Campaign 2008 – Congress – Page 18

Election Calendar: September 17-30

Another short and sweet calendar, just two “for sure” events and a couple tentative ones. It so happens that all of the events are the week after next so I’ll have another week to get further details from my hundreds of eyes and ears out there; once I can vet them I’ll know more and can spread the news. This is what I have at the moment:

Monday, September 24: The first Wicomico County Republican Straw Poll will be held at the Chamber of Commerce building at 144 E. Main Street in Salisbury, 7 p.m. If you’re a Republican you’re invited to participate. We’ve confirmed one Congressional candidate to attend already (Joe Arminio) and expect the other three candidates to either attend or send a representative. I’ve also been contacted by one Presidential campaign about sending a representative and am working to get others here. Obviously this will be a developing story during the next week.

Thursday, September 27 (tentative): If the every other week pattern established over the last several months holds, expect Wayne Gilchrest to appear on the AM Salisbury radio show (WICO, 1320 AM) around 7:40 a.m.

Thursday, September 27 (tentative): A h/t to Duvafiles for this. Congressional candidate Christopher Robinson is slated to hold an invitation-only fundraiser “locally” on this day. The reason I include this is to see what reaction (if any) occurs in the local media or from his campaign afterward, and if the CR campaign reads monoblogue they can confirm. As I said, I’ll put the Democrat events in for the benefit of those Democrats who read monoblogue, just don’t expect me to stroke a check.

Saturday, September 29: He’s not on the ballot this year, but State Senator Lowell Stoltzfus is holding his annual “Picnic in the Park” on this date. Last year it was actually indoors at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center. I’m certain I’ll have more details by next week. It will likely also draw one or more of the GOP Congressional contenders; if memory serves we had a Gilchrest sighting there last year. Late word (Monday) is that Andy Harris is slated to attend.

Bear in mind that the GOP holds a debate in Baltimore a week from Thursday so who knows? We may get an area visit from one of them since this is known to be GOP-friendly territory. If I find out, I’ll certainly share what I can!

2007 WCRC Crab Feast in pictures

It was a perfect day for a picnic that overlooked this pond.

We had a great turnout for our event today. The early morning clouds and rain exited and it was a awesome day weather-wise for the event. The walkup number turned out pretty good.

I got there about 11:00 for a 1:00 event to help set up, but the early-arriving crew were pretty much done. And someone else beat me there too:

While the 'establishment' Republicans call his supporters 'Paulbots' I have to say that someone was on the ball getting his signs to the event. They were the only Presidental signs there. More on Ron Paul in a little while.

Of course, I got a little bit of an early start on the eating and drinking. It also gave me an opportunity to check out the silent auction items. Wonder of wonders, I actually brought my checkbook!

This was one of the two silent auction tables. We had about 30 items donated from supporters, including myself.

This is the book I bought, naturally it's on one of my political heroes.

A little before 1:00 the crabs arrived and so did the real crowd. I have a couple shots taken during the day that give you an idea of the turnout we had.

A long-range shot taken of the entire picnic setup.

This was the scene at the outside tent we set up because the pavilion wasn't large enough.

While the food and fellowship was fun enough (not to mention the silent auction, door prize, and 50/50 raffle) the political junkies also wanted the opportunity to meet at least two of the challengers to incumbent Congressman Wayne Gilchrest. In this case, I’m going to work in chronological order of arrival. And as you’ll see in the next shot I wasn’t the only local blogging correspondent there.

Local blogger Joe Albero talks shop with Lower Shore coordinator Dustin Mills of the Harris campaign.

While Andy Harris had some advance personnel there, in reality the first Congressional candidate to arrive was John Leo Walter. He took the prudent step upon meeting me of praising my work on monoblogue. Complements aside, I did speak to him for a few minutes and he certainly came across to me as planted squarely in the conservative camp and probably the most “average Joe” in the race. John’s facing a pretty steep learning curve as far as running a race goes, though.

Congressional hopeful John Leo Walter (right, in red) enjoys his lunch with family and friends.

John Leo Walter gives brief remarks to those assembled at the Crab Feast.

As I mentioned earlier, Andy Harris had a little more of an entourage. Also I was told this was stop number three of six today. But the yard signs were plentiful and in place and Andy was warmly greeted by a number of folks there today.

State Senator Andy Harris arrives at the Crab Feast.

Harris and Wicomico County Republican chair Dr. John Bartkovich share a conversation.

Andy Harris speaks to the diners at the Crab Feast.

Andy Harris campaigning the good old-fashioned way, one to one.

Last night I wondered aloud if the change in Wayne Gilchrest’s Bull Roast to the fourth Saturday in September (which, by the way, conflicts with Yom Kippur) wasn’t made to allow him to make it to the Crab Feast. Sure enough, the Congressman made it down.

Congressman Wayne Gilchrest speaking to Wicomico County Republicans.

The Congressman makes a point in his remarks.

I must say that in maybe a five minute timespan Wayne managed to talk about heading down to our traditional Crab Feast (although he’s missed at least the previous two I attended), the Canadian geese heading south, and evoke the name of Martin Luther King, Jr. among other things. Very philosophical. I did get to speak to him a little bit as well since I’d never met the man, so I did mention the upcoming Wicomico County Straw Poll. Still disagree on him on a bunch of things, but I can’t say he’s not a pleasant sort of guy.

In discussing the Straw Poll, I kidded Wayne saying “if you can come, see if you can bring (Tom) Tancredo and (Ron) Paul with you.” (Sheesh, I forgot Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback, and John McCain.) But Wayne noted that he liked Rep. Paul and, while stopping short of an outright endorsement, stated that Paul was probably the one in the race most well-read on the issues, even including Newt Gingrich if he were to enter the fray.

We also had a number of the local GOP politicians in attendance who weren’t running this year, including State Senator Lowell Stoltzfus, Delegates Page Elmore and Addie Eckardt, Wicomico County Council representatives Gail Bartkovich and Joe Holloway, Sheriff Mike Lewis, and Orphans’ Court Judge Bill Smith.

Overall we were pleased with the attendance albeit maybe a little disappointed by the silent auction take. Since this event is a main fundraiser of ours, that’s the bread and butter for us. However next week’s Straw Poll will hopefully make up all of the difference and more.

And it didn’t rain for once!

You know, I wrote this and forgot one other thing I wanted to mention. I finally got to meet the blogger Karen, who writes out of Delmar. She has a nice website that I encourage you to read so I wanted to make sure I gave her a shout. Karen wasn’t there to write about the goings-on but to have a nice time, which I’m sure she, hubby, and kids did!

From retirement to campaign

Crossposted at RedMaryland.

I just happened to catch this on the Daily Times website. While it doesn’t fall within the area I use to do my Election Calendar, next Saturday the 22nd will be the annual Bull Roast hosted by Wayne Gilchrest up in Queen Anne’s County. (I don’t know if it’s coincidence or not that he finally shifted the event off the day the Wicomico County Republican Club holds it annual Crab Feast – will this mean a Gilchrest sighting there tomorrow the 15th?)

Anyway, Wayne got as a Bull Roast special guest another of the candidates the bull-slinging Democrat front group VoteVets.org was running campaign ads for until he decided to up and retire – Nebraska’s “Republican” U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel. So it’s going to be the peaceniks on parade up there next Saturday.

In other Gilchrest news, he was a telephone guest Thursday morning on the AM Salisbury radio show. In the conversation with host Bill Reddish, Gilchrest praised General Petraeus as “stunningly competent” and the “essence of integrity” but also opined that our ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, should be talking more to Iran and Syria, a country Wayne termed as more free than our ally Saudi Arabia. The Congressman disdainfully noted that Crocker had only talked to Iran twice during his tenure. Further, Gilchrest spoke out in favor of a broader policy that included direct conversations with Iran and Syria. And regarding his cohort Dennis Kucinich’s trip to Syria, Gilchrest termed it “irrelevant” while most on the right have been up in arms about Kucinich’s trip.

Gilchrest is a regular guest on the WICO-AM morning radio show, alternating with Sen. Ben Cardin on Thursdays when Congress is in session. It’s quite informative radio if you’re in the Salisbury area at 7:40 a.m.

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On a personal note, I was honored to be asked by the folks at RedMaryland to become one of their contributors and tonight’s post will be the first one I humbly submit and crosspost for inclusion.

Posts worth mentioning

Just a short post this morning to point out a few things I found that were worth checking out…sort of like a mini-Carnival of Maryland. (By the way, I’m hosting CofM’s edition #17 coming up in October.)

Mike Netherland, on his appropriately-named Mike’s Nether Land site, goes into the recent power struggle in the Anne Arundel GOP and also talks about another political pet issue of mine, one reason I ran for my WCRCC post. It’s excellent reading, even though I didn’t catch it until last night and it was posted Sunday.

Streiff at Red Maryland calls Wayne Gilchrest out on the carpet. One thing I like about the blogosphere is its collective memory. For good or bad, having many voices out there ensures things said will not be as easily forgotten. If you have never read Red Maryland, it’s well worth the time; moreover, it’s updated frequently because of its nine contributors.

Aptly, Gunpowder at Gunpowder Chronicle rates this post TV-MA. As he says, you have been warned. I just enjoyed the Deadwood reference because I remember the character well. I also like the point because he’s dead on with it and his passion shows.

So a few things for your morning reading (as I allocate a phrase from Duvafiles) in order to give props to some of my favorite blogs.

Another case of mistaken identity?

Now this one is interesting. Today I got a press release from State Senator Nancy Jacobs:

“Gilchrest Campaign Misleads Voters”

The Gilchrest campaign recently issued a misleading statement implying that Senator Nancy Jacobs supports Wayne Gilchrest’s re-election.

In the statement, the former title of Jeff Griffin, who at one time worked in Senator Nancy Jacobs Annapolis office, was used to imply there was a connection between Senator Jacobs and the Gilchrest campaign.

While quick to point out Griffin’s ties to Senator Jacobs, the statement failed to mention that Griffin was now a paid employee of the Gilchrest campaign.

At no time has Senator Jacobs given permission to associate or use her name in conjunction with the Gilchrest campaign.

Senator Jacobs requests the Gilchrest campaign publish a public apology for attempting to intentionally mislead the voters of the first congressional district.

Senator Jacobs released the follow statement concerning Gilchrest’s misleading campaign tactics:

“I have always considered Mr. Gilchrest a friend, and it saddens me to see my trust in him and the trust of voters betrayed for political purposes.

I resolutely stand beside and endorse my conservative colleague Andy Harris for Congress. Andy is a committed to our Republican values and will work hard for voters of the 1st Congressional District.”

Obviously, most of the Republicans in the Maryland General Assembly would stand behind their cohort in the race as Andy has seemingly worked well with them. (Both Senator Colburn and Senator Stoltzfus are among Andy’s local cadre of supporters.) It’s the second time a situation like this has occurred, the other having to do with a Gilchrest fundraiser where a couple sponsors backed away.

This race is promising to be a little dirty by GOP standards as both sides have leveled charges and countercharges against each other, some previously detailed on monoblogue.

In addition I feel the contest holds an interesting dynamic. If Gilchrest wins, the local GOP turnout may be less on Election Day 2008 as Maryland statewide will almost certainly go for the Democrat Presidential nominee. This knowledge of Maryland’s typical recent voting pattern will unfortunately give Republicans less incentive to show up at the polls. Also lower Eastern Shore GOP participation would help the early voting ballot issue that will be on the 2008 docket since Republicans tend not to favor early (and often) voting. (Oh – did I say that?)

Conversely, a Harris victory in February (or if one of the other two challengers makes it to the top) would get the conservatives in the GOP to the polls but runs a risk of Democrats who like Gilchrest’s moderate stance voting for the Democrat primary survivor and switching the seat over to a Pelosi supporter that may actually vote far left of what Eastern Shore voters would prefer. Again, I point to a statistic I cited back in July where the least loyal (or considered most “conservative”) Democrat still votes the party line 70% of the time.

Finally, it looks to me like a race on the GOP side (and possibly on the Democrat side if more people get in) that will be won by a plurality of the primary vote rather than a majority. In that case, there may be a whole lot of disappointed people on the right side of the GOP who will regret their votes for the two bottom-feeders in the primary.

Observation on progress

Tonight I’m not going to dip into the news too much nor am I going to write a lot. This was just a thought I had about the political process.

Over the last two days General David Petraeus testified in front of Congress and late today it was learned President Bush is expected to announce troop cuts on Thursday to reduce the forward force in Iraq by 30,000. At that point we would be back to “pre-surge” levels as far as staffing goes. Of course as one would expect, Nancy Pelosi and company bitched and whined about not getting out immediately. Anyone who reads monoblogue on a regular basis knows my position, so I’ll not restate it here.

Most of the 110th Congress has been spent arguing over how many troops we have in Iraq anyway, so what’s a few more months of caterwauling on that? Never mind that most of the appropriations bills aren’t done yet. I suppose as far as the Democrats are concerned the less time spent on figuring out where the money goes the higher chance that some devious way of expanding government can be slipped into the budget bills.

With primary elections now spanning a time period 8 to 10 months before the general election, the traditional moratorium on big issues being tackled during an election year makes the next 16 months until we swear in the winner of the 2008 Presidential election a period where little good will come out of Congress. All of the domestic issues that have been eclipsed by the constant bidding by the legislative branch to do the executive’s job and run the military aren’t going to go away, or worse, they’ll simply have more money shoved at them without getting the badly needed reforms in return.

I hear a lot about a lack of interest in politics, particularly on the Republican side. Pundits have all but written off the chances Republicans will win back Congress and look at whoever the GOP nominee will be as just a sacrificial lamb, simply getting in the way of a triumphant Clinton return to the White House. Sometimes I wonder if this Bataan Death March of a campaign isn’t contributing to the apathy on our side. We’ve heard about Election 2008 for months already because of the absurdly early primary schedule. (It’s a good thing I write about other stuff too because I’d be completely burned out by now otherwise.)

A good way of summing up my thought about how the next year of Congress will play out is this: should Wayne Gilchrest lose in the GOP primary he will be a lame duck for almost half his elected term, 10 1/2 months. But I suppose one bright side to this process is that people with nothing to lose and knowing they have a limited time may decide to show true leadership on issues to create a legacy.

Ok, I’m dreaming. But it is nice to do so once in awhile because in reality we’re going to remember the 110th Congress as a do-nothing Congress that if anything made our situation worse. Don’t look for a change on that in the next year either.

Election Calendar: September 10-23

This is the first edition of what will be a weekly calendar of appearances and events leading up to the February 12, 2008 Presidential primary. It’ll be a little sparse at first as I get ramped up, hopefully I’ll have a few things each week to add. While most of the Presidential campaigns do have at least a rudimentary calendar of events, I’ve only found Joe Arminio’s site has one at the Congressional level. (I also get Andy Harris’s e-newsletter which details some of the events he’s attending as well. Unfortunately he’s going on a Monday format so it’s a week old when I do this. Oh well.)

For this exercise, the inclusion rule will be appearances on the Lower Shore (Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, Worcester) for Congressional candidates and anywhere on the Eastern Shore or Delaware for Presidential hopefuls.

Using that rule, at this moment I have just one event within this timeframe:

Saturday, September 15: GOP Congressional candidate Andy Harris has confirmed he’ll appear at the Wicomico County Republican Club Crab Feast at Schumaker Park in Salisbury. Also expected to appear (no official word yet) is fellow Republican candidate John Leo Walter. The event begins at 1 p.m. and ticket information is here.

We all have to start somewhere. So, Bill Reddish, when you read this consider it the bat-signal to start feeding me your political morning guests when you get them – I know you have Gilchrest on about every other Thursday and I’m sure you’ll have the others sooner or later. (Wonder if I can get a searchlight to project a small “m” someplace?) And for those of you connected with the other campaigns, let me know. Hey, I’ll even put up Democrat events, just don’t expect me to show up with a check for you. There are monoblogue readers of the Democrat persuasion though who might.

So be looking for this Election Calendar on a weekly basis, generally on Sunday nights. I’ll take a break around the holidays but from here on out this should be a fixture in your reading.

By the way, I sent out the 2008 edition of the Ten Questions last night. We’ll see if anyone cares to bite first.

GOP infighting and more conventional news

What do you know, I just made a pun of sorts since the by-laws I’m referring to will be discussed at our fall convention. But I titled the piece as I did because there’s a bit of a news roundup toward the end.

Fellow Maryland blogger Brian Griffiths did a series of posts about proposed changes to the state GOP by-laws. Honestly it seems like since I’ve come on board to the Maryland GOP hierarchy with my election last year to the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee, a great deal of time and energy has been spent talking about the by-laws. Granted, they did need some work and updating so a subcommittee was formed at the Fall 2006 convention to rework certain portions and streamline the document. They did a yeoman’s job and some of the changes took effect this spring, while others are included in this fall’s proposals. We’ve also done the same process with the county’s by-laws and are working on the same style of changes in the Wicomico County Republican Club’s version of their by-laws.

As far as Griffiths’ take is concerned, I’m in agreement with most of his objections – particularly on this one:

The Party shall not, without the prior approval by at least a two-thirds affirmative vote of the State Executive Committee, contribute money or in-kind aid to any candidate for any public or party office except the nominee of the Republican Party or a candidate who is unopposed in the Republican primary after the filing deadline for that office. Nothing in this section shall preclude any member of the State Central Committee from personally contributing money or in-kind aid to a candidate in a Republican primary or Party election.

Yes, it’s the John Kane “incumbent protection” policy that I ran on ending coming back in the back door. Obviously it’s quite important this fall as we’ll be in the midst of a spirited battle for the First Congressional District seat. For this purpose, I say a thousand times no on the proposal. Let the Republican voters decide!

The other objection Griffiths and I share is the voluminous postamble a Central Committee member wants to add to our “purpose”:

We, the members of the Maryland Republican Party, believe in the inalienable, natural rights of each individual as endowed by our Creator, including the rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. We agree with our nation’s founders that government is instituted to protect those rights and will oppose all efforts to interfere with their legitimate exercise. The Republican Party is committed to protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States, which is the law of the land, and further to interpreting the Constitution in its original intent as written by the Founding Fathers. The Republican Party recognizes that the United States is a republic, governed by laws enacted by elected representatives pledged to protect the rights guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

The Republican Party, from its inception, and under the leadership of its first President, Abraham Lincoln, has championed justice, equal rights, and opportunity for all, regardless of race, religion, gender or national origin. We are proud that our President, George W. Bush, has put into action our messages of hope, opportunity, family values, and individual rights; which is an inclusive message for all who love freedom, believe in individual rights and responsibility, and believe in government of the people.

I’m not wild about the first paragraph, but really what is the purpose of the second? Since GWB is leaving office in January 2009, is it appropriate to add this to our by-laws? We could approve it as a resolution but I see no need for cluttering the by-laws that some in the state Central Committee have worked hard to clean up and streamline.

Kudos to Brian Griffiths on this and his (along with the other RedMaryland contributors) coverage of the Anne Arundel GOP leadership situation. Fortunately here in Wicomico County we get along pretty well despite some differences of opinion here and there.

Speaking of the Maryland GOP, perhaps they stole a bit of Wicomico County’s thunder by holding their own Straw Poll during the Maryland State Fair. I found the results rather interesting. From the Maryland GOP press release:

Dr. Jim Pelura, Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, released the following statement:

“When we came up with the idea of holding our first-ever presidential straw poll at the State Fair, we never expected such a large turnout. We were extremely pleased by the steady flow of people casting a vote in the straw poll, signing our petitions opposing the gas tax increase, sales tax increase, and illegal immigration, and picking up a “Don’t Blame Me…I Voted For Ehrlich” bumper sticker. We heard loud and clear that Marylanders are not happy with the direction of our state under one-party rule.”

Chris Cavey, First Vice Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party and Co-Chairman of the MDGOP’s State Fair Planning Committee, stated the following:

“The final vote showing Ron Paul won is a lesson for all campaigns of how grassroots politics can make all the difference. The Paul campaign repeatedly e-mailed their base of support to turn out at the State Fair to cast a vote for Dr. Paul, and in doing so, demonstrated that a small organized operation can beat the odds.” Cavey continued, “The Maryland Republican Party’s booth at the State Fair was a huge success. By contrast, the Democrat Party’s booth was a ghost town. Where were the Democrats? They were at our booth signing our petitions opposing tax increases.”

The Straw Poll results ended up as follows:

Ron Paul, 263 votes (28.9%)
Rudy Giuliani, 220 votes (24.1%)
Fred Thompson, 188 votes (19.8%)
Mitt Romney, 89 votes (9.8%)
John McCain, 54 votes (5.9%)
Mike Huckabee, 35 votes (3.8%)
Newt Gingrich (write-in), 17 votes (1.9%)
Tom Tancredo, 16 votes (1.8%)
Sam Brownback, 12 votes (1.3%)
Duncan Hunter, 3 votes (0.3%)
Bob Ehrlich (write-in), 3 votes (0.3%)
Other write-ins, 11 votes (1.2%)

I suppose that most disappointing to me is that there were only 911 votes when fair attendance was over 400,000. However, Ron Paul was pretty happy with the results and compared it to the “restrictive” Townhall.com Texas Straw Poll that he finished third in and Duncan Hunter won. I do have to hand it to the Ron Paul campaign as they’ve been the most responsive in getting me material and possibly a speaker for the upcoming Wicomico County Republican Straw Poll. It also surprised me because Mitt Romney is the candidate of many of the “establishment” Republicans in Maryland, another one being Rudy Giuliani. Finishing a distant and poor fourth had to shock the Romney supporters.

And in late breaking news about the Wicomico County Republican Straw Poll, Congressional candidate Joe Arminio is planning to visit and likely put a vote in for his own campaign. (One would hope so anyway. Wonder who he supports for President?) Meanwhile, I got word from the Andy Harris camp (just confirmed with Chris Meekins) that Harris will attend next weekend’s Crab Feast sponsored by the WCRC. Apparently another Gilchrest opponent, John Leo Walter, is planning to attend the Crab Feast as well. Moving down the calendar, Wayne Gilchrest has his annual Bull Roast the following weekend (September 22nd), which is the first time I recall it not conflicting with our event – so I’m sure many Gilchrest supporters will be at our shindig if not Wayne himself.

From all of this news, one can infer that for Wicomico County political partisans it’s a case of “welcome to the battleground.”

More Congressional action

This quick update from two camps:

The “big announcement” from the Andy Harris for Congress campaign was that former Governor Ehrlich will host a fundraiser on Andy’s behalf October 18th in Queen Anne’s County. The actual press release is as follows:

Former Republican Congressman and Governor Robert Ehrlich announced today he will be hosting a fundraiser for Andy Harris, a candidate for the Republican nomination in Maryland’s first congressional district.

“Andy Harris has been a consistent leader in promoting our Republican values and beliefs,” said Governor Ehrlich. “His leadership on fighting for lower taxes, eliminating wasteful spending and support for honest government is legendary in the legislature. I am proud to offer my help.”

The fundraiser will be held on Thursday, October 18th at 6:30p.m. at Harris’ Crab House (no relation) in Queen Anne’s County. A private VIP reception and photo-opportunity with Governor Ehrlich will begin at 6 p.m. The main event will run from 6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. Veterans and current members of the military will be given a discount to the event in honor of their service.

“I appreciate Governor Ehrlich’s willingness to host a fundraiser on my behalf. As Governor he moved the state of Maryland and the Republican Party in a positive direction. His support at this event will help us get out our message of support for the traditions and principals that made America the greatest nation on earth,” said Andy Harris.

Individuals interested in attending should contact the Harris campaign at dave@andyharris08.com, or call 443-797-5144, or visit www.andyharris08.com.

So Andy’s bringing out the biggest gun in the Maryland GOP arsenal to help him out. It’s intriguing because Ehrlich supported Gilchrest in previous elections against other conservative challengers.

The second note that caught my interest was the passing of Ohio’s 5th District Rep. Paul Gillmor today. While most in this area wouldn’t know his name, he happened to be my Congressman before I moved here. So I immediately thought about succession since Ohio unwisely chose a Democrat, Governor Ted Strickland, in 2006. Could he put a Democrat in the seat?

Fortunately for northwest Ohio residents, by law a special election will be scheduled. Thus the GOP will likely not lose the seat as that area of Ohio is arguably the most “red” part of the state. My money would be on Ohio House member Robert Latta, whose father held the 5th District seat prior to Gillmor (the elder Latta retired in 1988.) But I’m sure a plethora of GOP aspirants will be gunning for the seat since it’s one of the most safe Republican seats in the nation.

Harris update and kudos

Today I got my “weekly update” from the Harris campaign. In this update he talked about a recent house party on his behalf with nearly 80 supporters (must be a big house!) and, more interestingly to me, Harris noted:

I do not always encourage people to read blogs, but two blog posts this week by Streiff at RedMaryland are quite interesting. (links added to original).

I found this interesting because Andy uses the Eastern Shore bloggers, including me, to get his word out. (Also, one article Andy cites on the RM blog refers back to my recent post on the WCRC meeting.) But Red Maryland is an excellent blog to read anyway and a fellow MBA member to boot.

There is one thing I truly appreciate about the Harris e-mail. I don’t know if he’s reading my mind on this or what, but with it now being after Labor Day and things getting heated up with an early primary on the horizon, I’ve been mulling restarting the Election Calendar that was a regular Sunday feature during the recent 2006 campaign. Part of his e-mail talks about his upcoming schedule…however, at the moment he’s not scheduled for an appearance on the Lower Shore.

Also, Andy is supposed to have a big announcement today. Haven’t seen anything on it yet so I guess I’ll be watching my e-mail box.

A dubious source of help (and other campaign news)

Today I was listening to the AM Salisbury radio show when I heard this commercial in support of Wayne Gilchrest. But the spot wasn’t from the Gilchrest campaign, instead it comes from a group called VoteVets.org. Billing themselves as “The Voice of America’s 21st Century Patriots” a closer look at the group reveals that they generally throw their support behind Democrat candidates – all seven Congressional candidates (four incumbents, three challengers) they are endorsing for 2008 are Democrats and one member of their Board of Directors is antiwar Democrat and 2006 Ohio Congressional aspirant, Paul Hackett. Apparently this group throws its support behind those who served in the armed forces but have turned against the war in Iraq. Not only does this radio campaign work for Wayne Gilchrest, but two other Republicans who are running for re-election with a record of antiwar votes – Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina and Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.

Obviously the Gilchrest campaign isn’t directly behind these ads, but you may wonder if a group that lists among its weblinks the SEIU union, MoveOn.org, and the Daily Kos really wants to see a Republican in office, or if Wayne’s just a useful idiot to them until he gets through the primary where they’ll revert back to supporting a Democrat knowing they have that ace in the hole.

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Tuesday brought to my e-mail box another press release from GOP Congressional hopeful Joe Arminio. This time he talks about the budget.

Gilchrest and Harris Argue About Budget Trivia, Forsake Big Matters

In the previous report released by this office, I warned the voter that neither Congressman Gilchrest nor State Senator Harris is a deficit hawk. Gilchrest shares in the blame for the nearly doubling of the federal debt—the adding of $4 Trillion–over the period 1995 to 2006, or, expressed another way, he voted in lockstep with the neoconservative-controlled Congress to raise the debt by about $28,000 per adult in the country. Harris does not help the situation, for he has not exposed the Gilchrest record in question. Let us now look more closely at Gilchrest’s budget record in 2007 and the reaction of Harris.

In 2007, Gilchrest mercifully opposed yet another increase in the public debt limit, and went against the Pelosi Democrats who voted for the increase. What is one vote against raising the debt, compared to a dozen years of nearly doubling it to a critical, dangerous level, however? Also Gilchrest proudly announced on his legislative website in late July that he cast two votes this year that would have saved us $790 million, but he did not mention this savings would have amounted to about $5.50 per adult in the country. These are hardly sufficient amends.

Meanwhile, Harris cannot bring himself to admit that Gilchrest voted against raising the public debt limit this year. But Harris trots out his own version of trivia, to wit, he cited, on August 10, a Club For Growth study which found Gilchrest guilty of voting on a variety of occasions for pork, and the total amount of pork amounts to approximately $100 million. What Harris fails to mention is this pork spending amounts to all of 66 cents per adult in the country. Mostly for reasons such as this, Harris claims that Gilchrest has now gotten out of control, and he implies that it was not until this year that Gilchrest abandoned fiscal responsibility for wasteful spending. In reality, Gilchrest (and his neoconservative allies) abandoned fiscal responsibility a long time ago!

What kind of leader is Harris? He acts as if the world began in 2007 and confines his examination of the Gilchrest budget record to 2007. He also exaggerates the damage that Gilchrest’s votes in 2007 inflicted on the economy. Why all this? The best explanation is Harris himself is a neoconservative, or tilts toward them. Someone who favors the neoconservatives would not want to expose the massive damage they, along with Gilchrest, have inflicted on the economy, especially from 1995 to 2006. And Harris is exaggerating the significance of Gilchrest’s 2007 budget votes because, being in or leaning toward the neoconservative camp, Harris has nothing else to work with—nothing else to distinguish himself from Gilchrest–except votes cast in 2007.

What kind of leader is Gilchrest? He has not come forward and said what needs to be said. “I let the country down in previous years. I let the country down so badly that the economy is in dire trouble. We had better make swift, broad and deep amends.” Instead Gilchrest dabbles at being the deficit hawk in this primary season. He refuses to push desperately needed comprehensive and deep reform, that is, measures to ratchet down government and private sector debt creation relentlessly, and to boost industrial production and farming vigorously. He fails to promote long-term laws that would hold government and private sector borrowing within tight limits—like laws we used to have–and also fails to reverse the effects of devastating votes he cast against industry and farms, including those that weakened the brilliant American patent system and brought about anti-American trade measures, such as GATT, the WTO, NAFTA and CAFTA.

What a pair Gilchrest and Harris make. The former helped bring the economy to the cliff, the latter cannot bring himself to expose the former’s fatal deeds. Each argues over trivia, how, in effect, a few nickels and dimes per adult in the country was saved or squandered in the last several months. They both neglect a far more serious matter: this economy is in mortal peril and needs sophisticated, comprehensive resuscitation right now. But then again what is surprising about all this? Neither Gilchrest nor Harris are vintage Republicans; neither are in the tradition of the Party of Lincoln whose policies went a long, long way toward making America great, and included such vital measures as a balanced budget, tariffs where appropriate, a revolutionary pro-inventor patent system and the fiscal discipline that the gold standard or something like it provided. Let us revive these and other American Way policies that were prodigiously successful, as fast as we can. Let us back American Way leaders, such as myself, wherever they are found.

Actually, Harris states that he’s voted against 6 of the 9 state budgets he was presented so he may be more of a deficit hawk than his opponent Arminio will admit. Regardless, I think Joe should detail a little more about what he would cut, or at least enough to whet interest in the book he’s also pushing. (Arminio plugs the book in a postscript I chose not to include.)

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Also picking on Harris is the aforementioned Wayne Gilchrest, who disputes Harris’s assertions on Wayne’s immigration record:

U.S. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest strongly objected to the factually incorrect and highly negative campaign mail sent out by an opponent this week, cautioning voters that this type of false and negative campaigning should be rejected by candidates running for office on any level.

A campaign fundraising letter sent by Andrew Harris this week states that Gilchrest voted recently to grant government benefits to illegal immigrants, when in fact Gilchrest voted this month for a measure which would have specifically prohibited such benefits. On August 2, 2007 Gilchrest voted for a measure (Roll Call Vote 814) which sought to further strengthen the existing prohibitions against benefits for illegal immigrants. Days later Gilchrest’s opponent sent the letter charging Gilchrest voted the opposite way.

“I think a debate of the issues is healthy, but that depends on candidates being honest, which doesn’t appear to be happening now,” said Gilchrest.

In fact, Gilchrest has a consistent record of voting against benefits for illegal immigrants, including his vote for The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 which explicitly states that illegal immigrants are not eligible for “federal public benefits,” including public and assisted housing. He also voted for the Immigration Control and Financial Responsibility Act of 1996, which tightened the loopholes under which states granted unauthorized aliens certain educational benefits on the basis of state residence.

“The unfortunate fact of the matter is that many of the laws already on the books can help fix the problems we face with illegal immigration and the drain on our social programs,” Gilchrest states. Gilchrest continues to push for better enforcement of current laws and has cosponsored House Resolution 499, which calls on the Administration to rigorously enforce the laws of the US to better enforce and reduce illegal immigration and improve border security.

Gilchrest also criticized the tone and language as some of the most negative, mean-spirited campaigning ever used in the Congressional district, and noted that it is part of a disturbing pattern in this race. Last week the same campaign made false allegations about Gilchrest’s votes on federal spending measures, charging that Gilchrest voted against every measure to cut federal spending when in fact, Gilchrest voted last month for two across the board spending cuts for deficit reduction. (Roll Call No. 710 – Musgrave amendment 7/24/07 ) (Roll Call No. 741 – Musgrave amendment 7/26/07 )

“This is exactly the type of mean-spirited and negative politics that the American people have rejected, and I believe that they will only work to turn more voters away from our elections,” said Gilchrest.

In the interest of full disclosure, the particular roll-call vote Gilchrest cites (No. 814) was on a Motion to Recommit with Instructions, which failed 216-212. The next two votes were the Motion to Reconsider (No. 815, passed 238-12, Gilchrest in favor and not among the 127 Republicans not voting); and No. 816, On Passage of HR 3161, “Making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other purposes.” Similarly it passed 237-18 with 165 Republicans abstaining. Gilchrest joined the Democrats in that vote.

In this case, it’s quite possible that both Gilchrest and Harris are in the right – Gilchrest voting to recommit the bill because of the immigration provisions but then Harris may properly cite the subsequent roll call for final passage.

To be sure, the race is getting more interesting and I may have to do more and more updates as time goes on. Thanks to Dave Parker for passing the latter Gilchrest missive on to me and the remainder of the WCRC. Guess I got tossed off Wayne’s list – I wonder why?

Lucky number seven?

It may have escaped notice in yesterday’s Daily Times article but there’s now seven chasing after the Republican and Democrat nominations for the Congressional seat Wayne Gilchrest holds.

I just added the GOP hopeful, John Leo Walter, to my link list this evening and will add Democrat and perennial candidate Kostas Alexakis once his website is up again.

So the field tightens up a little bit. At the moment Walter’s site is up but still undergoing construction – however, I did sign up for e-mail updates. He does put the WCRC in a quandry though because we only have three speaking slots remaining before the primary aside from a brief chance to address the audience at our Straw Poll next month. We may end up with a twofer during one of the meetings, which has happened on occasion.

Meanwhile, Alexakis is trying for at least the third time to get the nomination, and this means both of the 2006 primary losers are in the field. However, Dr. Jim Corwin thus far has made no indication about getting back into the race – you may recall he won the primary for the Democrats but only garnered 31% of the November vote.

At this time, I’ve heard nothing about minor party candidates but I probably wouldn’t yet link to them anyway since they don’t undergo the primary process – nine months is plenty of time to learn about a candidate. It’s quite amazing to think that, if Wayne Gilchrest loses in the primary to one of his GOP challengers, he’ll be a lame duck Congressman for 10 1/2 months. Silly how far back the primary season has gotten, isn’t it?