Franchot's Dilemma

I have taken a look at the website of Delegate Peter Franchot, ultraliberal candidate for Comptroller in the Democratic Primary. And I have noticed a peculiar thing about the "Issues" Franchot lists on his site; few of them have anything to do with the office of the Comptroller.

The duties of the Comptroller are prescribed in Article VI, Section 2 of the State Constitution:

The Comptroller shall have the general superintendence of the fiscal affairs of the State; he shall digest and prepare plans for the improvement and management of the revenue, and for the support of the public credit; prepare and report estimates of the revenue and expenditures of the State; superintend and enforce the prompt collection of all taxes and revenues; adjust and settle, on terms prescribed by law, with delinquent collectors and receivers of taxes and State revenue; preserve all public accounts; and decide on the forms of keeping and stating accounts. He, or such of his deputies as may be authorized to do so by the Legislature, shall grant, under regulations prescribed by Law, all warrants for money to be paid out of the Treasury, in pursuance of appropriations by law, and countersign all checks drawn by the Treasurer upon any bank or banks in which the moneys of the State, may, from time to time, be deposited. He shall prescribe the formalities of the transfer of stock, or other evidence of the State debt, and countersign the same, without which such evidence shall not be valid; he shall make to the General Assembly full reports of all his proceedings, and of the state of the Treasury Department within ten days after the commencement of each session; and perform such other duties as shall be prescribed by law (amended by Chapter 133, Acts of 1929, ratified Nov. 4, 1930).

The long and the short of it is that the Comptroller is to be a responsible steward of the people's money. The Comptroller has a seat on the Board of Public Works, for the purpose of approving state works projects.

What does candidate Franchot say about the "Issues" in his race against incumbent Comptroller Schaefer? All of these are quotes from his website:

• As Comptroller, Peter Franchot will work to put Maryland at the head of the class.
• As Comptroller, Peter Franchot will fight to leave our children and grandchildren with a healthy and beautiful environment.
• As Comptroller, Peter Franchot will work to make health care more affordable and accessible to all Marylanders, and will reverse the trend of cuts to health care programs begun under the Ehrlich administration.
• As Comptroller, Peter Franchot will fight for balanced transportation solutions that benefit local communities and the state.
• [Franchot] has f ought for reasonable gun control, a woman's right to choose, equal rights for all Marylanders, protecting the environment, and strengthening our education system throughout his tenure in the General Assembly. When elected, Peter will bring those values back to the Comptroller's office.
• Peter Franchot will not acquiesce to the national gambling industry, their lobbyists, and their inevitable craving for full casinos and further expansion of gambling.

Most of the issues that Franchot discusses as his "issues" have little to do with the Comptroller's office and more to do with Democratic Party primary politics. On the issues of guns, health care spending, the budget, and equal rights, he will have less power to influence those as Comptroller than he does as a senior legislator.

What this tells me is that Delegate Franchot's main reason for running against Comptroller Schaefer has little do with Schaefer's performance as Comptroller, and more to do with Schaefer's more moderate politics. To be fair, Franchot has been very candid with that fact. But it seems to me that Peter Franchot is more concerned with being a Democrat than he does with being Comptroller. And given the list of issues that he has presented as being important to him in this election, I am not sure that Delegate Franchot understands the job that the Office of the Comptroller does.