How NOT to win friends or win elections

Just when you think that you have seen everything in politics, you see something new.

Tonight I attended the Southern Maryland Young Republicans meeting in Prince Frederick, and the meeting featured bookend speakers for Delegate in District 27B, the winner earning the right to take on Sue Kullen. And the meeting ended with one of the stranger spectacles you will ever hear about.

The opening speaker was Bob Schaefer. Schaefer spoke about his perceived role of the General Assembly, and some of the things that he would do as a Delegate. He spoke on and on about his role, and stumbled a few times about who exactly does what when it comes to the role of Government, and fumbled a few softball questions that were thrown his way. Nothing earthshatteringly bad, but clearly a case of nerves from a novice candidate.

Once the club conducted the rest of their business, they heard a presentation from candidate Mark Fisher who spoke not about his camapaign, but about Cap and Trade. He presented the club with a slide show as it relates to Cap and Trade, how Marylanders are impacted by it, and how it relates to voters and citizens living in Calvert County. It was an impressive presentation, and during it he remained focused on the cap and trade issue, mentioning his candidacy only in passing.

As the meeting wrapped up, Schaefer stood and announced that "he had never seen anything so impolite" as when Fisher and his team were setting up a projector to present the Powerpoint presentation during Schaefer's remarks; something that most in the room didn't even know was occurring. While I thought that was a little uncalled for (and that I had certainly seen things less polite than this), I thought nothing much more it.

As it turns out Fisher went to shake hands with Schaefer as folks were filing out to leave. And at that point Bob Schaefer punched Mark Fisher in the stomach, in front of Fisher's children, no less. And nobody could believe what just happened. Fisher, being a reasonable fellow, decided (at last check) not to press charges in this bizarre incident.

I understand that sometimes primaries get heated, but this is just way way way over the line....and I kinda thought it was reasonably self-evident that you don't punch your primary opponents at any point in the campaign.

Needless to say, I think Bob Schaefer just punched himself out of the Delegate's race in 27B tonight.

Trial Lawyers will get their Christmas in April....but why did some Republicans tie on the bow?

It's Christmas in April for Trial Lawyers in Annapolis! One of their pet bills has passed out of the House of Delegates....with some Republican support, no less. And at the end of the day, taxpayers are going to be the ones left holding the bag.

House Bill 825 passed out of the House earlier this week. The bill increases the minimum amount of coverage for injury or death related to a car accident from $20,000 or $40,000 (for one or two cars) to $30,000 or $60,000 (for one or two cars).

And it's a that point that things patently fly off the handle. As part of the process, insurance companies are going to need to create a new classification of insurance policy. The standard slotting for insurance policies across the country have always been incremental. They current $20,000/$40,000 slot is standard across the country. The next slot is $25,000/$50,000, the standard in the District of Columbia. The slot after that jumps to $50,000/$100,000. Insurance companies are going to have to create a whole new classification of policy specifically to deal with Maryland if this passes....a policy which, incidentally the Sun points out will be among the highest liability coverage rates in the nation.

When you are increasing costs to the insurance companies, for having to create an entirely new classification of policy, while at the same time increasing the required coverage for policyholders, guess who is going to be left holding the bag. Consumers. But it won't impact most consumers....

No, the brunt of this impact will be felt by low-income Marylanders, the same middle and working class families that Democrats routinely go out of there way to stick it to. As a matter of fact, almost the entirety of the premium increase will be taken out of MAIF's policy holders., which of course lead to some drivers driving without misurance altogether. As House Minority Leader Tony O'Donnell so poignantly noted:

"This bill is going to hurt people at the bottom end of the socioeconomic ladder," said House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell. "It's a tax increase. Call it something else. It's a burden that's going to come out of their pockets."

This bill is, at its most basic level, a ten-percent increase in insurance premiums for those least able to afford a ten-percent increase in insurance premiums. It's why the Democrats don't blink a passing such an expense on to the taxpayers, because their raison d'etre is to hurt people at the bottom end of the socioeconomic ladder to enrich their special interest buddies.....

....which leads me to the Christmas in April title of this post. You see, this bill is being championed by two groups of people:

• The O'Malley Administration
• The Trial Lawyers that keep the O'Malley campaign awash in contributions.

Within the Administration, there has been a gag order on this bill. Leadership at the Maryland Insurance Administration is against this. Leadership at MAIF is against this. But they have been gagged on the orders from the Second Floor of the State House to stay out of the way and let this pass. Insurance companies are also opposing this as well, because it's an administrative burden on them and will increase their cost of doing business in the state of Maryland as well.

This friends is O'Malley's gift to the trial lawyers. Presumably, it's to make sure that his campaign stays funded this fall.....but it may also be a tacit admission that the O'Malley Campaign and his trial lawyer allies have no confidence whatsoever in O'Malley's ability to get himself re-elected.

Incidentally, this isn't the only O'Malley give away to the trial lawyers; SB 119 has passed out of the Senate, a constitutional amendment that would raise from $10,000 to $20,000 the minimum amount of damages that would be required to be sough in order to guarantee the right to a jury trial....

O'Malley's Christmas in April give-a-way to the trial lawyers is bad enough. But then nine Republicans broke with the caucus and decided to vote with O'Malley on this issue. If anybody would like to explain why the following Republican Delegates broke ranks with their party and decided that Marylanders need to pay more for insurance, I'm all ears:

• Bob Costa
• Donald Elliott
• Rick Impallaria
• James King
• Pat McDonough
• Tanya Shewell
• Mike Smigiel
• Donna Stifler
• Nancy Stocksdale

These are the kind of a votes where we need a cohesive Republican Caucus that stands up for taxapayers and not special interests...and it is VERY hard for us Republicans to make the argument that we are a better choice for Maryland's middle and working class families when we've got such a large percentage of the Republican caucus going off the reservation and siding with Governor O'Malley and the trial lawyers.

The people of Maryland, particular those Marylanders who are least able to pay, should not be subject to Martin O'Malley's giveaways to his trial lawyer special interest buddies. We owe it to ourselves and to the future of our state to make our opinion's about Governor O'Malley and his handouts at the ballot box this November.

Where there is Smoke....

If you remember the Derek Fink story from earlier this month, you can conclusively say that there is trouble in paradise for Fink. Just check out the Facebook fan page for Cookie's Kitchen restaurant:

In an attempt to create clarity Cookie Kiser owner of Cookies Kitchen, Cookies City Line Diner & Cookies Bay Meadow Grill would like to make the following announcement: She no longer has any affiliation personally, professionally or politically with DEREK FINK.

I think that settles one aspect of this story. But I can't wait until we really get to the bottom of this one....

The Consequences of Failure

We at RedMaryland have taken, of course, a great interest in the appointment process for the vacancy in the House of Delegates in District 3B. And now we see what the consequences of Republicans failure to lead has been.

Governor O'Malley appointed Charles Jenkins to fill the vacancy. And as my friend a colleague Greg Kline noted, Jenkins is on the record as being against tax hikes and for tax increases.

Is it any wonder Governor O'Malley picked Jenkins to fill the vacancy?

And is it any wonder so many average Republicans have no faith in their local Republican Party apparatus?

These are the consequences of failure. Our party needs to pick up the pieces and learn from this mistake....

The Perils of Choosing One

Life's tough when you're the chosen one in a local election. Take, for example, Derek Fink a Republican candidate for County Council in the 3rd District. One of the candidates running to succeed Current Councilman Ron Dillon, Fink has been anointed as the establishment candidate in the race, supported by many local elected officials and by movers and shakers within the area business community.

(Nobody can exactly say why Fink is the chosen one. His career experience is more as a political functionary than as the "restaurant owner" he would like to portray himself as. And I met the guy once, and he seemed relatively aloof and clueless, but that's a story for another time).

What is very interesting however is how every solitary mention of one of Fink's prominent initial backers has completely vanished from his campaign website.

Ruth "Cookie" Kiser is the owner of the famous Cookie's Kitchen restaurant and Pasadena. She has been a longtime instrumental and important figure in the Pasadena business community. She has also been a longtime supporter of Republican candidates and causes here in Anne Arundel County, a financial backer of the candidacies of Bob Ehrlich, Steve Schuh and (curiously) Democrat George Johnson.

Kiser also has played a significant role in Fink's ability to mount a credible campaign. She gave Fink the opportunity to run Cookies Bay Meadow Grille in the Baymeadow Industrial Park. She was Fink's campaign treasurer when he opened his campaign finance committee in 2008, and donated $1,000 to Fink's campaign. She's even listed in property records as co-owner of Fink's home. That's a pretty significant commitment Kiser made to Fink.

However, upon the relaunch of Fink's campaign website, every mention of Kiser on his site has been scrubbed. She has been replaced as Treasurer as of November 5th. Fink's website, which used to mention specifically his employment at the Grille, now says only that "Derek is a small business owner in the County."

What happened? Who knows for sure. There are a number of rumors that are swirling, none of which are substantiated enough to publish.

The reason I mention this story (other than the fact that I am a resident of the 3rd District) is to demonstrate once again the perils of the establishment closing ranks around a candidate without doing their homework. A number of elected Republicans have given Fink their full and unadulterated support in this primary and at the moment it seems that this closing of ranks was predicated more around the fact that Fink was embraced by the business community and Fink's service as Steve Schuh's campaign manager than it was by the idea that Fink is the best candidate to serve the people of the district.

We as Republicans need to make sure that we do our homework in our primary elections, and not let establishment endorsements be the only guide of the candidates we support with donations of time and money....

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.

What's our Plan?

You wouldn't necessarily expect the CEO of Whole Foods, possibly the official store of the crunchy granola left, would come out and provide us with a template for a common sense, free market approach to health care reform that makes far, far more sense than the socialized medicine seen in Obama care. But John Mackey does that in the Wall Street Journal with a plan that emphasizes basic ideas such as tax fairness on health plan, removal of barriers for buying coverage across state lines (one of my pet peeves), tort reform, Medicare reform, and cost transparency. It its one of the more articulate alternative solutions that have been put forth recently.

And I think that's one of the more frustrating things for me recently. Certainly, the protests that we have seen pop up against Obamacare and the Democrats attempt at destroying free market health care are a positive sign, and the fact that public support for Obamacare has dropped 21 percent in the past four weeks is a positive sign that the public is getting the message on this regard.

But what alternatives are we as conservatives and Republicans presenting to the American public? Both left and right agree that the current health care system in this country is in major need of reformation. And mainstream Americans agree that the helath plan put forth by Obama and Congressional Democrats is risky, dangerous, and unwise.

So why is our side not offering more alternatives?

There are times when it is proper to stand back and say "no." But conservatives have an opportunity here to present a conservative vision of health care reform in this country. But seem to be more concerned saying no than we are with providing an alternative. Since liberal Democrats tend to be the party of emotion and conservative Republicans tend to be the party of ideas, we are missing an opportunity in this health care debate not only to position ourselves better to win elections in 2010, but an opportunity to build a broad coalition across party lines on major conservative principles that appeal to the majority of American citizens. The ball is on the tee for us, but it doesn't seem like we are ready to

Not a sermon, just a thought....

Whoops

This is just one of those moments where you just have to sit back and shake your head:

A state constitutional requirement that a gubernatorial candidate must be a registered voter in Maryland for five years could prevent Charles County Republican Central Committee Chairman Charles J. Lollar from seeking the state's highest office.....

....If Lollar opts to run for governor, he will have to prove his eligibility.

A candidate for governor or lieutenant governor "must have attained the age of thirty years, and must have been a resident and registered voter of the State for five years next immediately preceding his election," according to Article II, Section 5 of the Maryland Constitution.

OK, that's bad enough. But the story amazingly gets worse:

Lollar moved to Maryland from suburban Atlanta in October 2005 and submitted his voter registration application with his vehicle registration application shortly thereafter, he said.

However, a copy of his voter registration card on file at the Charles County Board of Elections obtained by the Maryland Independent shows he signed and dated his application on June 6, 2006. He maintained that the application was submitted right after he moved, but was not processed until the following June for unknown reasons.

It's almost like Republicans in our state are trying to find new and creative ways to embarrass themselves and the party these days....

Hopefully, Lollar will throw his hat into the Congressional race and not risk further dragging this story out for an even longer period of time. But I'm pretty curious to know why Lollar says he is going to be found eligible when the form he signed and dated appears to say otherwise.

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.

Thoughts on RWAAC-Gate

There was a story in the Capital yesterday about pressure on RWAAC President Joyce Thomann to resign in light of her comments. I don't think Joyce Thomann should resign. Resignation is the honorable way out, and there was absolutely nothing honorable about what she said. The RWAAC Board should refuse her resignation and remove her by their Constitutionally mandated methods.

There has been a lot of harrumphing about Republicans who have failed to defend Joyce's comments. Mike Netherland has been characteristically off the reservation with some of his learned thoughts on the matter:

If no other good can come from the Thomann affair let it be that it has opened the eyes of conservatives in and around Annapolis as to who in the Republican Party are most likely to throw you overboard when the going gets a little rough.

Somehow, Mike has determined that the entire Republican Party does not consist of "conservatives" but of merely "registered Republicans", and that RWAAC's disapproval of Thomann's statement will "forever be an ugly stain and its only lasting legacy." (Coincidentally, Mike considers himself a true Republican conservative. Go figure).

You know it's one thing to defend a Republican when what they do actually merits a defense. Attacking Democrats on an issue, standing up for principle on policy, and those kinds of things are worthy of my defense. Idiotic comparisons that basically wrap the Republican elephant in a box of hand grenades with their pins removed deserve no sort of defense. Joyce in her position as President of a Republican Club should be focused on doing her part to elect Republicans and get the Republican message out to the people. And as anybody who has ever heard of Godwin's Law can tell you, if you have to invoke Hitler in your argument you've already lost. These comments did one hell of a lot of damage to the cause of conservatism and the cause of the Republican Party.

Conservatism is in a tenuous moment here on our country. We do have a situation where we have a number of Republicans trying to masquerade as conservatives in order to obtain and maintain elected office. Of course, that point has nothing to do with comparing Obama to Hitler. This is the time we need to be attacking the policies of this President (which are, in fact, dangerous to our country). This is the time we need to be focused on defending conservatism and the conservatism message. Taking even one minute of time to defend ridiculous outbursts like this takes valuable time away from defending conservative principles and electing conservative candidates.

So no, I cannot be bothered to defend what does not deserve to be defended. And I don't give a damn who questions my conservative bona fides for it.

The Five in 33

Surprisingly (at least to me) only five candidates applied to fill the State Senate vacancy created by the resignation of Janet Greenip in District 33. The candidates are:

• Tom Angelis: Baltimore City High School Teacher and Republican Candidate for County Executive in 2002 and 2006
  
• Dave Boschert: Former Delegate, Former County Councilman, Republican Candidate for County Executive in 2006 and Currently the Executive Director of the Maryland Classified Employees Association.
  
• Art Ebersberger: Insurance Broker, Member of the Anne Arundel County School Board Nominating Commission, Anne Arundel Medical Center Trustee and founder of Leadership Anne Arundel.
  
• James King: Current Delegate from District 33 A and owner of the Rockfish & Kaufmann's Tavern.
• Big Ed Reilly: Current County Councilman from District 7 and Insurance Agent

I'm somewhat surprised that County Councilwoman Cathy Vitale took a pass.

A special meeting/public hearing of the Anne Arundel Central Committee will be held on Tuesday, June 2 at 6 pm in room 180 of the Lowe House Office Building in Annapolis. The committee intends to conclucde the process on the 2nd but if necessary, the conclusion of the procedure and recording the vote will occur at the regularly scheduled Central Committee meeting on Wednesday, June 3 meeting at 7 pm at 15 West Street in Annapolis.

The Committee is allowing for public comment until June 1 by US mail to the RSCCAAC, ATTN: Chairman Rzepkowski, PO Box 127, Riva, MD 21140 or by e-mail to arzepkowski@aagop.org.

It will be interesting to see who winds up with the seat. Conventional wisdom says it's between King and Reilly, but I have heard rumblings that Boschert may have support on the Committee as well.

Since none of these five candidates come from the small government/low tax wing of the party, I would expect that there will be a challenger from the right in the 2010 Primary regardless of who gets selected.....

Not All Numbers Mean Something

Adam Pagnucco has spent this week trying to bury the State Republican Party due to changes in the voter registration numbers. The basic premise is that because the total number of registered Democrats in Maryland is increasing at a faster rate than the number of registered Republicans that the Republican Party is doomed.

However, the total number of registered party members in the state or in any particularly jurisdiction is relatively meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

Take a look, for example, at my home district of District 31. In that district, there are 1.6 Democratic registrants for every Republican registrant. Election results speak to any an entirely different set of circumstances. Last year, John McCain and Andy Harris both carried 58% of the vote in this district during the Presidential Election. And in 2006:

• Bob Ehrlich and Michael Steele both won about 60% of the vote in the District.
• AG Candidate Scott Rolle and Comptroller Candidate Anne McCarthy both carried 31.
  
• Bryan Simonaire became the first Republican State Senator in the District;
• Don Dwyer, Nic Kipke, and Steve Schuh were elected as Delegates; the first GOP sweep of Distirct 31
• County Councilman Ron Dillon was re-elected without Democratic Opposition.
  

The point of this exercise is to prove that while voter registration numbers are a cute way to try and say a party is or is not dying, they are in no way the be all and end all of the situation. Maryland has had an overwhelming majority of voters registered as Democrats for a long time in a number of districts. But that has not stopped a lot of those districts from elecitng Republicans to serve in the General Assembly, and it hasn't stopped these voters from supporting Republican candidates over Democrats at the statewide level. You talk to a lot of these voters in districts like the 31st, and you find out that these voters are always voting Republican, they just choose not to change their registration for whatever reason.

Bottom line: a lot of these Democrats that Pagnucco likes to use to prove that the Republican Party is dead are actually supporting Republican candidates. With the continued incompetence of Governor O'Malley and Democratic Leadership, I have a feeling that the number of D's voting R is going to increase substantially in 2010....

Don't Wince.....Act

There is a piece by Dan Balz in the Post today nothing that some Republicans are "wincing" by the statements former Vice-President Dick Cheney has made criticizing the Obama Administration. A lot of the piece goes on to talk about the ever-popular "unnamed Republicans" who believe that Cheney is a distraction to the future of the Republican Party and that his engagement on the issues surrounding the Administration are doing more harm than good.

I would be willing to take a different approach. The fact that Vice-President Cheney is one of the few Republicans who have been willing to stand up and criticize the Administration is more of a condemnation of the Republcian Party than it is anything else. While many Republicans continue to jockey for position within the minority, few prominent Republicans have been willing to stand up in an articulate manner for core conservative principles. The fact that the Vice-President is willing to stand up for this, regardless of public opinion and regardless of those people in the party who have a problem with it, is a positive for the country and for the party, not a negative.

If prominent Republicans truly have a problem with Cheney's prominence on these issues, they need to shut up and talk about issues from a conservative perspective instead of worry about what plays well in Washington. And dumb stuff like the NRSC endorsing Charlie Crist in the Florida Senate race isn't going to help shed the label that D.C. Republicans are indiffermt to the plight of the party and the plight of the conservative movement.

No comment is still a comment

John Leopold had this to say in regard to his run-in with police at Annapolis Mall:

"The police determined that this accusation was completely without merit, and I will not dignify this matter with any further comment," Leopold said....

....He declined to answer questions about whether anyone was with him or if he talked to the police officer. Nor would he answer questions about what he was doing moments before police arrived.

"I don't want to talk about this. I'll answer your questions later at another time. If I think it's necessary," he said before hanging up the phone.

Now Leopold finds himself in a bit of a sticky situation, because whether or not the allegations are true or not (and really, who knows) his non-commenting status will automatically lead to voters to assume that he is guilty. Because virtually no politician who is innocent issues a no comment in such a situation. But Leopold has now fallen into the trap of saying no comment which in and of itself is a comment. Recently, Michael Phelps and Alex Rodriguez both issued no comments before admitting guilt the next day.

As I said, whether or not Leopold is guilty of this offense isn't the point anymore. The point is that the public relations on this were botched, and John Leopold has managed to find a new way to embarrass the Republican Party....

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:

I don't get it

One of the things that has been most puzzling to me in recent days has been a seeming conservative backlash against Michael Steele as he runs for RNC Chairman. I find it extremely curious that one of the most conservative candidates in the race for Chairman keeps getting beaten up as "not conservative enough."

Richard Falknor launches the latest salvo by trying to portraying the sins of Bob Ehrlich as the sins of Michael Steele:

Steele was a team-playing lieutenant governor in Maryland under Bob Ehrlich, a “centrist” Republican governor who raised taxes, grew spending, approved taxpayer-supported embryonic stem-cell research, and (gratuitously in our view) went out of his way to anger values voices and gun owners. A skilled advocate, Mr. Ehrlich’s chief policy goal was apparently the enactment of slots legislation. Mr. Steele’s special contributions were heading an education task-force that didn’t address parental choice, and trying to advance the Old Line State’s minority-business-enterprise program.

Of course the office of Lieutenant Governor in Maryland barely has enough power to go buy a cup of coffee, much less have meaningful influence in a Governor's Agenda. Michael Steele has been and has always been a conservative, much more so on issues of life, budget, and taxes than virtually anybody who has served in Maryland's Executive Branch in a long time.

Falknor also railed against Steele's support of Wayne Gilchrest in the 1st District Congressional primary, and also had this to say to conclude his remarks:

Mr. Steele’s supporters could make a case along these lines: that their candidate’s undoubted charm and personal attractiveness are paramount for an RNC job; and that asking about taxes, fighting America’s enemies, the culture of life, giving parents some control over schools, and controlling porous borders is simply out of place — whether in supporting Republicans at the polls or in selecting a gifted national voice to weave a new post-partisan, inclusive public narrative necessary for Republicans to start winning again.

Questioning Michael Steele's conservative bonafides is kinda like questioning Tiger Woods' golf game; it's a question that really need not be asked. But what Falknor fails to not that at this stage in time, a candidate's ability to speak to Republican issues and a candidate's ability to organize the Republican Party is of paramount importance for our next Chairman. We need a Chairman who understands the what it is like to have their boots on the ground while also understanding the most basic of conservative principles.

Beyond that, I do not see a candidate who can "out-conservative" for lack of a better term Steele. The candidates are equals at best or, in the case of Huckabee stalking horse Chip Saltsman, worse, on conservative credentials. This Chairmanship election needs to focus on three basic things:

1. Conservative Principles;
2. Organization;
3. Expansion of the Conservative Message.

And nobody can beat Michael Steele on those points. In fact, when you consider that he is taking on the issue of ethics as it relates to our party, he's already doing his part to lead the party in a conservative and respectable manner.

I just don't understand those who question Steele's conservative credentials. It makes you wonder if those questioning his credentials need to have their understanding of conservatism questioned...

The Brian Griffiths Minute: 12-08-2008

Stumping for Steele

As you would expect, there was a ton of support for Michael Steele at the Convention on Friday night, and Ted Pibil did a fantastic job in memorializing that support on three videos that you can see here.

Check out the video below, and be sure to focus on the good-looking fella starting at 2:45.....

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.