-time, same bat-channel as I’ve done this retrospective the last couple years. And aside from the terrible twos when I was busy at a convention, each previous year I’ve done an anniversary post.

I use these retrospective posts sort of like a President uses the State of the Union address, except I don’t bring in a number of guests to pander to the viewing audience. Each year as time passes I assess what I’ve done for this enterprise, good and bad, and figure out just what I’d like to say about it. And obviously with each passing year I believe things get bigger and better – maybe not necessarily in audience numbers or influence (although both were pretty close to a peak this year) but in terms of self-satisfaction. There hasn’t been a year yet where I didn’t think I did a better job than the last, but I can always find room for improvement too.

It goes without saying that monoblogue had a different appearance this year than in the past. This time last year I was playing around with a new look and found a theme I liked – it was adopted earlier this year.

The reasons I wanted the new look were twofold: I had a legacy theme which precluded me from the usage of widgets, meaning I had to painstakingly fix the two sidebars to get the look I wanted with the information I wanted to share, and the change allowed me a more flexible base for advertising. (In case you’re wondering, the theme is called Black Lucas 1.2. I haven’t run across any other blogs which use it, so I like that uniqueness.) It also provided a cleaner look where the headlines popped out and weren’t buried in the overall text of the story.

Another big change was the number of truncated stories. Beginning in March I had an Examiner.com blog and gained a second one in May. At the moment they both lie in a semi-dormant state, simply because I found writing for Examiner wasn’t all that lucrative considering the time investment. I’ve also found their new interface and site backend to be most annoying and their advertising too obtrusive, even when I put the finishing touches on articles. Knowing a number of other Examiners I’ve noticed their output has decreased as well, since it seems to be a site which focuses more on lifestyle and celebrity than politics. But I’m not shutting the doors there quite yet, as there may be a call to resume on it once the General Assembly session rolls around.

A more successful endeavor was being hired by Pajamas Media to cover the 2010 election here in Maryland. I had to step up the quality of my writing and subject selection in order to be included – listen, when you’re competing with guys like Victor Davis Hanson for space you’d better have your ‘A’ game on. (Plus I was well-compensated.) I was thrilled about giving Chuck Cook and our other ‘Off-Shorebird’ friends some well-deserved national ridicule – the video I shot has over 1,200 views. (Even better, Andy Harris was elected despite their efforts.)

Speaking of the election, on the whole I was pleased I didn’t join the stampede toward attempting to be a video star. I’m a writer, and that’s how I choose to present myself. Putting an amateur in front of a camera rarely leads to a good result and that’s particularly true when he’s trying to overshadow the candidate and become the star of the show. You probably don’t know this but at one point I was approached by a candidate about doing a ‘Meet the Press’ style video featuring other local bloggers and I but nobody wanted to work with anyone else. It’s probably better this didn’t come off.

That was part of the reason I used the Right Coast videos, for Matt Trenka isn’t a blogger so it wasn’t about promoting his website as much as it was about informing the electorate.

And since practically all these videos had viewership in the low three-digit range, to be honest most candidates would have done better to go out and signwave or make phone calls during the time spent.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment for the year was not getting any traction as far as advertising goes; in fact I lost a longstanding advertiser (I had their text-based ads for nearly three years) because their business went south. I got some advertisers during the campaign season but this year I was determined to keep free advertising to a minimum.

To this end I have taken a few steps to see just what my audience is, and quite honestly I’m surprised by its reach. If you’d asked me beforehand I would have guessed about a 50-50 split between local and the rest of the state; it’s actually closer to 2-to-1 outstate. Salisbury makes up just over a quarter of my readership, and my Google Analytics readership map is freckled by dots all over the state’s center. (That is probably due to my Facebook marketing, since a whole lot of my friends live across the Bay Bridge.) 

So I can’t just cater to a local audience or advertisers – they have to think more regional in scope. Of course, I’m not turning away local advertisers and for some businesses (like restaurants and retailers) there’s nothing wrong with expanding the market area. I’d love to have wineries, breweries, or others who look for the tourist trade as advertising clients!

As you may know, I’m not a super-aggressive salesman (Hard$ell is a good band but it’s not my nature) because I prefer to just put out a good product and let it sell itself. But losing that text-ad client put me in the red for next year because they covered my server fee after about six months. In this case, I may have to do a little more to spread the word.

Last year I had an ambitious goal to increase my readership sevenfold by making my weekly readership numbers my daily ones. In truth, with being on Pajamas Media and other media outlets (let’s not forget my op-eds as well) there were days I achieved that – just not on this site.

Perhaps there’s only so much I can accomplish by keeping a local and state focus, but if I can make it a profitable enough venture I have a good base of operations from which to work on higher goals. Given the rapid amount of change in my life and this business over even the last year I really can’t say just what will come next around the corner. I’ve been fortunate enough to have opportunities presented to me and some are panning out even as I write this.

My chief goal over the next year as I begin another half-decade of this enterprise is to provide the utmost in quality while maintaining a reasonably decent quantity of work. I’m not going to be able to type out six good posts a day, but keeping my present pace of one to two (occasionally three) a day is doable with my other existing workload. I did my 2,000th post in mid-June, since then I’ve cranked out over 250 more.

So there you have it. Perhaps this is one of my wordier and more verbose posts but that’s how I write. As long as I continue to earn the respect of my peers and can advance in the writing profession life is good. And monoblogue has succeeded in that aspect beyond my wildest expectations.