Judd Legum Hugs Thugs

Our favorite bought and paid for Washington insider "Progressive Democrat" Judd Legum was as proud as a peacock today:

Proud to be endorsed by the working men and women of @SEIU

That's kinda funny that Judd Legum is tripping all over himself to talk about his proud endorsement by the Service Employees International Union.

But....does anybody remember the last time we mentioned the SEIU? Let us take you back to May when members of the SEIU decided that instead of participating in reasoned discourse that they would instead decided to intimidate a 14-year old boy. Just in case you forgot, here's the video of that:



I suppose then through his acceptance of the endorsement and his complete lack of silence on this heinous act that Judd Legum supports political violence and intimidation of his political opponents.

Of course that's not the only issue that we have seen in recent months with the SEIU. Let us take you back to April when the SEIU was involved in an attack add falsely accusing Governor Ehrlich of being a lobbyist, notwithstanding the fact that the SEIU's own President was an unregistered lobbyist working with the White House.

Then again, maybe the SEIU endorsement has nothing to do with Legum's non-response on union thuggery and has everything to do with the involvement of both the SEIU and Legum's Center for American Progress in the secretive Democracy Alliance project that funneled money between liberal interest groups without the needless hassle of disclosure of their donor lists.

Regardless of this, one thing has remained perfectly clear throughout the entire length of this campaign in District 30. Judd Legum has no principles. He will take any endorsement, no matter what the organization is. He will spare no expense to raise tens of thousands of dollars from out of state if it means that he can advance his political career at the expense of the residents of Maryland and the residents of District 30. He continues to refer to his mentor John Podesta, a guy who is so out there that he is a UFO-truther. And it is perfectly clear that by getting in bed with the SEIU leadership that Judd Legum has no problem with intimidation of those people who disagree with him.

Judd Legum may have gotten into bed with thugs....and maybe that has something to do with the fact that Judd Legum has no balls and is too yellow to actually defend himself....but it is unmistakable that Judd Legum has willingly taken the endorsement of those that condone political violence. And I do not find such an endorsement acceptable of somebody who wants to serve in the House of Delegates.

Holy Day for Hypocrites

So in case you've been living under a rock, today is Earth Day. And in what ways do the world's "climate warriors" celebrate Earth Day?

Well, if you're Martin O'Malley, you log 800 miles driving across Maryland on taxpayer dollars to prop up your sagging re-election campaign. This of course, coming weeks after he had an SUV waiting for him to hitch a ride home in lieu of a tough three minute walk home from the bar.

If you're the President and Vice-President, you both fly separately to New York, tying up air traffic for hours. Of course, you really don't want the President and Vice-President to fly on the same plane for obvious reasons. But when you're flying Joe Biden to New York to be on The View...

If you're a rock star or a music lover, you go down to Washington for the Earth Day 2010 Climate Rally being held on the National Mall, which might have some sort of record for biggest carbon footprint in support of lowering carbon footprints since LiveEarth. I drove past the Mall today, and the number of tents, booths, trash receptacles and whatnot that have been brought to the Mall for this event is impressive. Obviously, they didn't bring these things to the Mall in a Pedicab; they were brought in by big, nasty, diesel trucks that spewed all sorts of nasty emissions into the local atmosphere. And to entertain the masses, the organizers of this event are flying in all sorts of people for the event; Jesse Jackson, James Cameron, Dhani Jones, Margaret Atwood, Sting, John Legend, The Roots, and more. How do you think these folks got to DC? They didn't ride Barack Obama's low-emission unicorns powered by rainbow energy, that's for sure.

Look, all of us support making sure we have a clean environment; I mean it was a Republican that basically invented conservation as a national policy. And that's what environmentalism should focus on; conservationism. Conserving our natural resources and not wasting them. Not using environmentalism as a cudgel to push a radical social agenda, and certainly not an excuse to lecture the masses about it while having carbon footprints many times larger than the average citizen.

But then again, like many holidays, Earth Day has become the focal point of a movement, a day for excess and double standards. For these so-called "climate warriors", however, the average taxpayer sees through their shams and recognize them for the hypocrites they are...

3B, or not 3B

We have done a pretty extensive job of documenting the situation in District 3B, from the resignation of turncoat Rick Weldon, to some pontificating about the choice of any potential successors to the seat.

Well, I'd like to weight in with my two cents on the subject by hearkening back to something I wrote in May 2007:

The problem with all of these examples is that Republican leadership constantly avoids leading by the examples that gave reason for the electorate to entrust Republican politicians with positions of leadership for so many years; to cut taxes, reduce the size of government, to emphasize personal responsibility and protect our national security. We cannot continue as a party to expect the American people to entrust us with the confidence and entrust us to lead our ship of state if our party cannot be entrusted to stand up for its first principles.

We cannot identify ourselves as the party of fiscal responsibility if our leadership cannot stand up against earmarks and cannot stand up against wasteful spending....

....It is time that our party reject those issues that divide us as conservatives, and unite around those core issues that bring together all wings of the Republican Party. We must bill willing to embrace fiscal responsibility, particularly when it comes to eliminating pork barrel projects. We must be willing to reduce the size of government in order to ensure to contain government only in the areas where it belongs. We must protect our national security, in order to protect us from foreign nations and from the presence of illegal aliens. And we must ensure that we are committed to upholding all of our Constitutional rights.

Now, when it comes to this vacancy in District 3B, the issue becomes more of state level issues. What issues should be the most important when it comes to considering the ideology of any successor to Weldon's seat? The most important need to be:

• Fiscal restraint;
• No on new taxes;
• A commitment to the reduction in the size of Government.

That's it. Period. And I am going to make the next point in big bold letters:

The absolutely last thing that the Frederick and Washington County Central Committees should be doing is making this a referendum about social conservatism.

What we know is that Maryland, for better or for worse a socially moderate to liberal state, even in somewhat outlying places such as Frederick County. We also know that District 3 is home to a number of transplants from the Washington, DC area who may not be particularly receptive to an overly social conservative message in a General Election.....but they (like the majority of Americans) do find fiscal conservatism and restraint appealing. They want people who are going to protect their pocketbooks and try to ensure government stays out of their way.

Time and again, we have gone out of our way as a party to shoot ourselves in the foot. This is one prime opportunity to make sure that we do not do so again, by sending to Annapolis a Delegate who is best qualified to serve the interests of all Marylanders in these fiscally uncertain times.....regardless of that new Delegate's credentials on social issues.

Now and Then

Remember the good old days, say about 2006, when Bob Ehrlich was in the process of leaving Maryland with a $1.2 billion budget surplus at the end of his term? You're right, it wasn't that long ago, and it really just emphasizes how bad of a steward Martin O'Malley is with your money when a $2 billion budget shortfall is staring us in the face.

We as conservatives and Republicans can jump up and down in the face and say I told you so. We told you that the Democrats spending plans were going to bankrupt the state. We told you that the historic and immoral tax hikes from the 2007 Special Session were going to dry up revenues. And now it seems like every day we are being proven right.

But none of that is going to provide responsible fiscal leadership here in Maryland. Martin O'Malley has shown time and time again that he does not care about the interests of Maryland's middle and working class families. Nor has Governor O'Malley shown the ability to learn from his mistakes.

Unfortunately, just being right on the issues isn't enough in a state like Maryland. So what you need to do is to go ask your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues, one simple question.

Is Maryland better off now than it was three years ago?

Inside the MDGOP Exec Board Meeting

I received (and I'm sure others did as well) an anonymous email message from the email account "15westst@gmail.com" regarding yesterday's Maryland Republican Party Executive Board meeting. Since this jives with a lot of the things that I have already heard about yesterday's meeting, I'll repost it here completely unadulterated.

On Saturday the Republican Executive Committee passed a resolution of no confidence in Chairman Pelura by a vote of 20-10.

However there is not any immediate impact of the resolution. Pelura told the meeting he had no intention in resigning.

Under the by-laws, only a full vote of the entire state Central Committee at a convention can remove the Chairman, and a two-thirds vote is required. Counties representing a potential weighted vote of about 50% at a convention opposed the resolution, including Anne Arundel, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's, St. Mary's, Wicomico and Worcester. The other counties and all the officers voted except Pelura for the resolution. Pelura did not vote.

The Committee rebuked candidate for Governor Mike Pappas on several occasions. Pappas was representing Baltimore County because Chris Cavey votes as First Vice Chair. First Pappas attempted to prevent Pelura from presiding at the meeting as Chairman. This effort was defeated. Later Pappas attempted to close off discussion, although Charles County Chairman Charles Lollar was attempting to be recognized. The Committee voted down the Pappas resolution and Lollar was given a chance to speak.

Repeated criticism was also directed at First Vice Chairman Chris Cavey for his press comments criticizing Pelura. Some members called on him to resign if Pelura remained as Chairman.

A Less than Stunning Development

Didn't catch this on Sunday, but to the surprise of absolutely no one the Free State came in dead last in personal freedom:

It's no shock that Maryland falls on the nanny state side of the ledger.

But it was still a surprise to hear the finding in a recent study by libertarian professors that Maryland came in dead last in personal freedom among the 50 states. (Alaska is No. 1.)

Among the reasons: Maryland lacks gay marriage or civil unions, aggressively prosecutes victimless drug crimes, keeps tight controls on land use and has the nation's second-strictest gun laws after California.

"You might call it 'suburban liberalism' ... kind of the idea that we need to take care of people, make sure they don't harm themselves," said Jason Sorens, co-author of the study and an assistant professor of political science at the University at Buffalo.....

...."For Maryland to end up last, that was a bit surprising, especially since the margin wasn't terribly close," Sorens said with a laugh.

The full report is available here. And it gets worse; according to the study, we are the fifth least free state overall when you tie in our ranking as the 34th least free state based on economic factors.

How does the study describe our personal freedom issues? Like this:

Maryland’s impositions on personal freedom include the second-strictest gun laws in the country, and marijuana laws are fairly harsh (except that the first offense of high-level possession is a misdemeanor, and there is a weak medical marijuana law), motorists’ freedoms are highly restricted, gambling laws are tight, home schooling laws are burdensome (curricula must be approved by the government), centralized land-use planning is very advanced, eminent domain abuse is totally unreformed, victimless crimes arrest rates are high, and civil unions are not recognized.

Yeah, that about sums it up nicely.

Now obviously, and as Hartley points out, Maryland is not going to be all things to all people when it comes to personal freedom. But there are a lot of personal freedom issues listed in that list that are anathema to all facets of conservatism, and several that will cross party lines. As we have talked about hte issue of Republican branding time and time again, it is incumbent upon us as Republicans to take on the mantra of the party of smaller government and try to champion a number of these issues. In Maryland, the Democrats are the party of the nannystate, and we as Republicans need to make them own it.

Props

Wanted to give a shout out and thanks to Minority Leader Tony O'Donnell and the other members of the House Republican Caucus for sponsoring HB472, a bill that would extricate Maryland from the National Popular Vote scheme that has been floating around for a few years that would tie Maryland's Electoral College votes to the winner of the popular vote. I've talked in detail about this attempt at Constitutional subversion and the mental midgets who push for it many times before, though the bill strangely passed during the 2008 General Assembly Session.

Mind you, HB472 doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of passing, but I commend the Caucus for fighting the good fight on this one.

And now, a message from the adults in Annapolis

The State of the State Response, given by my friend House Minority Leader Tony O'Donnell:

Part I:


Part II:

Hand Grenades from the Peanut Gallery

Most people realize that I am often critical of the party apparatus, and have gone back and forth and back again on the Chairmanship of Jim Pelura. But one person who is certainly not helping things any is trial lawyer and perpetual quitter Dirk Haire:

"If I were chairman and we suffered the electoral losses that we just suffered and we were completely ineffective in critical party activities like party registration, then I believe it would be my duty to step down and let someone else have a chance to be more effective," said Dirk D. Haire, an Annapolis resident who practices law in Washington....

....And Haire, 41, who briefly tested the waters for a possible run for Anne Arundel County executive in 2006, isn't confident that Pelura can deliver on his pledge to prioritize voter registration in advance of 2010.

"I think Republicans have to honestly ask themselves how it is that somebody who has failed so significantly in this critical area in the past two years can achieve those objectives," he said. "It raises a question of credibility in my mind."

The last person the Republican Party needs to take advice from is Dirk Haire. Haire is a construction lawyer for the the firm of Holland and Knight, a predominately Democratic firm in Washington. Haire is more well known politically for the things he hasn't done than the things that he has done. Last night at the State Convention, somebody best described Dirk Haire as the "subject matter expert on being a quitter":

• In 2002, Haire announced his candidacy for Anne Arundel County Council in the 7th District. He raised $60,000 and then quietly quit from the race with little fanfare, returning his contributions to his contributors.
  
  
• In 2004, with much fanfare, Haire announced that he was running for Anne Arundel County Executive, indicating that he intended to raise a million dollars for the campaign. He quickly raised $250,000. predominantly from out of state developers. In May of 2005, he quit the race due to low polling numbers and endorsed John Leopold, saying that he "couldn't win without using negative tactics" despite using early push polling to promote his candidacy.
  
  
• He briefly was a candidate for State Party Chair in 2006, quickly removing himself from that race for reasons that were never explained.

So basically, with Dirk Haire you get a lot of flash and bang, but not actual results that helps with governance and building the Republican Party; he hasn't even donated to his local Central Committee in four years, for example, and has rarely been seen at Republican events. He shows up on an occasional fundraising host committee or two, but Dirk Haire has never taken an interest in party building or branding, so his criticisms of Pelura and his sudden interest in running for chair in 2010 seem disingenuous, at best. He has no credibility when it comes to these issues, and of course zero interest in perseverance, dedication, or actually finishing what he starts.

Considering that Haire is angling to be elected Party Chairman, take all of his criticisms and comments with a grain of salt....and start taking bets as to when he'll quit this race, too.

Resurrecting the Myth

A column in the Sun by Atwood "Woody" Collins III, Chairman of the Greater Baltimore Committee, this morning once again resurrects the myth of the recession-proof economy. Sadly, the same points as always are trotted out to make this point: the federal workforce and federal spending, a stronger housing market, our medical facilities, and a diversified economy.

Of course, as I said back in April, these points can merely give on the impression that an economy is "recession-proof." Just because Maryland enjoys lower unemployment than most states given its location near Washington and the number of federal and federal contracting jobs does not mean that the economy is strong. One need only look at local business, local restaurants, local shopping facilities, to notice that they aren't as crowded anymore. Regardless of unemployment and the job market and regardless of the housing market, we are in a recession, one that started with O'Malley's tax increases and reckless spending hikes, and has continued with the more recent sharp decline in the global economy. We are in a recession just like everybody else, only exacerbated by irresponsible leadership in our state government.

Collins also concludes with this silly piece:

In these extremely challenging times, it's clear that our region is in a better position than many to weather the worst effects of this storm. And our remarkably resilient nation, as it always has in difficult times, will recover from this period and emerge stronger and wiser.

While we always come out stronger, I have a funny feeling given who sits in positions of power in our state and federal governments, we sure won't come out any wiser. If economic downturns made leaders wiser, we certainly would not have seen O'Malleynomics unleashed on the citizenry of Maryland, and the corresponding irresponsible tax hikes and spending increases that have gone with it. I am under no presumption that the Democratic Congress and the Obama Administration are going to learn anything either, particularly in light of Obama's promised tax increases that are going to impact the economic plight of every individual American citizen for the worse.

While Maryland is better position than most, the perpetuation of this myth of a recession-proof economy is doing little but attempting to give political cover to liberal politicians who misguidedly think that we can tax and spend our way out of this climate. And not only is that turning out to be politically unpopular, but it's also bad leadership. You cannot continue to do what got you into this mess and think that it is going to magically get you out of it.

Maryland and Marylanders need tax cuts across the board, and Maryland government needs a drastic reduction in spending. Now.

Weldon on the Mount

Yeah, there is video of Weldon leaving the Republican Party (H/T to Wally Edge for this find):



Digest that for a second...

Now think about it for a minute.

Rick Weldon's "soul searching and contemplation" led him to decide he needed to leave the party because leaders "focus on ideology rather than ideas." He worked for Republicans and supported many core principals on the party. And now he doesn't I guess.

If Weldon wants to focus more on "doing what's best for Frederick County" as opposed to politics that's fine. But as an elected official he should have been doing that in the first place; any elected official regardless of their party or ideology should support positions that believe are in the best interests of their constituents, even if I don't agree with them.

But this holier than thou attitude is a little too much to swallow. What a self-serving load of crap.

A Revolution that should not be televised

I love the fact that my friend and RedMaryland colleague G. A. Harrison is proposing reform in they way the Republican Party operates. Unfortunately, I could not disagree with him any more on one of his proposed solutions. In last night's post, G. A. proposed conventions to nominate candidates.Notwithstanding the fact that state law preclude its implementation, I don't think that this will benefit the Republican Party and its membership in the ways he thinks it would.

On the issue he writes:

I like mass meetings (caucuses) and conventions for nominating candidates. Primaries, which appear democratic, usually become little more than a money race - money that could be better spent in the general election. Mass meetings and conventions get people involved. They get people excited. They particularly involve and excite the people who will be out knocking on doors and making phone calls - the people who win elections.

However, things do not always work out in this manner. Yes, primaries do devolve into issues around money, Yes, large conventions get get people involved and get people excited. However, the idea of nominating conventions does create several issues:

1. It doesn't solve the money issue. If you are talking about large gatherings such as the ones in Virginia, money still plays a tremendous part in the convention process. Candidates still spend money prior to the convention. They spend money on ferrying people to and from the convention. It would take the current primary process and instead replace with a more byzantine version of the Iowa Caucus.
2. The best candidate doesn't always win. This year, Jim Gilmore was nominated at convention to be the nominee for Senate in Virginia. But you could argue that the Republican base was better represented by Bob Marshall, who also sought the nomination. Which leads us to....
3. Principle. Republicans talk a lot about the marketplace of ideas. Should we not allow candidates to compete in this marketplace free of byzantine structures and a convention process that is more manipulatable than a primary election.

I'd also be concerned, of course, with the idea that this sort of lends itself to endorsement of candidates by the party, which I have written extensively about in the past.

I agree that we need to shake up the way we do business, but we need to do that through training and encouraging good conservative candidates to run than by throwing out the rulebook and starting anew.

The First MD GOP Blogger Conference Call

We just finished up the first Blogger Conference call with State GOP Executive Director Justin Ready. Participants included RedMaryland stalwarts Michael Swartz, Greg Kline, Mark Newgent and myself.

This was a fantastic opportunity for Justin to speak with bloggers, talk about the issues important to Republicans, to bloggers, and to our readers, and to foster cooperation. One thing that Justin stressed was the need for cooperation between the party, Republican elected officials and the conservative blogosphere. As a former blogger Justin knows the important role that blogs have, particularly a state like Maryland with a generally monolithic liberal media, and that's going to become even more important as we head towards the General Assembly session and, looking beyond that, the 2010 Election.

Some good news from the call; fundraising, which was an issue during John Flynn's tenure as Executive Director, has greatly improved during Justin's three months on the job, and the part is in an ever improving financial position.

I am glad that Justin took the initiative to hold this call, and I look forward to participating with my fellow bloggers in future calls.

No Model

John Leopold continue his campaign to be anointed as the Republican Nominee for Governor in 2010 by calling urging the GOP to follow him:

Local government is at the cutting edge of bipartisan, pragmatic governance that improves people's lives. In Anne Arundel County, we have built a model for governing in the 21st century that sets a standard for effective governing that should be reflected in our national party platform.

Leopold talks about a lot of the good things that the administration has done here in Anne Arundel County, with a heavy emphasis on public safety and immigration enforcement, two things that the entire GOP can rally around.

Of course, some of the things that Leopold supports and has supported in the past leave me nauseated at the concept that Leopold thinks anybody should use him as a model for the Republican Platform.

• Does John Leopold still want to raise taxes and fees, as he has proposed to do half a dozen times since taking office?
• Does John Leopold still support government-funded abortions, as he did as a legislator in Hawaii and as a former Director of Planned Parenthood?
• Does John Leopold still oppose the small government model set forth by Ronald Reagan, as he did at the 1980 Republican National Convention?
• Does John Leopold still support the energy rate hikes he voted for as a member of the General Assembly?
  

If those are the things that John Leopold wants to do to the Republican Party, he can shove them where the sun don't shine.

Squishy liberal Republicans are the cause of, not the cure for, Republican branding issues in the modern body politic. It is when politicians started acting more like Leopold, and less like small government conservatives, where the Republican Party went awry, as I have stated time and time again.

When it comes to the future of the Republican Party if John Leopold is the answer, you're asking the wrong question...

The Justin Ready Interview

I had the opportunity to interview via email our new State GOP Executive Director Justin Ready. Here is the full Q&A, and it provides a lot of insight into Justin's view on our current situation here in Maryland, where we go for the rest of 2008, and how our party is preparing for 2010 and beyond.

I greatly thank Justin for taking the time to do this!

* * * * * *
Brian Griffiths: You've been on the job for a couple of weeks now, how are you adjusting to the new position.
Justin Ready: I am adjusting pretty well, I think. Its still a process of learning more about day to day responsibilities and technical "stuff" while also looking to move the Party forward and take the next, crucial steps in fundraising and grassroots development. No matter how busy things get, it is an absolute privilege to wake up every morning and be able to work to advance the Maryland Republican Party.

BG: How different is your role as Executive Director from your previous roles on campaigns or in the General Assembly?
JR: In the General Assembly, policy and legislation are the primary concern. In my position with both Senator Greenip and Delegate Jennings, I spent the lions share of my time on researching and in some cases developing legislation, communicating with constituents, and working on problems that individual constituents brought to the Senator or Delegate's attention. At the State Party, it's a little different in the sense that my job is not to make policy but to work very hard to build a strong political infrastructure and organization to elect Republicans and grow our party.

There are a lot of similarities to running a campaign except your pushing all of your candidates while working to stockpile resources for the future.

BG: What are your goals for the rest of 2008?
JR: Building a stronger grassroots infrastructure, increasing the coordination between elected officials and the MDGOP, increasing our file of reliable donors both small and large, working to be sure we hold onto Congressional Districts 1 and 6 while working with our challengers in the other six districts, and beginning the process of recruiting and training great candidates for our races in 2010. How's that for a short list lol? Putting the party in position to elect more Republicans is what I see as my primary objective.

BG: In the past, the state party apparatus has been accused of meddling too much into the affairs of local central committees. What do you think the relationship should be between the state and local parties?
JR: The state party is empowered by the local parties, and not the other way around. I'm not sure about past situations, but my job is to work with our local chairs and central committee members on advancing broad goals not micromanage their processes. The only exception I would make is if there is some extreme case of fiscal mismanagement, corruption, or criminal activity. Even then, it's best handled locally.

BG: One of the concerns that many Republicans have deals with fundraising. How do you plan on ensuring that the party coffers get into and stays in the black?
JR: Our fundraising has been strong this year but we must use this election year interest to expand our donor base. It is so important to bring more and more small and large donors into the party. Part of the challenge is developing good relationships with people around the state who are able to invest a substantial amount, while also letting the small and medium level donors know just how important their donations are. You'll get tired of hearing me say this, but it just takes working very hard and also reaching out beyond our normal boundaries to find new donors.

BG:. There have been several proposals in recent years to allow the state and local parties to endorse in competitive primary elections, something that has proven rather controversial with Central Committee members and activists alike. What are you thoughts on these proposals?
JR: The position of the state party is to stay out of primaries and I think it is the right position. The Republican primary voters in each district should decide and then we should all come together behind the winner of the GOP primary. There are not enough of us to fight amongst ourselves during the General Election. That does not do anything to advance our cause or beat Democrats.

BG: The 1st Congressional District race was particularly ugly and caustic. What do you see as your role in bringing the party back together?
JR: Well, I think the party in many ways is back together. Senator Harris has reached out to supporters of his primary opponents and nearly everyone has gotten completely behind his candidacy, because the major debate in the primary was over policy issues. He has the support of every Eastern Shore GOP Central Committee and the elected officials on the Shore. My job as ED is to point out that the election in CD1 is between a liberal Democrat who wants higher taxes and more government spending and who wants to be an "ally of Governor O'Malley's in Washington," and a common sense conservative who wants lower taxes and less wasteful government spending. When Republicans, Independents, and moderate Democrats see the difference between Andy Harris and Frank Kratovil, I am confident Andy will be our next congressman. My role is to work with the local parties and activists to ensure that our entire Republican infrastructure is doing all they can to bring about victory. It hasn't been a hard sell. Andy Harris has really energized the Republicans across the board as well as many independents and Democrats.

BG:. Despite the party registration numbers, Maryland has a very vibrant conservative blogosphere. How do you think that bloggers can help the party, and how will you try to engage them?
JR: The conservative blogosphere in Maryland is doing a wonderful job of getting information out to activists all over Maryland. The commentary and issue spotlighting that happens on the blogs really encourages our elected officials and lets them know that they are not alone in the fight. With the dominant print media in this state being so left of center, it is vital that we have alternative outlets.

My plan is to be sure we are keeping bloggers in the loop with what we want to do message wise, while respecting their autonomy. It means treating bloggers as allies but not expecting them to be lockstep with us all the time. In addition, I would like to see the conservative blogosphere call attention to our candidates for office and work to drive volunteers and donations toward GOP candidates that are putting their name on the line to help build our party.

BG. One concern that I have had and have argued for is that the 2010 elections are much more important than the 2008 elections due to the composition of the General Assembly, the governorship, and the impending redistricting after the 2010 census. How important is 2010 in your eyes, and what preparations are you taking now for that election?
JR: It is vital for our party to come out of 2010 with positive progress. Even if we do not win the governorship back or a U.S. Senate seat (although those are certainly major goals), we must pick up seats in the General Assembly. If so called "moderate" Democrats are able to come to Annapolis, vote for higher taxes or ridiculous government programs and then get re-elected, then there will be no stopping the left-wing from completely dominating all aspects of our state.

As far as preparations go, my passion is finding hungry, committed candidates for State Senate, House of Delegates, and our county offices throughout Maryland. They must be willing to work hard, raise money, and take an active role in getting themselves out in the community. Our party must stockpile financial resources so that we can have the ability to go after vulnerable delegates and senators BUT we must use our limited resources intelligently. Through identifying winning messages and pairing those messages with grassroots effort from solid candidates, we can make solid gains in 2010. We have to be smart about it as a party though. We need Republicans in every district to get behind their candidates and also their GOP incumbents to ensure that we hold our seats and make gains.

BG: One recent criticism of the state party apparatus has been candidate recruitment, two particularly egregious examples being the 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts this year. Have you started candidate recruitment for 2010, and do you think that the party will be able to field stronger candidates for Congress in the future?
JR: We are in the beginning stages of candidate recruitment. My goal is to have quality candidates for every state legislative district and congressional district in Maryland. There are many districts where, with hard-working and enthusiastic candidates, we can pick up seats in the General Assembly. In off year elections, we also have a much better chance in the six Democratically held congressional seats because Democratic turnout is much lower. One of the lessons that I learned running races in 2006 was that in districts with a strong senate candidate and strong delegate candidates, you had a much better chance of picking up House or Senate seats than if you just had one strong State Senate candidate or 2-3 strong House of Delegates candidates. It's important that we have qualified people up and down the ballot. We're working on identifying what ought to be our top targeted districts statewide and want to get our candidates trained and setting the table in their districts very early on.

BG:. Voter registration numbers in recent years have indicated that the younger demographic is registering as independents more than in previous years? How do you think we can reach these voters?
JR: I think we have to have a strong message and show them that they can trust us when we are in power. Also, Maryland Republicans have to break through the stereotypes created on the national level about Republicans. We are the party in Maryland that fights for working families, small business entrepreneurs and employees of businesses small and large. We want to cut taxes, stop wasteful spending and provide free market solutions in health care and energy.

The Democratic Party in Maryland (and nationally) believes that government knows best how to run your life. They want to control how your kids are raised, what car you drive, and whenever they spend too much money, they want to make you pay for their largesse by increasing your taxes. Why do they always blame us for the problem and not their over-spending? Because they think that we taxpayers are greedy, that's why! They think we are desperate for more and more government intervention in our lives and without big government there, we wouldn't have a hope of making it on our own. So they tell us they are hiking up taxes "for our own good". If we can succinctly express this to independent voters, I am confident that we can win a large percentage of them over.

BG: Any other thoughts you would like to share with our readers?
JR: Be a rebel...fight the establishment... support Maryland Republicans.

An Inspired Choice

Justin Ready has been tapped to be the New Executive Director of the Maryland Republican Party. And if you are expecting to come here waiting for me to read me blasting the choice....then you'll be disappointed.

The selection of Justin is an inspired choice. Justin actually brings together a lot of the practical perspectives that one needs in order to be a successful Director in the modern age. He has strategic, grassroots, legislative and organization experience. Most importantly, and this is something that I have been harping on for a while, he is a blogger who has some understanding of the importance of the new medium.

Jim Pelura went out on a limb in naming Justin and interviewing a lot of nontraditional candidates. I thank him for that, as well as giving me the opportunity as well. And I am glad that he went against the grain. Rumors swirled all weekend that the choice was going to be Harris Campaign Manager Chris Meekins, and had Meekins been selected we would have looked back at the age of John Flynn as the halcyon days of good management, and we all know how poor of a job Flynn did during his tenure.

I wish Justin well and look forward to working with him.

Lacking Speculation

There has been a lack of speculation out there regarding the possible names who are being considered to fill the vacancy as the Executive Director of the Maryland Republican Party. In fact, I have heard of no names being seriously considered, at least names that have made their way to me.

The quick turnaround of the deadline for resumes to be sent to Jim Pelura seems like it may limit the ability of the party to conduct a national search for a replacement. It will be interesting to see if that in anyway impacts the final selection.

So at this time, I can only speculate as to how many resumes have been submitted for the position. But I can confirm this: that after receiving encouragement from several individuals, I have in fact submitted my resume for consideration. I am extremely grateful for those individuals who have confidence in my abilities and asking me to consider serving. And while I do not expect to be selected to fill the vacancy, I feel like I have a duty given my critique of John Flynn's job performance to seek the opportunity to replace him.

We'll see where we go from here...

CONFIRMED: Flynn Out

This note from Jim Pelura is being sent around, sent yesterday:

From: "James Pelura"
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:21:44
Subject: Bittersweet news


Dear Republican Leaders,

It is with mixed emotions that I contact you tonight.

John Flynn, our Executive Director, has given notice that he will be
embarking on a new and exciting adventure in 2 weeks.

As you all know, John has been instrumental in carrying out my plan to
return the State Party to the county Central Committees and the grassroots
Republicans of our beloved Maryland.

I am dismayed in his leaving but extremely happy for him and wish him every
success and happiness in his new position. He will be missed!!

Due to time constraints, I will be interviewing for this position on
Tuesday, April 22 at MDGOP headquarters. Please spread the word and have
the applicants e-mail their resumes to me at jpelura@mdgop.org
by Monday, April 21, 2008.


Dr. Jim Pelura
Chairman
Maryland Republican Party

BREAKING: John Flynn out?

GOP Insiders are telling me that Maryland State GOP Executive Director John Flynn has resigned from his post to take a job with the Harris for Congress campaign.

More news and comment to follow...

Still Past Due

One of my earliest posts on this blog was about the need to repeal the tax on military pensions. Unfortunately, it's a battle that is still going on.

It has always been nonsensical to me that we would want to adopt tax policies that drive veterans out of the state of Maryland to states with a more hospitable tax climate. When you consider the number of high paying, high skilled jobs that are in this area, we should do what we have to do to appeal to those retirees who are qualified to fill those jobs to stay in this area.

Maryland is close to two major metro areas, has a wealth of retiree resources, and access to a number of local military health care facilities. It's a natural fit for retirees, but only if we do our part to be competitive with states that allow those who have served us to keep their retirement income free of taxes.