Liberty caucus (and others) set to party

I think I alluded to this last week but the gathering of the Maryland Liberty Caucus should make for an interesting party next week at Turf Valley.

One would also have to assume that a number of others who are considering statewide campaigns – at least at the top of the ticket – would also be having hospitality suites as well. Obviously Larry Hogan is no stranger to having events at the convention, nor is David Craig. And with Blaine Young making his presence known both in Crisfield and in Ocean City it’s not going to be a shock to see him around, either.

Yet the interesting thing will be to see how many outside groups will be trying to win influence in the Maryland GOP. Obviously the Liberty Caucus is working from the conservative right, so what will the establishment do to counter?

Consider that Howard County is the home base of National Committeeman Louis Pope, who is credited with whipping the votes necessary to pass new rules in the GOP which would help the establishment choice in future campaigns. (These were written under the assumption that Mitt Romney would be the incumbent President, but could be used in supporting yet another so-called “mainstream” candidate.) It would be my guess that he will have a large presence in his home county.

Or folks could attend a Friday evening workshop on precinct organization and targeted voter contacts, which will run before the “official” opening of the hospitality suites at 8 p.m.

I’ve also found out that those who don’t have to sleep one off will have Congressman Andy Harris as the breakfast speaker. Not sure who the lunch speaker(s) will be, but supposedly “they should be very good!” I guess I’ll have to wait to see who “they” are but I always get lunch anyway.

Regardless, it will be good to get together and commiserate with some like-minded people for a change. As far as I know, there are no burning issues on the agenda since Alex Mooney hasn’t resigned yet. There may be a little bit of a row at the convention itself regarding a no-confidence vote in party leadership but there’s not enough upset people for that to go anywhere at this late date.

If things are to change for 2014, it may end up being best to work outside the normal channels until the movement is large enough to overwhelm.