Ben Cardin is Getting Worried.
Ben Cardin is getting worried. And he should be.
He knows he’s not as ensconced as his left-wing fireplug counterpart Barbara Mikulski. He only beat Michael Steele by 10 points in a far more Democrat friendly political climate. National Republicans and tea party activists need to stop conceding Maryland to the leftist Democrats and take notice of Cardin’s vulnerability.
There is a renewed enthusiasm on the right in Maryland. Last election cycle, despite defeats at the ballot box, the Brian Murphy gubernatorial campaign, the Jim Rutledge campaign for U.S. Senate, and the Charles Lollar campaign for Congress built a solid infrastructure for future candidates to build on, as did Congressman Andy Harris‘ successful Congressional run. Conservatives didn’t just go home after the last election. They channeled their energies into building networks and founding political action committees dedicated to getting conservative candidates elected in Maryland at all levels of government. The right is no longer demoralized in Maryland and we are getting organized. This frightens Democrats (and some dead wood Republicans) in the Old Line State.
The word still needs to get out nationally though. If you really want to help take the Senate back from the leftist Democrats in 2012, you need to put Ben Cardin in your crosshairs (yes, I said crosshairs…the left’s attempts at intimidating people into not using innocent metaphors has failed as badly as their economic policies).
We’re still in the primary race but one Republican candidate, Dan Bongino, is a clear front-runner. He’s got an intriguing personal story which has netted him a lot of national media attention with more to come. Glenn Beck, CNN, and Fox News, among others have noticed this former U.S. Secret Service agent who took the risk of resigning his prestigious position to try and serve his country in a more public way. He’s even featured in an upcoming special on The Discovery Channel.
What should frighten Democrats about Dan Bongino is that he is genuinely conservative and able to candidly explain why liberal economic policies have failed. Bongino talks economics like a Marco Rubio or a Paul Ryan. He is also unafraid to campaign in traditional Democrat strongholds like Prince George’s County and Baltimore City. In fact, he adamantly refuses to forfeit those areas as past Republicans have. When he speaks, he wins converts. He may not win over everyone in those places, but he doesn’t need to in order to win–and Cardin knows this.
I encourage my friends in the blogosphere to get the word out about Dan Bongino. Go to www.bongino.com and make a donation. Get Bongino on your podcast or interview him for your blog. We can win in Maryland if we make the effort.
Dan Bongino Concerned that the Curley Effect is Killing Baltimore
An August 26 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by Steve Hanke and Stephen Walters explains the “Curley Effect” and how it is damaging the economy of Baltimore city.
The problem is what Harvard economists Edward Glaeser and Andrei Shleifer have called the “Curley effect.” In Boston during the first half of the 20th century, Mayor James Michael Curley built a political machine by strategically shaping the electorate—taxing well-heeled “Brahmins” heavily and redistributing the proceeds to poor Irish immigrants. This not only bought Irish votes but chased the old Yankees out to the suburbs, further tilting the political playing field in Curley’s favor.
In modern Baltimore, the machine has exploited class divisions, not ethnic ones. Officials raised property taxes 21 times between 1950 and 1985, channeling the proceeds to favored voting blocs and causing many homeowners and entrepreneurs—disproportionately Republicans—to flee. It was brilliant politics, as Democrats now enjoy an eight-to-one voter registration advantage and no Republican has been elected mayor in 48 years.
If you’re a purely partisan Democrat, this is a wonderful thing, right? The problem is that the residents of the city are being sacrificed for the sake of Democrat political power. U.S. Senate candidate from Maryland Daniel Bongino seized upon this point today via Facebook and Twitter.
In 1950, [Baltimore's] median family income was 7% above the national average. Today it is 22% below it.
It’s a seemingly intractable political problem and a devastating moral and human problem about which Bongino says:
When reporters ask me how we plan on getting votes in Baltimore City, I respond “by looking the residents of Baltimore City in the eye and telling them the truth.”
The truth is long overdue in parts of Maryland. Let’s hope it’s not too late.
The resignation that shouldn’t baffle, but does.
I don’t think it’s particularly difficult to understand or defend Sarah Palin’s reasons for resigning as Governor of Alaska–sparing her state (and her family) the endless parade of trumped up ethics charges and smears and the associated costs. I commented the other day via Twitter that whether someone understands why she resigned as governor of Alaska has become sort of a measuring stick for me. When someone criticizes her for “quitting” without being able to coherently explain why she resigned, my initial impression is that this is a person whose opinion I shouldn’t take too seriously. This is a person who is repeating an opinion rather than forming one from facts and principles. It’s also likely that this is a person who does not truly grasp what is wrong with American politics and the Republican Party at this point in time.
Stacy Drake at Conservatives4Palin writes an excellent piece on the resignation that should not surprise or confuse anyone, but still does.
“When you politicians or members of the media criticize Governor Palin for resigning office, remember why she did so. Then ask yourselves, who are these people criticizing her for making that move? What would they have done if they were in her shoes, and why? This move on her part was what a good leader and a true public servant should do, given the circumstances. If only all of our elected leaders put the public good above their own ambition, perhaps this country would be better off.”
In my opinion, any public servant that doesn’t get it is suspect.