Tag: blogging

The seven year itch (monoblogue’s anniversary)

As has been the case before, I had to prewrite this anniversary post a few days in advance because I’ll be away on the actual date. In this case, once again the Maryland GOP Fall Convention falls on the same day.

However, it really doesn’t matter much this time because I’m not breaking any big news in this post, which has sort of become a “state of the blog” address I do almost every year as I look back at what I accomplished through this site and ponder what lies ahead.

Seven years is a long time in life for me to do anything. Those in the architectural field could appreciate this, but I’ve only had one job which lasted for as long as seven years. Generally by that time I’ve either been furloughed because the company I toiled for ran out of work or I had received a better offer, or at times both. My move here was one of those times of getting both – too bad the job I moved here for only lasted a little over four years.

Yet I persevere at this task, which really doesn’t make me a lot of money nor is it the most-read website out there. I could stand some more of both these commodities, and of course my goal of monetizing content continued on this year with the release of my book, So We May Breathe Free: Avoiding Ineptocracy. It was sort of a hybrid because the book was based on a series of posts I wrote back in 2007 but heavily revised, expanded, and updated in the interim.

But I have noticed my readership took a significant upswing at this year’s election, moreso than previous years. I’ve come to understand the ebb and flow to this website’s readership (great in the fall, so-so during the spring and summer) but the Alexa rating I was pleased with last year is still pretty much the same this year – in fact, during the summer I was ranked well under 250,000 world and under 30,000 in the U.S. No, it’s not Fox News or even RedState, but this isn’t bad for a blog coming from flythrough country (so named because the Beltway denizens fly through here in their Volvos on their way to the beach.)

And because of my book and the demands of my outside job, I’ve been sort of slow in proceeding on a couple projects people have come to expect from me. The good news is that I’m wrapping up the monoblogue Accountability Project for 2012 and it should be ready in the next week or two. As a special added bonus, my Shorebird jonesing will be temporarily relieved with the “induction” of five new members to the Shorebird of the Week Hall of Fame. You may have noticed I took that page private – well, there’s your reason. It will return soon.

So where will my website go in the next year? In 2012 I expanded my reach a little bit by joining up with the Politics in Stereo website as the conservative Maryland voice, and we’ll see if that relationship bears fruit. On the other hand, I think my off-and-on Examiner flirtation is coming to an end. The time invested doesn’t seem to be worth it in either enhanced readership or in my bank account.

Naturally I’ll be covering the basics: liberal lunacy in Maryland and nationally, the Salisbury elections for my local readers, and the conservative commentary you’ve come to expect. I’ve been building up my Twitter following over the last few months, with the goal by the end of 2013 having 1,000 followers on either Facebook, Twitter, or other social media.

I have two other writing goals in mind for 2013. As a blogger, I’ve seen a number of my peers attend CPAC but I’ve never been able to scratch together the funding to go. Obviously you can help with that cause if you so desire, but one way or another I’m going to try and get there this year, at least for the experience and opportunity to meet and interact with key bloggers nationally. People tell me I’m just as good as them, well, maybe they need to know who I am.

The second goal is a second book. It actually took me about four years to write my first one because I did it in fits and starts, but the last six months before I wrapped up So We May Breathe Free were fun and challenging at the same time. Obviously I made some mistakes and would love to learn from them by doing a second tome and creating better results. (That’s not to say book #1 is going away, though.) Originally I thought I could have a second book done by next summer, but I think this time next year may be more realistic. I’ll start devoting a little more time to it after the holidays.

Of course, there may be other unforeseen opportunities awaiting me, whether it’s additional duties for the Patriot Post, another chance at syndication, deeper direct political involvement, or writing features at new venues. The fun thing about life is that you never really know what’s ahead. The maddening thing in life, too, is that you never know what’s ahead.

But I think I have the wherewithal to give an eighth year of monoblogue a go, since I know a lot of people enjoy it and the site has turned out to be a fantastic calling card in the political world. I’ve spoken to and met people I never would have if it weren’t for this site, and rest assured the adventure will continue apace!

A Mobbie update

Well, the results are in. I didn’t win, but I think I placed reasonably well in this popularity contest for a little ole Eastern Shore blog.

I was nominated in two categories: Best News Blog and Best Politics Blog. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot out of the Best News Blog category, so 8th of 11 isn’t too bad.

But I finished in the top 5 for Best Politics Blog behind eventual (and pretty much deserving, since Dave Wissing does a good job with it) winner Hedgehog Report, Maryland Juice, Maryland Reporter, and HoCo Rising. I’ll take it, as that’s my best finish of the three years I’ve been involved and when you consider I live well outside the Sun‘s primary circulation area fifth isn’t too bad.

Of course, there are many who pooh-pooh this whole awards thing, with the main point being that all we’re doing is helping the Baltimore Sun get more eyeballs on its website. It’s a point taken, but I look at it this way: since a large part of the Sun‘s readership is of the liberal variety, any chance I get to expose a little bit of common sense and conservative thought their way is an opportunity which should be taken advantage of. Certainly they agree more with what Maryland Juice would have to say, but perhaps some have read here and understand a little about common-sense conservatism. I’m certainly not going to complain about my readership totals in the runup to the election.

Finally, I wanted to give a shout out to my friend and fan Jackie Wellfonder, whose Raging Against the Rhetoric website scored a top 10 finish in the Best New Blog category. Certainly I wasn’t the only one voting for her!

Full results are here.

An honor to be nominated (again)

After a one-year hiatus, my favorite category of the Maryland Outstanding Blog Awards (affectionately known as the Mobbies) is back. monoblogue is one of ten nominees (so far) for Best Political Blog; I’ve also been nominated in the Best News Blog category where I join eight other hopefuls.

This isn’t a new experience for me, as I’ve been nominated twice before in the three-year history of the awards, sponsored by the Baltimore Sun. Since it’s more or less a popularity contest once voting begins and many of the contenders are more local to Baltimore, I figure making the top tier is a pretty good showing for this little ole Eastern Shore blog. (In looking the results up, I have at least finished closer to top than bottom in my previous two tries.)

But maybe I have a couple advantages this time, since my readership and social media reach have grown quite a bit in the last two years. It would be nice to win, but I’m keeping my expectations low since the competition is very good in both categories and there are several who I can say are worthy of victory.

However, I have another personal stake in this as I nominated Jackie Wellfonder’s Raging Against the Rhetoric blog as the Best New Blog. She has a tougher row to hoe because there are 20 nominees so far; obviously she works at the same disadvantages I do insofar as living in the hinterlands. But if there’s someone who can pull this off, I’m confident she can.

Nominations close tomorrow, and voting begins October 29. As I recall, a person can vote once per day.

 

Bloggers come to aid of World War II and Korean War vet

This story could either end in tragedy or a final triumph for an 84-year-old Army engineer who is facing eviction from his home and can’t get a whole lot of help from Freddie Mac and other lenders.

I don’t have a lot to add to what has been good coverage by Guardian of Valor and the Riverfront Times, or even the tip I received from The Vail Spot. But it is heartwarming to see that, as of this writing, the couple and their disabled daughter have been the beneficiary of well over $4,000 in contributions from common folks who cared about a stranger’s plight.

And it’s interesting to see what gets Freddie Mac to jump and ask “how high”:

“The banks really don’t respond to homeowners themselves, but they do respond to bad publicity,”  (homeowner advocate Zach) Chasnoff said.

So here’s how it works: one blogger takes up a cause, others see it and join in, and soon a good deed is performed. It looks like the Scotts will be able to save their home for at least a little longer. This is even true when the blogger who alerted me himself has suffered through a financial strain – despite his own setbacks, he’s willing to work and set things right for others.

It also points out the fact that a non-governmental safety net is possible – notice that Freddie Mac wasn’t even returning calls and bought the house at its own auction (presumably it’s a fairly well-kept home, judging by the picture.) Until his cerebral hemorrhage in 2007, now-disabled veteran Bob Scott owned a furniture store. Must have been one of the one percent, right?

We don’t need the government to perform charity and redistribute wealth, as they did to bail out these banks. People can do just fine if left to their devices.

 

Troopathon blog results are in – sort of

Just over two weeks ago I helped promote the 5th annual Troopathon, which eventually exceeded its $250,000 support goal and languishes barely short of a revised $400,000 milepost with just over $390,000 collected so far.

But there was also a blogger’s contest held as part of that event, and I wondered how my team, the Hot Air Steamers, did. As you can see by the medal now prominent in my sidebar we finished in second place to the Connecticut-based Greyhawks team, which have now won the competition three years in a row. (No shame in that.) I believe the missing link to our five-person team may have been the former site No More Sheeples, which seems to have gone inactive – others among us were Hot Air (of course), Maggie’s Notebook, and The Lonely Conservative.

In third place came a team called the Anti-Jihadists, which boasts sites like Creeping Sharia (which I linked to), Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs, and several others.

One piece of information I have asked for but haven’t received are the totals from each team, although through a little digging I found out Rush Limbaugh chipped in $150,000 by himself. (Put the guy on our team next time!)

Also from what I’ve been able to figure out, this year’s contest was a little shorter than last year’s so blog totals may have been less than impressive – for example, the Greyhawks raised $19,000 last year (out of about $30,000 total) as the winners but the contest went for over a month before the actual event. This year’s rendition didn’t begin until around the end of June, so we had two weeks to collect. Whatever the totals, though, every little bit helped.

And I’m still pleased to add this medal to my site as a year-round reminder that Troopathon will be there to support our soldiers for as long as they stay in harm’s way.

Troopathon falls a little short of goal (update: they made it!)

I just finished watching the Troopathon, and while it fell somewhat short of its $250,000 goal during the broadcast they still raised $221,415. That’s nothing to sneeze at and should enable many thousands of troops to get a surprise package in their mail.

Because I was away from much of the evening I didn’t see many of their big-name guests, but I was somewhat disappointed the register at the bottom of the telecast only showed just over 4,000 people watched the program co-hosted by CNN’s Dana Loesch, radio talk hosts J.D. Hayworth (a former Congressman) and Melanie Morgan, and Gold Star Mother Debbie Lee. Surely it didn’t help to no longer have Andrew Breitbart’s star power to draw more viewers.

Of course, just because the show is over that doesn’t mean the charity goes black, as Move America Forward collects donations all year. And while their goals have progressively become more modest over the years, the need will still be there for the foreseeable future.

I also don’t know how the blogger competition came out, but whether the Hot Air Steamers team I participated with did well or not every little bit helped. I know two of my “teammates,” The Lonely Conservative and Maggie’s Notebook, were carrying the Troopathon live on their site – for some reason those sort of windows don’t seem to work as well here. (It may be because I have to adjust the window to fit to my format – Ustream is finicky sometimes. I also have to use the old embed code for YouTube videos, so that may be a clue.) Regardless, the event can be reviewed at those two locations or at the Troopathon site.

Perhaps over the next few days a few late donations will put them over the top.

Update, 7-13, 10 p.m. – according to a Move America Forward e-mail I received, they indeed got some serious late donations:

Thanks to a very generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous, we are able to raise our goal to get care packages to more of our troops in Afghanistan. We set a modest goal of $250,000 because contributions had been dropping as our economy stalls.

We’re now in a position to get care packages to most of the troops that are in harm’s way. To get that many care packages, we raised our goal to $400,000 and are now only $28,539 short of hitting that mark. Can you help push us over the top so our military men and women will know they are not forgotten?

Combined with all the other money that has come in overnight, we’re now at a total of $371,461 raised for the Troopathon. That means we’ve achieved our initial goal, thanks to the generosity of many awesome patriots like yourself!

I knew Americans had it in them, so my faith in country is bolstered once again.

P3k

Just for the record:

  • It took me 924 days to get to post number 1,000.
  • From there, it took 736 days for me to reach the 2,000 milestone.
  • But I’ve slowed down just a bit to reach 3,000, because it took me 749 days to write the last thousand posts.

Still, I have made it and I have you, my faithful readers, to thank.

Normally I write about what I’ve done over the previous period of time, but today I’m going to write about my future. This seems the opportune moment to reveal a secret of sorts.

For the last couple years I have been on-again, off-again working on a book manuscript and it’s nearly done. I’m calling it So We May Breathe Free: Solutions From A Common Man (as a working title, although I may change it slightly.)

There was a period of time I actively sought an agent and traditional publisher, but after reading into the subject of actually writing books I found out the timeline for getting this to market would likely be long after the desired timeframe. Simply put I should have started on that road about 18-24 months ago. Obviously I didn’t.

So my idea is now to put this out as an e-book, whether through Kindle, Pubit, Smashwords, or someone similar. That way it’s released at the time I want it to be out in the public hands. Ideally, this would be around the end of July or early August. Aside from going over the final draft and doing about 3-4 pages of additional writing, the text is written.

Of course, I realize the odds of success are as long as the unemployment lines – somewhere I read that the average book sells fewer than 100 copies. I would hope all my readers buy the book so I can at least beat those odds. But I won’t sneeze at selling a million, either!

Yet there are a number of other factors which could lead to the success of the project. I’m not going so far as to do a Kickstarter campaign like my blogging friend Bob McCarty did – although a rattle of the tip jar would help – but I am looking for ideas and suggestions. Probably my biggest need is cover art, since I know the concept I want but don’t think I have the software to do it. If you have e-publishing experience, well, I have some questions for you too!

The other piece of the puzzle I think is necessary is for me to get the word out and market the book. Once I get the book released, I’ll be looking to spread the word through any means possible. If you need a radio guest, I’m your guy. Have some questions you need answered for a blog post? Fire away. I figure every new person I reach is another potential customer and I need a national base for this endeavor.

I’m hoping to have a number of new milestones in place by the time I get to post number 4,000. But one thing which will never change is my appreciation for the support I’ve received from my readers, and hopefully I’ll have a far larger family of them the next time I hit a thousandth post.

A struggling author’s tale – and no, it’s not mine

There are days I look at all I wrote and wonder how it’s possible to put in the time and effort to write hundreds of pages and get it to market. Certainly in this space alone I’ve written a million words based on the fact I’ve put up nearly 3,000 posts over 6 1/2 years because I can guarantee you that the large majority of my posts are more than 300 words, even if you consider blockquotes of others’ work.

But there’s no narrative in this work per se, aside from a desire to instill the benefits of conservatism to my readers leavened with other features I enjoy writing about. So I have to admire those who take the time to write a long-form work on a particular subject, and my blogging friend Bob McCarty is one. Last fall he put out Three Days In August: A U.S. Army Special Forces Soldier’s Fight for Military Justice. It’s actually sold rather well for a self-published book, but in his heart Bob certainly believes he can do better.

So I received this note the other day:

Since launching my first nonfiction book, “Three Days In August: A U.S. Army Special Forces Soldier’s Fight For Military Justice,” eight months ago, I’ve been working on my second book, “The CLAPPER MEMO” — and it’s almost finished!

Now, to help me push this project across the finish line, I’m launching a crowd-funded publishing effort via Kickstarter.com.

My goal is to raise $10,000 in 30 days, beginning (last) Monday!  More details here and in the book trailer.

Please help me spread the word and get this important story out there. Thanks in advance!

Kickstarter is a relatively good vehicle for raising money, but Bob is off to a slow start so I thought I’d make a pitch for him. I’ve never met the man but we in the blogging community like to support each other as we can and he’s been at it for about as long as I have – we first communicated in the wake of my Rushalanche back in 2007 but according to his bio he’s been a freelancer since 2006. Lord knows I’ve used enough of his stuff over the years!

It seems to me at times that the literary world is upside down – those who churn out formulaic, derivative works of tepid fiction can last for years on reputation alone but those who write on weightier and important subjects aren’t always given their due. On a similar front, those who lack the talent to string two coherent sentences together are still considered newsworthy. Conversely, an actual trained journalist who served in the military for over two decades – long enough to know that of which he speaks – has to go hat in hand for money to publish something he deems worthy of his subject. I suppose that’s the fate of 99% of us, though.

But you have the power to help out guys like Bob. Check out the story behind his new book and if you think it’s one worth telling right, slide a few dollars his way. Every so often I’m pleasantly surprised by someone rattling my tip jar, so imagine how he’ll feel when he sees a significant jump in his Kickstarter account tomorrow or the next day.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out that Kickstarter only deducts the money if the goal is met. If Bob comes up short next month, you are out nothing – but we may all be shorted of a story worth telling.

The SEO blues

When I write, as I often do – some might consider me a serial writer, since I have a website closing in on 3,000 posts over 6 1/2 years – I do so for a number of reasons. First and foremost is my enjoyment of doing this, with a close second being the ability to educate on the benefits of conservatism.

And of course, there’s money involved too. I get a monthly stipend from one client, have another I have occasionally contributed to which pays me on a per-article basis, and there are other one-off deals as well as my Examiner page. I also sell advertising and have a tip jar here, so on rare occasions I find a little extra in my generally anemic bank account.

But I also know some who have a different style of writing based on the concept of search engine optimization, better known as SEO. Some do it rather well and some have a hackneyed approach, but all are after that elusive goal of standing atop Google when you do a search on a particular subject. Obviously my SEO is generally anemic as well – a quick look at my site analytics tells me that just 3% of my visits come from search engines. Yet my Alexa world rank hovers in the 280,000 range, which tells me people somehow find this site.

Where I’m going with this is that I had an interesting e-mail exchange with a person representing a company which “has leveraged the power of the Web to create a unique group of specialty e-commerce stores,” according to its website. I’d rather not divulge the company but if you Google the phrase (as I did) it naturally sits at the top.

Originally he wanted me to add guest content to my site, but when I told him that monoblogue works because it is in one voice (with a few rare exceptions) he changed his tactic. What he wanted me to do was to create a post which had three instances of a particular key phrase, one of which linked back to his site, and establish a permanent link back to his site on mine. In return I would get “a total donation of $150.”

That’s a nice chunk of change, but I told this gentleman that, for that amount, I could give him a prominent advertising link on my site as opposed to a post which would eventually both fade off the front page of my site and probably Google in a short amount of time. It seemed like a better solution for both of us, but this person wanted the post.

Could I have written it? Probably, and perhaps I could have made the content interesting and relevant with my point of view. But it’s one of those things where I believe the post would have come out flat and not up to my personal standards of integrity and excellence.

Moreover, does this really contribute to the quality of the internet as a whole? Obviously the World Wide Web has panned out to be a gold mine for certain types of e-commerce (just ask those who benefited from Facebook’s IPO) but it also has its seedy dark corners and people who try to use it for destructive purposes. I’m not naive enough to believe all is sweetness and light in this realm or that every writer of any sort of quality is entitled to riches and fame, but I often wonder if writing just for the purpose of being on top of a search engine – whether the content is really relevant or not – is contributing to the quality of the discourse or the internet as a whole. Search engines also have a way of pulling the rug out from under those who simply exist to take advantage of their system.

So I suspect this gentleman and I will part ways. I offered him the opportunity to advertise on my site and he turned it down, which is his right. I’m certain he will find a writer who will do his bidding – after all, $150 for maybe a half-hour’s worth of work is a pretty good deal, and souls have likely been sold for far less. But I like to sleep soundly at night and the quality of this website is under my control, so if I can’t do something to a satisfaction standard I can live with it’s just not worth doing for any price.

New sponsor and new milestone

It’s an exciting day at monoblogue, made even moreso by the fact the presidential race came to Salisbury and I was there to cover the event. Yesterday I finalized a long-term sponsor to the site, so I encourage you to check out TEA Party Posters at rightposters.com. Welcome aboard John!

And late last night I found out that my site had finally broken through the 300,000 barrier in Alexa rank – when you figure this is somewhat of a regional website that’s pretty rarefied air. I’m just a little outside cracking the 50,000 rank for the first time insofar as U.S. rank goes as well. (Update: made it today!)

My rankings have been going down (like golf, lower is better) because people have been coming to my site of late. Readership has been surging with a number of well-read posts on Trayvon Martin, the Maryland presidential primary, and my U.S. Senate endorsement being just a few.

And look for more exciting stuff in the days to come!

Funding the resistance, redux

Back in January I posted about a New York blogger who was having financial difficulties as part of a longer riff on the state of conservative bloggers who are struggling financially because our side doesn’t have the set of patrons those on the left seem to.

Well, Marianne has averted the original financial trouble she encountered but now is fighting what she believes is late stage Lyme Disease. That’s something perhaps people in my sphere of influence can relate to as the Delmarva area is also prone to the spread of Lyme thanks to infected deer ticks.

Because of that, I’ve placed a badge in the “public service announcement” area of my site which notes that conservative bloggers are supporting conservative bloggers. Marianne’s not looking for a government handout, but after noting the paucity of “Lyme literate” doctors who deal with late stage Lyme Disease she also has this to write:

There will likely be more doctors in many different fields going “off the grid” as Obamacare draws near and the noose of bureaucratic micromanaging tightens on healthcare providers who fail to do what they are told by a panel of pencil pushers rather than do what is best for their patients. When I am feeling a little better, I plan to do some investigative blogging about this phenomenon.

And there’s nothing like a conservative woman, in pain, scorned – I have no doubt that she’ll latch onto this like a bulldog.

Now some may ask why Marianne would put herself out like this and make her pain public for all to see. Well, back in the old days we asked for help through institutions like family, churches, and communities. I have no idea what sort of familial support she has (aside from being married with children) or where she goes to church, but I do know that in this day and age the idea of community goes far beyond the boundaries of whatever place we live in.

Last night when I actually wrote this, right after I put up the widget in my sidebar, I took a moment to consider something I hadn’t really thought about. I link to about 80 other websites, and while most are local or Maryland-based, they are spread out all over the country. (By the way, Maryanne has me stomped insofar as links goes.) But I have only met the purveyors of maybe a dozen and a half in person, and communicated with perhaps a dozen others on a personal basis as opposed to leaving a comment. Yet I have this connection to them through the internet. The same goes for a surprisingly large number of my Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

So even if it’s not all that likely that one particular reader can be of assistance, there’s a fighting chance that someone who runs across this website can help “Zilla” out. And if not, that simply means you’re destined to be of assistance in some other fashion to someone else. Later this week I’ll revisit something I wrote about last month as part 2 happened over last weekend. A lot of people came to help out a perfect stranger most haven’t met.

And I’ll guarantee you that not all of them shared my political views, or most likely had that much in common with the family in need. But most of us are instilled with some desire to serve our fellow man and fortunately the rampant increase in government handouts passed around in this day and age hasn’t dampened our enthusiasm to help a person in need ourselves.

Odd and ends number 45

Thanks to Dan Bongino, who I spoke to the other night at our Lincoln Day Dinner. As he reminded me, I am now on number 45 in this occasional series of short items I grace with a paragraph or three.

So how about I start with an item involving him?

You probably don’t know the name Mia Love, but perhaps you should. The Utah Congressional candidate endorsed Dan with this statement:

“I first learned about Dan when he was being covered for a segment on Fox News.  I was amazed by his story and the passion he has for the state of Maryland,” said Mia Love.  “If we are going to change the way Washington operates, we need to start by electing folks like Dan Bongino.”

So I’m sure you’re thinking, well, that’s nice. But take a look at her website and read this piece of her life she shares therein:

On the day of Mia’s college orientation, her father said something to her that would become the ethos for her life:

“Mia, your mother and I never took a handout. You will not be a burden to society. You will give back.”

Consider that she’s born of Haitian parents and is a minority conservative Republican with a sound track record in her home state, and the strategy of this endorsement makes much more sense.

But there’s other endorsement news out there as well. This particular one shakes up the Sixth District race a bit, as former Senatorial hopeful Jim Rutledge eschewed endorsing one of the better-known candidates in the race and instead backs the underdog Robert Coblentz, calling him “a concrete conservative who understands the core principles and values that make America great.”

Perhaps that’s not a complete surprise, though, as Coblentz was the coordinator of Jim’s campaign in Washington County in 2010. Still, it gives him a little bit of gravitas in his uphill battle against more well-known candidates, and politicians have to start somewhere.

Returning to the Senate race, candidate Rich Douglas has been scoring media points with a couple appearances over in western Maryland. He called out Ben Cardin for not taking a stance on the gas tax during Alex Mooney’s WFMD-AM radio show Sunday evening, saying “I haven’t heard a peep from Ben Cardin (on the gas tax). There’s one simple way he can make his position known – go to a microphone and say what it is.” It also gave Mooney a free shot at Rob “Gas Tax” Garagiola, who’s changed his stance on the issue since he decided to run for Congress in the Sixth District. “These politicians all look out for each other,” added Douglas.

Rich was also featured in a Cumberland Times-News story by Matthew Bieniek on Friday where he echoed some of his job creation arguments presented Saturday at our Lincoln Day Dinner:

Job growth is Douglas’ priority and he doesn’t think the current administration in Washington, and U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, are doing enough to bring new jobs to Maryland and the nation.

“The unfavorable business climate is a major factor. … Congress has a duty to remove obstacles to success,” Douglas said. A senator should be out there promoting Maryland as a business destination, he said.

A strategic, comprehensive vision for the nation’s economic future is needed, he said. The current “salami slice approach” isn’t working, Douglas said.

Obviously Douglas is covering the state quite well, and the strategy of using local media may pay off come April.

Continue reading “Odd and ends number 45”