Maryland GOP – Page 23

In print: Will Atlas shrug in Maryland?

I wrote this on Tuesday and sent it to several state newspapers. As of yesterday I know it was in the Daily Times Thursday and on the Carroll Standard Wednesday. This is my draft version, other outlets may have edited it to some extent.

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For Republicans in Maryland the 2010 election was a complete shock, especially compared to national results. Despite victories here and there for the GOP we now know our state government will lurch on to follow economic basket cases like California or New York, where free-spending Democrats believe that taxpayers comprise a never-ending gravy train.

The title of this piece refers to Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged. A book which doubles as a parable, its theme is how society reacts when the producers withdraw from an intrusive, overbearing government. In Maryland this scenario played out on a small scale via the so-called ‘millionaire’s tax’ in 2008 – instead of creating the extra revenue predicted, overall tax receipts fell well short of projections. Those who could afford to do so voted with their feet and left Maryland for other states which encouraged their presence by featuring low tax rates and a regulatory environment more conducive to business.

For those departing it was their manner of ‘going Galt,’ a phrase inspired by the character in Atlas Shrugged who led the exodus of those tired of the overtaxation, overregulation, and general disgust from those in government toward citizens successful in the private sector.

With this backdrop, Free State Republicans are in the process of choosing a leader for the next four years. Given the hand with which they have to play, the next state government term will need to be spent both fighting a rear-guard action to slow down Annapolis’s march toward oblivion and educating the public as to why it’s necessary – needless to say, voters missed the GOP message prior to the election.

Or did they? Maryland Republicans put up the candidates who, for the most part, were tacitly endorsed by party brass. Many among them were willing accomplices to the Democrats on their destructive course over the last four years – although some would argue that ship began sailing decades ago. In either case, no course correction was made with this election and Republicans need to work on making sure voters are aware of the fix surely required four years hence.

And while it may not be popular with the Democrats or the press, Republicans in Maryland indeed can’t just be the party of ‘no’ – we must be the party of ‘HELL NO!’ Sometimes there can’t be a compromise made; as Rand herself pondered, what is the compromise between food and poison? We must refuse the siren song of budget ‘fixes’ involving new and expanded taxes, and fight tooth and nail against additional regulations and misguided ideas like the ‘green jobs’ boondoggle.

Our best new Chair will be the one who realizes there can be no compromise in our principles; instead he or she will intuitively know Maryland Republicans need to present a bold palette of ideas and candidates in 2014. Our new leadership must convince our state’s producers help will eventually arrive.

Give us anything less and Atlas will fail.

Michael Swartz is a member of Wicomico County’s Republican Central Committee and a freelance writer who covered Maryland’s 2010 election for Pajamas Media. His home website is monoblogue.

Taking the fight to the enemy

You know, I’ve come to the conclusion that the majority of WaPo readers are way, way out there. (We won’t go into how flaky most of the columnists are, although the paper does feature two solid, if sometimes elitist, conservative voices in Charles Krauthammer and George Will.)

They have an article today about the state of the Maryland GOP, one which richly deserved comment from yours truly.

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Well, whadda you know, the WaPo and a host of Republicans quoted have finally come to the point I’ve been making for four years.

It’s sad that we had an eminently qualified Comptroller on the ballot (which would you rather have looking over the state’s finances – someone with decades in the business or someone who was initially elected based on the name recognition of 20 years as a legislator) yet people ignored the obvious difference or took out the failings of the top of the ticket on him.

To address the previous commenters who said the GOP didn’t run enough ‘moderate’ candidates, guess what? We ran two (for governor and U.S. Senator) and both lost by double-digits. Apparently you saw Democrat and Democrat-lite and voted for the real thing.

The weakness at the top of the ticket statewide (along with the shrewd packaging and marketing of the respective records of two different, yet somewhat similar governors) allowed the Democrats to buck the national trend and carry the day.

Do Republicans have work to do in teaching the benefits of a common sense limited-government platform in some communities? Of course they do. It’s tough to compete with the candidate who promises a boatload of freebies to be paid for by someone else.

But compete we shall, even when you have to take the message to the heart of the opposition as I do here.

Just ask yourself: who do I feel more comfortable with in handling my affairs and providing those things my family needs? Is it some bureaucrat in Washington or Annapolis, or is my own hands, head, and heart?

In short, that’s the GOP message. You have four years to learn it before Maryland has its next election.

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As I tell my friends (and my enemies) I don’t mince words and I don’t bullshit around. I can already see the attacks on this, but you know this is our message and a lot of the reason why the GOP lost – a weak top of the ticket and a campaign which was won by a Democrat who seized control of the narrative early.

(Perhaps if someone had gotten in the race earlier as I advised him to that message could have been under his control. But he waited around, and on this occasion good things didn’t come to those who wait.)

I’ll let the WaPo comment spammers enjoy throwing knives at that, and check back when I get a chance. It’s just a sample of what we need to do and how we need to take the fight to enemy territory (which isn’t really all that much of Maryland geographically but a whole ‘nother state philosophically. So much for ‘One Maryland’.)

Four years isn’t all that long; in fact it’s pretty short for the work which needs to be done.

The undercard

As regular readers know, I’ve been tracking the Maryland GOP Chair race as closely as anyone else in the state; perhaps Ann Corcoran of Potomac TEA Party Report was right the other day when she wrote there are some of us who don’t want the campaigning to end!

But there are other offices at stake as well. The Maryland GOP will also be electing three vice-chairs along with a secretary and treasurer when we meet December 11th in Annapolis. Obviously this is important because they, along with the 24 county chairs and state chair, make up the bulk of the Executive Committee.

(According to our by-laws, the secretary and treasurer serve on the Executive Committee but get no vote. The others who are voting members of the Executive Committee include the National Committeeman and National Committeewoman, along with the head of the Maryland Federation of Republican Women. Four other party organizations, including the Maryland College Republicans and Young Republicans, are included as non-voting members. Overall there are 29 voting positions.)

There was a bit of flux in the ranks of the vice-chairs over the last four years, so much so that none of those elected in 2006 currently serve in their positions. Conversely, the secretary and treasurer have served all four years. I’m not aware if Secretary Rex Reed is seeking re-election but I believe Treasurer Chris Rosenthal is.

This is the list of contenders as I have it, with the current incumbent denoted thus (*).

1st Vice-Chair: Moshe Starkman, Diana Waterman
2nd Vice-Chair: Brandon Butler*
3rd Vice-Chair: Brian Griffiths, Meyer Marks, Adol Owen-Williams, Matt Teffeau, Bruce Wesbury*
Secretary: John Wafer
Treasurer: Chris Rosenthal*, Mark Uncapher

I haven’t quite figured out why 3rd Vice-Chair is so popular, but it is.

Obviously there are some names I know better than others, but most of them have some familiarity to me. What I don’t know is there are any slates involved yet; in the past there have been efforts to elect one slate agreeable to those who really pull the strings (like a former Governor.) While I’m sure the winner of the Chair competition would prefer to work with certain underlings rather than others, we haven’t seen the slate pulled out yet.

It promises to be a busy convention, that’s for sure. Newbies on the Central Committees, consider yourself warned!

Did she keep her promises?

You know, before we pick a new Republican Chair we may want to reflect on what was promised by the old one. This was the video Audrey Scott shot a year ago prior to becoming MDGOP Chair.

So how did she do? Remember, her three main goals were raising money, increasing Republican voter registration, and electing Republicans.

Well, the jury is still out on how much money she really raised because – let’s face it – she got a LOT of help from the national Republican Party. Granted, she may have spearheaded the effort to get that money through charm and hard work, but it’s worth remembering that our state has a friend at the top insofar as the national GOP goes. Since I don’t know just how far the national checkbook opened due to her efforts as opposed to home state pride, I’ll give her a B-plus for fundraising.

Next – increase Republican voter registration. In comparing the actual numbers from October 2009 to October 2010, the GOP indeed saw a registration increase of 2.1 percent. Had it not been for a few dozen voters in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, Audrey would’ve overseen a clean sweep of increases throughout the state. Conversely, Democratic registration was up just 0.89 percent.

But – and this is a big but – unaffiliated voters grew most of all by jumping 10.19 percent. (There is a proviso, though: ‘independent’ voters were no longer counted separately in 2010 and they were shifted to the unaffiliated category. Without them strict unaffiliateds grew 4.9 percent; still that’s faster than the GOP.)

Yet this was a promise kept, so Audrey gets an A there.

The third vow was to elect Republicans, and this was a mixed bag at best.

Obviously we failed to win any statewide office; however we regained the Congressional seat lost two years ago which simply returned us to the status quo of most of the last decade. On a state legislative level it was a wash – we gained six House seats but lost two Senate seats. Since a Senate seat equals three House seats, the percentage changes equal out.

Our biggest gains occurred at the county level, which begs the question of whether credit should go to the state party or to those county organizations which busted their behinds to get local Republicans elected? While it’s anecdotal, the feedback I’ve received about the Victory Centers (including the one in Salisbury) was that they were barely a help to local candidates for state offices and none at all for local county officeseekers (aside from a collection point for signs and literature and a Saturday morning meeting point for lit drops.) The calls placed from the centers mainly benefitted Bob Ehrlich and Andy Harris.

For that promise, I give Audrey a C-minus (and that’s charitable.)

So was her term the success that her supporters (and some of the candidates to succeed her at Chair) think it was?

Remember, near the top of the video Audrey spoke about “collaboration and teamwork” along with “unity.” Perhaps my biggest beef, which was reinforced by watching the video and hearing those words, came from the Maryland GOP’s machinations regarding Rule 11. There was no “collaboration and teamwork” like informing the Central Committees of their intent at a time when they could have had input – most likely they would have had the assent and backing of the group had they simply taken the time to ask.

I do not believe in ‘top-down’ leadership when it comes to party affairs; my philosophy is that I’m no smarter than the voters who elected me. My job is to do my part in promoting the Republican Party, but to be more specific to promote it as a vehicle for limited, Constitutional government. It’s why I happen to agree with much of the TEA Party movement and embrace their involvement in the GOP – to me it’s their natural home.

However, what message did it send for the man at the top of the party’s ticket – who early on received the blessing of becoming the party’s ‘anointed’ candidate months before the primary – to dismiss a fellow Republican governor (although they didn’t serve concurrently she’s still in that fraternity) and TEA Party favorite who happened to believe his opponent was the better choice? I didn’t see Audrey Scott saying that Bob Ehrlich was a good man but wrong to make such a statement about what turned out to be 1/4 of the party (and perhaps a larger proportion of those new GOP voters.) How many of them went back to being unaffiliated after the primary and, more importantly, can we get them back?

While I’m still trying to figure out why I was such a “naughty boy” to her (she didn’t realize I’d been on the Central Committee for four years and thought I’d left), I don’t dislike Audrey Scott. For what she did well as a party chair, I’m grateful.

But I’m not in the cult of personality which paints Audrey as a party savior because I don’t think the success was all hers. A large part of it was from relieving the pent-up pettiness over the actions of her predecessor Jim Pelura (witness the parade of checks upon her election to Chair) while much of the rest was brought about from a movement which stirred when Sarah Palin was named to the McCain ticket, lay dormant for a few months during President Obama’s honeymoon, and blossomed with the advent of the TEA Party.

Indeed, after somehow snatching defeat in this state from the jaws of nationwide victory, we need to be led in a new direction. Let’s not assume that the entirety of the Pelura/Scott administration cleared the path for us to follow in the future.

Done correctly, 2014 could be a banner year for Maryland Republicans – let’s just say it’s a target-rich environment (aside from having no U.S. Senate race that year unless a special election is needed.) And I’m not dismissing our chances of foiling the Democrats’ best-laid plans of Congressional extinction for Free State Republicans in 2012, either.

The right leader can do this by patching together our tattered coalition of conservatives and convincing those moderates to come on over. (You can be the ones taken for granted for awhile – why would you vote against your interests for far-left liberals?)

Our sole job next month is to pick that leader and a good team to follow him or her. Let’s rebuild this grand coalition forgotten by the leaders of the past and take the fight to our enemies in Government House, both houses of the General Assembly, the sparkling offices of the special interest lobbyists, and the county and local government buildings.

Hunting season on Democrats and their loony liberal ideas has just begun, and there’s no bag limit.

A slow evolution

With this week being the runup to Thanksgiving, don’t look for a whole lot of news on the MDGOP Chair front. To me, it seems like most people who wanted to get in and make a serious effort are already making the rounds and the splash they need to enter the race.

As you can see on the sidebar, we have somewhere around a half-dozen people who want to be Chair. But now they get the hard part of convincing a majority of the nearly 300 members of the respective Central Committees that their vision for the MDGOP is the correct one.

And it’s not just me asking (although I may be the only one who gets a vote.) You know my wish list but Richard Faulknor at Blue Ridge Forum has his own thoughts, as does Ann Corcoran at Potomac TEA Party Report. Matt Newman at Old Line Elephant interviewed Sam Hale, who is portraying himself as the TEA Party candidate, for a RedState piece.

But all these outsiders will have to crack the inner circle of the party to gain influence – while there’s a lot of new influence in the Central Committee, we still have the larger part of the group that allowed their problems to take root and grow. The ‘establishment’ will still be in force and may be another obstacle to overcome.

In print: Large field lining up for state GOP chair

I love it when they get the name AND the website right:

“For a party that everybody thought was kind of dead on Election Day, there’s a lot of people that sure want to lead it,” said Michael Swartz, a member of the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee who operates Monoblogue, a conservative political blog.

This is one of the lead paragraphs in a story by writer Alan Brody in the Gazette this morning. I spoke with Alan yesterday afternoon as he apparently was putting the piece to bed.

It is sort of amazing that, when you speak for almost 23 minutes (according to the timer on my cel phone), you only get a couple good quotes out of the deal. Having done a little bit of journalism myself, that aspect of the business still makes me shake my head. And certainly that’s no criticism of Alan, who I think did a nice job of selecting my money quotes; it’s just my observation on the process.

I was impressed with what young Sam Hale said on the subject of Mary Kane, which unknowingly served to bolster my point that Kane is the favorite – well, it’s hers to lose anyway.

But one point I made in my conversation with Alan is that each candidate will likely have a bloc of voters they believe they can count on – Kane is probably working from the base of Montgomery County and their 48 allotted votes, a number which dwarfs other county delegations but is just a fraction of the nearly 300 who will be voting on December 11.

This also allows me to work in a tidbit I learned from Audrey Scott’s “Message from the Chair” yesterday:

We have 131 new (county Central Committee) members and 139 returning members for a nice balance of old and new. This represents a 48% turnover, which is roughly half and an ideal situation for continuity and fresh ideas.

The number is only elected members; some counties have a few vacancies which still aren’t filled. At ‘full strength’ the number is about 290 members. Also unknown is how many ‘new’ members are returning after a hiatus; for example our Central Committee has a ‘new’ member who was previously in office during the 1990’s. My best guess is that around 100 of the newbies have those ‘fresh ideas’ Scott speaks of. Now THAT is a formidable voting bloc!

Personally, I think by the time all is said and done we will have between two and four candidates to choose from. Some of the nearly one dozen names we’re dropping right now won’t have the support they think they have once December arrives while others will say “thanks, but no thanks” in the next week or two as the Gazette story recounts Larry Hogan did. But it likely won’t be a walkover like we had with Audrey Scott being elected midstream a year ago; this one may be more like the RNC election of Michael Steele with multiple candidates and ballots.

All I know is that we’re going to have a spirited convention, which belies the perception of a party that was “kind of dead on Election Day.”

Amedori jumps into Chair race

Update 10 a.m.: Another entrant into the race is 2010 Comptroller candidate William Campbell.

Add a Lower Shore name to the Maryland GOP Chair mix, and Mary Kane won’t be the only woman seeking the post.

Carmen Amedori, who served in the House of Delegates from 1999-2004 representing Carroll County and had abortive runs for both U.S. Senator and lieutenant governor in the past year, is now setting her sights on the party’s top post. She joins a growing field of aspirants for the job, many of whom are campaign veterans themselves.

Carmen, who recently relocated to Ocean City, didn’t remain on a political hiatus too long after a whirlwind spring which saw her featured in two statewide races. She won a spot on the Worcester County Central Committee in September and lent her expertise to the campaign of House of Delegates candidate Marty Pusey. Pusey finished third but drew a respectable 25% of the vote in a four-person field.

Yet the former Ehrlich appointee drew fire for a withering criticism of her former boss upon joining the Murphy campaign, only to re-endorse him upon dropping out. In part, she claimed, it was to deflect blame from Brian should Ehrlich lose (as he eventually did) – “if there was going to be a loss to O’Malley, let it be Bob’s loss.” This probably won’t endear her to Bob’s strongest backers.

However, Carmen thinks she can overcome this:

We need to build this party. That means, someone like me who has African American conservative and soft Democrat friends who would go door to door to with me to help convert membership and also someone who will not be percieved by the press as someone who is so far right that we will never see light of day in Maryland. I am a strong conservative. But I do have friends on both sides and many who are attracted to my ability to communicate with everyone.

She joins a rapidly growing field that may include fellow U.S. Senate candidate Eric Wargotz along with Kane and two other less-known hopefuls who have already announced their candidacy, Mike Esteve and Sam Hale.

Is Murphy the man?

Update 2, 8 p.m.: There is a draft movement to get writer and former State Senate candidate Ron Miller to run. I also have it on good authority that another former Delegate and candidate is considering the race as well.

Update: Eric Wargotz is on record in the Washington Post as considering a bid, too.

“We need to change the mindset — the idea that Republicans can’t win here. I’m a physician. I believe there’s a cure and a diagnosis for everything.”

A published report is now saying that Brian Murphy is “hinting” that he wants to be Maryland GOP Chair. Obviously the angle presented by Sun writer Anne Linskey is one of a near-rematch between Brian Murphy and Mary Kane – technically this rematch would be true if Mike Ryman jumped into the race (and for all I know right now observing this race he just might.)

Certainly Murphy would bring a more conservative element to the chairmanship, and those of us who supported him in the gubernatorial election were reminded on November 2nd that those naysayers who said only Bob Ehrlich had a chance against Martin O’Malley were, oh, only about 14 1/2 points shy of being right. Shoot, Brian could have gotten 40 percent of the vote just by being a underfunded placeholder.

The rub for any of these “insurgent” candidates, though, is whether they can keep some of the large donors and rainmakers on board. Of course, business sense does help when it comes to running a party, but there’s no denying that a number of people and entities decided to step up and open their checkbooks the moment Audrey Scott was elected. As I reported at the time:

In the spirit of cooperation, Mike Collins of Anne Arundel County began a parade of people willing to donate to the party. All told, the impromptu effort raised $4,000 for the party coffers, which included donations from two county committees.

In thinking back, though, one could construe that effort as a little bit insulting. The party’s needs didn’t change and hopefully its principles didn’t change either, but suddenly they were worth donating to again. Will Mike Collins and his ilk again snap their wallets shut in a snit if Murphy or another non-establishment candidate (read: anyone besides Mary Kane) wins? That seems like a poor reaction to losing control of a party that, quite frankly, badly underperformed on a state level.

One who will not be running is Jim Rutledge, who announced on his Facebook page he wouldn’t be a candidate. But he had some strong words for those who were:

This is the time for bold leadership, not the time to succumb to the siren’s song of moderation, liberalization, and the club mentality of the Rockefeller republicans who have held sway over too many elements of the party in MD for too long. We in MD are being ruled not represented. Money is king and those that have it threaten to walk if they do not get their way. I say, let them walk, no let them run to their democrat friends. It is time for the ruling class to be deposed. Just look at the MD GOP website today promoting a celebration of Audrey Scott who presided over one of the worst GOP performances in the nation. After losing 2 MD Senate seats, she should have taken the honorable path and resigned immediately.

Time is short, and under pressure, taking the familiar “safe” way will be a great temptation. Take the opportunity now to buck the trends and strike for a new face on the MD GOP. The phone calls and emails having been flying and clamoring for new leadership and a new direction. The enemies of liberty abound, and we are counting on you to strike the ground for freedom now.

I write as a citizen. I am no longer a candidate, and I am not running for the Chair. I have obligations to fulfill that will not permit me to give the job the time it will require.

The “familiar ‘safe’ way” got us drubbed by 14 1/2 points and only netted us 4 seats in the General Assembly. But in areas the state party didn’t touch nearly as much we were much more successful – look at our success here in Wicomico County where we picked up at least one (and possibly two) County Council seats and the State’s Attorney office. (Too bad we couldn’t fill the whole ballot or we may have done even better!) And I’d be willing to wager that those who run as the most conservative alternatives win easily in Salisbury’s upcoming election (which is nonpartisan.)

Maybe it’s time to listen to those who have success?

Blog note: I think I’m going to create a widget for my sidebar on the ins, outs, and maybes. Look for it later today or tomorrow.

MDGOP: the intrigue continues

Well, well, well…yesterday was an interesting day. Pretty soon we won’t be able to tell the players without a scorecard.

With the interest in taking over what I thought was an irrelevant, moribund party who was shellacked in all four statewide races (oops, three since they didn’t even have a candidate for Attorney General) now beginning to peak, the rumor mill of who’s in and who’s out is beginning to grind out a few names we might recognize.

I don’t know for sure who will end up on the ballot come December 11 in Annapolis, but this is how I understood the process as it was when I went to bed last night:

Looks like they’re in:

Mike Esteve (Maryland College Republicans/Baltimore TEA Party Coalition)
Sam Hale (Maryland Society of Patriots)

Leaning that way:

Mary Kane (2010 LG candidate, former Secretary of State and onetime House of Delegates candidate)

Once in, then out, but maybe in again:

Andrew Langer (Institute for Liberty and frequent TEA Party speaker)

The good old ‘considering it’ group that’s testing the waters beneath the surface:

Alex Mooney (State Senator who was defeated in 2010)
Eric Wargotz (U.S. Senate candidate in 2010 and outgoing Queen Anne’s County Commission president)

Thanks, but no thanks:

Larry Hogan (former Congressional candidate who may be positioning himself for a 2014 run)

Feel free to add changes, new names, and dropouts to the comment section. I’ll stay on the rumor mill as I work today.

I thought I said NEW leadership!

Despite fighting fatigue, I can still smell a rat a mile away.

Slowly but surely, people are beginning to filter into the various races for Republican Party positions. Since I last wrote I received confirmation that Maryland Society of Patriots head Sam Hale is in the race, and Larry Hogan is out. From Hogan’s Facebook page:

Many people were pushing me to run for State Party Chairman, and are dissapointed (sic) that I declined the position. I believe in the party, I’m very excited about our potential in Maryland and I do plan to stay very involved. I appreciate all the support, however, as a potential candidate in 2014, I think that it’s better for someone else to focus their energies on the state party HQ.

Fair enough. At first glance, Hale is a guy who would match most of what I’d like in a state party Chairman – but I need to learn a lot more.

But there’s another candidate who’s considering a run, and her infamous words tell you most of what you need to know:

I don’t know if we are going to see another [Republican governor of Maryland] in the next 40 years. It is a shame.”

The woman who uttered these words: Mary Kane, Bob Ehrlich’s running mate and probable darling of the establishment set. According to the Washington Post, she’s “interested” in making a run. (A tip of the hat goes to Ann Corcoran for spotting this.) Does that quote above square with this tidbit from the Post piece?

“I believe in the Republican Party, and I don’t think we should give up on this.”

It doesn’t sound like you believe in the party too strongly if you dismiss our chances of electing a governor in the next four decades! Richard Cross over at Cross Purposes does a nice job of looking at what the party achieved on a local level (although he missed Wicomico County; I took care of his oversight.)

And, just like the Bushes kept the presidency in the family after the eight-year respite of Bill Clinton, the Kanes may regain control of the Maryland Republican Party after a four-year hiatus where both Jim Pelura and Audrey Scott served as chairs – Mary’s husband John was Bob Ehrlich’s hand-picked choice to run the MDGOP from 2002-2006. Mr. Kane’s legacy is one of defeat – Ehrlich didn’t win re-election and the party all but bankrupted itself in the effort to keep him in Government House. (His tenure is part of the reason why the Maryland Republican Party needed its line of credit. Much of the remaining financial problem stemmed from a disastrous year of fundraising in 2007, with the projections likely based on the 2006 budget prepared by John Kane.)

Having only met Mary Kane briefly – most recently at her early voting campaign swing through Wicomico County – I don’t have a personal problem with her, but I can’t see her prospective tenure as being productive.

As I’ve pointed out before, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect different results. If the Maryland Republican Party believes it can continue with an “establishment” person at the helm, don’t be surprised if we reach heretofore unknown lows in the next election cycle. Such a move will alienate the people the party needs most in the grassroots, and as we saw this time around a lack of grassroots support doomed the Ehrlich/Kane ticket while conservatives like Andy Harris and a number of others at the local level won with strong backing from the heretofore politically inactive.

It’s a Pyrrhic victory for the self-appointed party elite to be in charge of a sinking ship, but if conservatives allow the wrong choice to be made December 11th they’ll be kicking themselves daily for the next four years.

Wanted: new leadership

In less than a month the transition between terms will be complete and presumably the Maryland Republican Party will have a new Chair – unless Audrey Scott decides to run again and wins. Since I don’t think that’s in her plans, it’s going to be my assumption for this argument that we will get new leadership.

Here are some of the facts on the ground awaiting whoever takes charge of the party:

The Maryland Republican Party had few victories to celebrate after this year’s election, with the only gains being one Congressional seat (Andy Harris) and a half-dozen seats in the House of Delegates. Yet Bob Ehrlich was blown out by 13 points and we lost 2 of our scant 14 seats in the Maryland Senate.
While the party is apparently not completely destitute, they lag far behind the Maryland Democratic Party in both fundraising and cash on hand.
Between 2006 and 2010 Republicans fell further behind in voter registration against the Democrats.

Some may believe that the problem lay with the previous Chair, Dr. Jim Pelura. But his lone problem seemed to be the fact that big donors decided to snap their wallets shut when he wouldn’t play ball with them, although there were some who took him to task about how he interacted with Republicans in the Maryland General Assembly. Personally, I thought he did the best job he could with what he had to work with. Once big donors decided they wanted a change, the more pliable Audrey Scott was installed as party chair.

While the donors and insiders may still be there, a number of changes have occurred in the makeup of the various Central Committees which elect the Chair, and it’s quite possible they would like to see a new face at the top – not the same old party insider. If I had a wish list, this is what I’d want in a Chair:

Someone who is acceptable to the TEA Party, which means that people too closely tied to Bob Ehrlich may not be a good fit for the party.
A good fundraiser, but one who can inspire a new set of donors to step up and replace the same contributors who seem to think their contribution gives them the right to dictate party affairs. We see how well that has worked.
Someone who respects all areas of the state, including the support for regional chairs to ensure more voices are at the leadership table. (This was Jim Pelura’s main asset, even though he was based in Anne Arundel County.)
A leader who is willing to not just call out Democrats, but members of the Republican Party who stray from the party’s principles. I don’t believe that “party is everything” when it comes to members ignoring conservative principles.
Finally, a leader who doesn’t think he or she is smarter than the voters and isn’t beholden to one personality to “save” the Maryland GOP.

Many of these same ideas guided my decision on who to pick as our local Wicomico County party leadership and I think we selected a very good team. Certainly a few egos may have been bruised, but overall we did reasonably well. I didn’t vote for all who won, but I can work with those who did and I think the other eight of us can too. There’s room for input from everyone.

There’s around four or five names already being bandied about for state party Chair, with only Maryland YR leader Mike Esteve being “officially” in as far as I know. It’s far too soon for me to make a good, informed decision about who should lead us but perhaps those who are considering it may make it official and let the party leaders throughout the state begin to decide.

Wargotz in 2012?

Talk about your cryptic Facebook update:

Although I enjoy seeing the signage around the State, it is time to “bring them in”. We have them all down in Queen Anne’s and Talbot but if you happen to be out and about and you see sign(s), please pull them up and keep them somewhere. We may need them sometime 😉

This was Eric Wargotz last night on Facebook. (By the way, any Wargotz signs at my polling place were left in the possession of Mark McIver, I took them over to his warehouse the day after the election.)

Since his signs clearly state “U.S. Senate” one has to deduce he’s weighing his chances for 2012 against Ben Cardin.

So does he have an opportunity? Well, given the fact he has some familiarity with voters and the rudiments of a campaign team in place, I would say yes. Another advantage in his favor is that the 2012 primary will likely be in March or April, which may preclude a member of the General Assembly from running since they’d be waging a primary campaign in the midst of the session. Nor do I think Eric will have the competition from Jim Rutledge, as the indications I’ve heard point to a run for a state office rather than a federal one.

Then again, putting his family and his pocketbook through another campaign on the heels of the last one could prove detrimental in that important aspect.

Obviously this could also be a remark made in jest, or Eric may see himself as a candidate for what most likely will be an open seat in 2016. (Of course a barely incumbent Martin O’Malley could be there, too – some have whispered that Barb Mikulski will decide to retire early, just in time for the lame duck to find a new home after he’s through as governor.) However, a 2016 move would likely guarantee a stronger field against him assuming the seat opens up.

We don’t know just what the future will hold. But his was a cryptic remark worth picking up on, so I did.

And to all my veteran friends out there (a group which would include my dad), happy Veteran’s Day!