District 38A hopeful gathers gun endorsements

AFP co-chair Julie Brewington read from remarks she prepared and preposted on her website.

One can’t quite call her Maryland’s answer to Sarah Palin yet, but District 38A hopeful Julie Brewington is holding her own with the boys insofar as getting endorsements from Second Amendment groups goes.

The most recent ones in her bag come from a coalition of groups including Maryland Shall Issue/Citizen’s Defense League of Maryland, and the Maryland State NRA Rifle and Pistol Association.

(continued on my Examiner.com page…)

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Now for the remainder of my take on this.

I’m certainly glad that Julie is a defender of Second Amendment rights and I have little doubt about her conservative credentials considering who she supports and the body of her work on her blog Right Coast.

But it doesn’t always work that way among people who vote single-issue. For example, the same group which endorses Julie is also endorsing Delegate Joseph Vallario, Jr. (D – District 27A) and Delegate Rudy Cane (D – District 37A). Vallario chairs the House Judiciary Committee, where bills like Jessica’s Law went to die until a vast outcry finally forced him to relent and bring the bill out. Cane regularly votes with big-spending I-95 corridor liberals on economic issues, which outweigh the limited good he does on Second Amendment-related items. (For my money I think Cane challenger Dustin Mills would likely be as good or better for Second Amendment stalwarts and certainly more friendly to our local business interests.)

However, I did notice that the coalition specifically states:

Our vote recommendations are based upon 2nd Amendment positions only. When both candidates would benefit the 2nd Amendment community, we suggest that each voter consider other criteria in the Primary Election. These critia (sic) would include the voter’s personal knowledge of the candidate, candidate’s experience, past performance, and especially the candidate’s “electability” in the November General Election.

I would hope that this coalition comes to its senses regarding other issues once November’s endorsements roll around, and perhaps in cases where there is no primary they simply omit the candidate in question until then.

Friday night videos – episode 44

This will be a special election edition of FNV, intended to clean up the ‘Candidate Wednesday’ series, put out some new video of the Wicomico County Council race, and toss out a couple other neat things.

The last video of the ‘Candidate Wednesday’ series is that of District 38A hopeful Julie Brewington, who put together the videos and got Matt Trenka to be host.

 

It’s special to me because I helped with the production of it, and you’ll notice the line of questioning is a little different thanks to my influence. For example, the Page Elmore question was my idea.

Julie took a lot of time to speak to economic issues and comes across as a friend of business. She understands that backing us out of our doldrums will take private-sector investment, and creating the climate to encourage investment will take acts of government which reduce its scope and influence. It’s a fairly common-sense position and puts her in with the other three Republicans in the race.

The detour into property rights was a bit jarring, but obviously this is a pet issue of hers and reflects recent controversy in Wicomico County over downzoning.

She did have something of a homefield advantage because the interview was done for her website, but I think the line of questioning was pretty good. It’s also one of the most-watched local interviews so she did a good job promoting it as well. We will see if this translates into votes come September.

Last Sunday Chris Lewis held a meet-and-greet event in Sharptown, and three County Council candidates aired their view on property rights. In order they were Matt Holloway, Chris Lewis, and Bob Culver.

It’s interesting to see how candidates answer questions in a freeform format without a time limit. As it turned out this was the lone formal question asked since participants were encouraged to speak one-on-one with candidates.

One of the participants (although he ended up being there late, toward the end of the event) was Mike Ryman, LG candidate for this guy.

I encourage you to check out his website and make an informed decision if you’re a Republican. He’s got my vote.

Finally, some coolness from one of my favorite local bands, Order 6-D6, direct from the revamped Myspace. I’ll leave you with that.

A jam-packed day

It was a day of hot and cold running politicians.

Obviously a lot of them made the scene at the grand opening and ribbon cutting for the local Republican headquarters, with most making their way to the Wicomico County Republican Club Crab Feast held this afternoon.

But quite a few made it a bipartisan event at the St. Francis carnival held in Salisbury. State’s Attorney Matt Maciarello was all over the event but also seen were Mike and Julie Brewington, County Executive hopeful Joe Ollinger, and fellow County Executive candidate Tom Taylor working the wheel for the church. That was just in the few hours I spent there tonight. Nice carnival, by the way.

I think I’m going to hold the pictures and text for tonight since I plan on attending Chris Lewis’s Sharptown event tomorrow. This way I can make it one nicely wrapped package.

I also have other political items on the back burner which will become posts, so don’t fret. I took last week off to some extent because of personal business, but I think next week I’ll be back to normal.

The fur flies

Just because I’ve been away the last couple days tending to family matters (and before that coordinating the GOP presence at the Farm and Home Show) doesn’t mean I’ve been completely out of the loop. Even from afar there is a political stench emanating from certain quarters of the Eastern Shore.

Let’s take the example G.A. Harrison of Delmarva Dealings uncovered regarding District 37A incumbent Rudy Cane. Obviously one can accuse him of having a few overzealous backers, and I’m certain some variation of that excuse would come from that camp IF they are even:

  • confronted with the information, or
  • if so, would bother to say something about it.

Since it’s concerning a guy whose campaign website looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2002, I’m not holding my breath.

To me, it’s part of the entitlement syndrome many incumbents suffer once they’ve been placed into office. They seem to assume the job is a lifetime appointment with the election just a formality they have to endure every four years. The fact that Cane routinely votes with the extreme liberals in the House of Delegates (hint: he scored a big fat ZERO on this year’s upcoming edition of the monoblogue Accountability Project) instead of for the relatively conservative interests of his district shows that he holds his constituents in utter contempt – well, unless they happen to be campaign contributors. 

(Just as an aside for those of you who think party doesn’t make a difference – Norm Conway and Jim Mathias will tell you they are moderate Democrats who sometimes lean conservative. Well, scoring a big fat ZERO on the monoblogue Accountability Project as Conway did or 5.61 out of 100 like Mathias should tell you otherwise. By comparison, Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio scored 56.25 and Addie Eckardt posted a 57.6 score – not really strong conservatives to be sure but certainly better than the alternatives. The best score among Delegates this year was 90.44 so no one was exactly perfect.)

By my count, there are 48 Delegates who are running again having served 12 or more years (three terms or more) – all but 7 of them are Democrats and among that group are Rudy Cane and Norm Conway. Obviously they will tell you that they need to remain because leadership in the House seems to be seniority-based – regardless of whether they are true public servants or political hacks, if they hang around long enough they’ll be put in charge of something.

Yet this becomes a Faustian bargain for constituents as the interests of the district become subordinate to the personal interest of advancing one’s political career. In the end, is a district better off having someone in leadership when those leaders have to scratch the back of everyone else to maintain that position? It’s a situation which cries out for term limits and having committee chairs decided on the basis of merit.

And then we have the Julie Brewington drama, which she describes on her Right Coast site.

Don’t get me wrong – I like Julie, and if she wins I think she would be a good conservative Delegate for her district. And I am quite aware that there are some people who happen to believe they have a large bullhorn and have it out for both her and husband Mike because they decided to stop sitting on the sidelines complaining and actually put themselves out in the political game.

However, that being said, just in Districts 37 and 38 alone there are a total of seven females on the House of Delegates ballot (out of eighteen total participants.) Counting Julie, three of them are even blonde. None of them seem to have that same target placed on their back and if they do they shrug it off without complaining about it publicly. (Granted, Julie is the lone serious blogger among the bunch and that can be a double-edged sword.) Certainly I think Julie may need to grow an extra layer of skin to deal with some of these detractors.

Yet those detractors aren’t blameless, either. I’m not sure why some of the items being brought up are issues except to those bringing them up, particularly the innuendo about her private life. I don’t think it’s going to affect how she conducts her business in Annapolis just as what we know about Jim Ireton’s private life hasn’t seemed to affect his policy decisions.

Perhaps complaining about politicians is a sport to some, but when we step into the voting booth it’s not a game anymore. As we’re finding out on a state and national scale, making the wrong decision can have catastrophic results.

Outgunning the boys

There are four men and one woman running to succeed Carolyn Elmore as Delegate from District 38A. But I guess this momma doesn’t wear an apron too much since she gained this particular endorsement:

Kirk Jones, President of the Pioneer Sportsmen’s Association, is pleased to announce the endorsement of Julie Brewington, Republican candidate for the House of Delegates; District 38A on behalf of the Pioneer Sportsmen’s Association.

(continued on my Examiner.com page…)

AFP meeting features seven candidates

It was a crowded agenda and pair of banquet areas at Brew River last night. Over 100 people jammed in to hear District 38 Senate hopeful Michael James, House of Delegates District 37A challenger Dustin Mills, and the five candidates who are seeking to take over the Elmore seat in the House of Delegates (District 38A.)

There were a few items of local club business to take care of first, though, and chair Joe Collins bemoaned the loss of his former cohort Julie Brewington, saying  “I lost my right arm.” (Brewington was present, though, as a candidate for Delegate in District 38A.) Missing was the usual PowerPoint presentation club members were treated to as Collins said, “learning time is over.” It was time to put what we’d learned in about a year into action.

Barry Oehl of the Worcester County AFP filled us in on a proposed television commercial, which would be produced for free – donations were being solicited to secure airtime locally. T-shirts were also available, with proceeds going toward the effort. (The Eastern Shore TEA Party Patriots also have shirts for sale.)

Dave Schwartz of the state AFP opined that early voting is “really going to be helpful for the conservative cause.” (I beg to differ, but…) He stated his case by asking how many of us would vote in the next hour if the option were there – most raised their hands, including me. Dave continued by pointing out that early voting allows conservatives to get the word out, frees up campaigns to reach out to other voters, and would reveal in rough numbers how turnout was going – for example, it would be big news if Republicans and Democrats had similar total turnout given the GOP’s 2:1 registration disadvantage.

Daryl Ann Dunigan introduced herself as a representative of Conservatives for Maryland and will be working with college students and other youth in the region.

While a large number of candidates were in attendance (for example, all four GOP candidates from House of Delegates District 38B and County Executive hopeful Joe Ollinger were there along with a sprinkling of other local hopefuls) the bulk of the time was spent listening to District 38 Senate candidate Michael James.

To James, the “race really is about experience,” but his experiences were different than his opponent’s. Key issues for him were to reduce our state’s debt, cut spending and taxes, and create jobs. He blasted the millionaire’s tax as “a complete failure” and suggested that “incumbents tend to be reactive.” As examples he used the fight to get Jessica’s Law passed and the lack of effort toward job creation in 2006 through 2009. Once this election year rolled around these and other items suddenly became priorities.

Since the meeting was billed as a “job interview” there were plenty of questions.

Michael took a question on deregulation of utilities and turned it into a treatise on overregulation itself, which he claimed “is trying to drive out jobs.”

But on a Second Amendment question, he stumbled slightly when he claimed he was for the right to carry with the proper license but the questioner followed with the point that any such restriction could be construed as an infringement. Michael conceded that was a valid point.

More palatable to the gathering was his answer on an immigration question – James does not support amnesty and believes Arizona Governor Jan Brewer “has done a great job” fighting for SB1070. “Maryland needs a similar…or tougher law,” said Michael.

Other questions dealt with bread and butter economic issues like taxation (“I will work my butt off to lower tax rates,”) free market principles, and government waste (there is “tons of room for consolidation” in the state budget.)

In short, he stated, “My campaign is about making Maryland more friendly to business (and we need to) elect people who have actually created jobs.” Under his leadership, the Carousel Hotel in Ocean City has gone from receivership and 8 employees to a thriving enterprise with over 300 workers.

A shorter session was held for Dustin Mills, who told those attending that “I’ve had enough…sick of being taken for granted.”

Among his key points was having a state government which was too laden with state employees; the large number of unfunded positions in the budget is a slush fund that’s “criminal” and “wrong.” Our sales tax was “killing” the Eastern Shore because of the large differential between Maryland and sales tax-free Delaware. And the state was taking too much from local government for their own needs – 95% of the gas tax which was supposed to revert to county government was instead confiscated by the state and a funding mechanism from fire insurance policies to local volunteer fire departments was almost all taken to help the balance the budget.

Since he currently works in the education field, Mills had sharp criticism for the school system – “what’s going on is outright criminal.” Mills would work to establish more local control and eliminate maintenance of effort requirements. Dustin also equated agriculture with small business, and questioned the amount of impact environmental regulations on Maryland farmers would have when just 15% of the Chesapeake watershed lay in Maryland.

“My faith lies in you” and not government, Dustin concluded.

I had the first question out of the chute, asking Dustin what issues were resonating with the large minority community in his district. He cited education and taxation as the two key issues, as minority-owned small businesses are also affected by the poor business climate. Also, Dustin is a “strong supporter” of the Second Amendment with “limited licensure.”

But the best question came from a constituent who asked how he’d be better than incumbent Delegate Rudy Cane? Mills cited his bad voting record and no dialogue with the voters in the district as areas Dustin would improve upon.

The five candidates from District 38A took the spotlight next. But since the hour was growing late, the format was limited to an opening statement and one question on how the candidates would work with being part of a minority. (Most likely, this wouldn’t apply to Mike McCready, but he is portraying himself as a conservative Democrat so would presumably vote often with Republicans.)

Julie Brewington got into the race at the last minute because, “what I saw wasn’t anything I could vote for.” As the former AFP co-chair, she called the group “my inspiration” and played up her outsider status by noting the House of Delegates was, “supposed to be for the common working person.” We could “take back our government,” said Brewington, and there are “too many ‘go along to get along’ people” in Annapolis. As for working in the minority, Julie believed “in my heart we are sitting on an abyss of change” and asked citizens to “work with me.”

Touting his experience, John Cannon was concerned “this (Eastern Shore) livelihood will be threatened” and called Annapolis leadership “cavalier” as they continued “ripping the guts out of local government.” To him, we were dealing with an issue of “taxation without compensation.” Among his attributes, he called himself conservative, pragmatic, and results-oriented – “I am a representative.”

Answering the question about working with the majority, Cannon suggested he had “no problem working across party lines” but wouldn’t compromise on principles. He would think out of the box and take initiatives where needed, and model his approach on the successes of the Eastern Shore delegation already there.

A born-again Christian and NRA member, Mike McCready also spoke about his experience in agriculture as a member of Delmarva Poultry Industry and operator of eight chicken houses. He’s also served two terms on the Somerset County Commission and touted that body’s financial success – in eight years the property tax rate had declined from $1.01 per $100 to 88.3 cents. “That is fiscal responsibility,” said Mike. Part of the belt-tightening was instituting a hiring freeze; on the other hand, they didn’t need a maintenance of effort waiver for county schools.

But he didn’t forget from where he came, stating “farmers are the backbone of the Eastern Shore,” and that “we cannot afford to put the watermen out of business.” McCready thought the best way to work with his fellow Democrats on certain issues was to “have a proposal in your own mind, too” and seek out allies to a rural point of view.

Charles Otto is also a farmer; in fact he has served as the president of the Somerset and Wicomico Farm Bureaus. That experience working on the outside of the political process to “create things we can live with” fueled his desire to get on the inside and become an advocate for land use issues and respecting private property rights. Otto answered the question about being in the minority by citing the need for finding allies in the General Assembly which hail from rural areas. But “the biggest issue we’ll face is monetary,” concluded Otto.

John Phoebus is “very happy AFP is playing a role in politics.” He “never imagined” he’d run for the House of Delegates but the loss of Delegate Page Elmore “left a huge void.”

Yet John also said he was “fed up” with what he saw coming from Annapolis, describing it as a “wholesale assault on Eastern Shore values.” The General Assembly is “out of touch,” Phoebus said, and 2010 was a “great opportunity to make a change.” Referring to the 2005 Fair Share bill that affected Walmart and may have cost Somerset County a distribution center, that “red-headed Eskimo” measure was proof we “need people who believe government isn’t the answer” in the General Assembly. Since it’s “not likely the GOP will take over” in the General Assembly, we need to work with like-minded members from other rural areas. (Otto cited Phoebus’s previous answer in his own, as the panelists answered in reverse alphabetical order.)

Michael James and Dustin Mills were also allowed to answer the question posed to District 38A hopefuls, with James stating the need to be proactive and “intelligently bring people to our side,” while Mills echoed Brewington’s earlier statement to not “go along to get along.” Instead, he would be a vocal advocate even if it means being a minority of one.

Needless to say, it was a lengthy meeting, taking over two hours to wrap. But those who stayed became much more informed about their alternatives in this election.

If the family that plays together stays together, what does the family that runs together do?

Just a few minutes ago I received this on my Facebook page:

I’m Running for Maryland’s 38A Delegate Seat (Southern Wicomico and Somerset) I hope I can count on your support!

The author of this Facebook post: Julie Brewington, spouse of Mike Brewington. Mike is running as a Democrat for Wicomico County Council at-large, while Julie will file as a Republican for the seat previously held by Page Elmore.

(continued on my Examiner.com page…)