Tag: Pajamas Media

The Battle for America 2010: Democrats push Libertarian in MD-1 with phony mailings

Democrats and dirty tricks go hand in hand, even in deep blue Maryland.

Showing their desperation to pump up the flagging candidacy of freshman Democrat Frank Kratovil in an R + 13 district, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has sent out a series of mailers over the last week to conservative members of the district asking if Libertarian candidate Dr. Richard Davis, a dentist from Hurlock, is “too conservative?”

It’s obvious that Beltway Democrats recall how the First District was only carried by Kratovil in 2008 by 2,852 votes over Republican Dr. Andy Harris, with Libertarian Davis picking up 8,873 votes – or 2.5% of the total. All three are on the ballot again so it’s obvious this effort is to use the Libertarian alternative to peel away conservative support for Harris and make Davis again become the spoiler in the race.

(continued at Pajamas Media…)

Is the left emboldened or afraid?

My latest piece for Pajamas Media:

While those on the liberal side of the political equation had a difficult time last weekend drumming up support for their cause — even with the prospect of a free bus trip to Washington, D.C., and a box lunch courtesy of Big Labor — a small protest at a rural Maryland Americans for Prosperity rally could be a harbinger of things to come as the left gets more desperate.

Maryland’s Eastern Shore is best known as the home of Perdue chicken. But it’s also ground zero in a rematch between freshman Democratic Congressman Frank Kratovil and his Republican opponent, state Senator Andy Harris. In 2008, Kratovil won by a plurality of less than 3,000 votes out of 360,000 cast (a Libertarian candidate took just over 2 percent), and chances are the second battle could be as close as the first. While the district was one of the areas in Maryland carried by John McCain, Kratovil prevailed by stressing his “independent, conservative” values and garnering the endorsement of outgoing Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchrest, whom Harris defeated in a bitter GOP primary.

(continued at Pajamas Media…)

Maryland Republican establishment fears Murphy’s Law in November

One advantage of having a late primary as Maryland does is the lack of downtime between the primary and the campaign — the survivors don’t have to wind the machine back up from a primary fight months before once Labor Day rolls around. Instead, winners get to keep their campaigns cranked up in high gear for another seven weeks.

But the late primary also gives the losers a role. In a divisive fight, the winner has to quickly convince supporters of the loser that they need to get onboard with his or her effort. Generally, those who succeed in November are the ones who gathered the united front shortly after the primary by soothing the wounds deflated supporters of the losing campaigns inflict by a crushing defeat.

(continued at Pajamas Media…)

GOP seeks big gains in deep blue Maryland

I actually played with the title a bit, but here’s the first paragraph of my debut for Pajamas Media:

It’s been over twenty years since Maryland voted Republican in a presidential race, and even longer that Democrats have dominated the state’s congressional delegation and General Assembly. But the Free State has some interesting races dotting the political landscape and Republicans are confident they will taste some rare success.

(continued at Pajamas Media…)

The idea is that I’ll be covering Maryland races (mostly the Governor’s race) for the website through the election with occasional articles and commentary. It’s an exciting opportunity to place my writing on a truly national stage, as opposed to a regionally-based subsite of a larger national site.