Why vote for Democrats?
Tales from Deep Blue Maryland.
As the election comes down to the wire in Maryland in two days, I spent some time driving around my neighborhood looking for campaign signs.
My neighborhood isn’t the best bellwether for Maryland election results. If my neighborhood were representative, Bob Ehrlich would have won a second term in 2006 … with about 80% of the vote. Instead he lost to current governor, Martin O’Malley, despite Ehrlich’s maintaining an approval rating that exceeded 50%.
In any case lately these “Vote for the Democrats” (see the featured image above) signs have been popping up.
I guess in Maryland you vote for Democrats as a matter of faith. After all Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown wouldn’t have a chance if the election turned on his competence. But Maryland Republicans have an effective comeback. One sign right next a Larry Hogan (for governor) asks if you’ve had enough tax increases under the O’Malley-Brown administration.
O’Malley intent on being the Democratic nominee in 2016, used his two terms in office to turn Maryland into a Democratic paradise. In 2007 and 2012, O’Malley convened special sessions of the Democratic controlled legislature to raise taxes. (In 2007, the special session was called to address a $1.9 billion “structural deficit” out of a total budget of some $37.3 billion of spending, which amounted to roughly 5% of the budget.)
Perhaps the Democrats’ tendency to hike taxes as a first resort turned off a lot of unaffiliated voters. I’m guessing that the Republican message is gaining some traction.
But the other thing that I thought was remarkable was the relative lack of Brown signs. Even many homes and businesses, which had signs promoting local Democratic candidates didn’t have Brown signs. Like at the house below.
There were three signs: one for John Sarbanes (my Congressman) who’s a shoo-in for re-election, Shelly Hettleman running for state delegate (white sign), and Vicki Almond (red sign) running for county council.
There were Brown signs in my area, but I was surprised of the number of Democratic residences and businesses that didn’t have a sign for the candidate at the top of the ticket. To be sure this isn’t a scientific survey, but I’ve noticed places that, in the past, had O’Malley or Obama signs do not have Brown signs. Maybe it’s an indication of a lack of interest. Maybe my own hopes and prejudices are coloring my observations.
For what it’s worth Monoblogue, looking at the latest polling, sees signs that Hogan might just pull this out.
But of course, more interesting than the signs or lack of signs, was the foliage. You can’t beat that.
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Comments
Like Townsend, he believes he doesn’t need to campaign, hopefully it will bite him in the butt like Townsend.
StanW What worries me is that Brown, for all his faults is a much better candidate that Townsend, and Hogan does not have the name recognition of Ehrlich.
I hate the idea of voting a straight-ticket, and I won’t do it this year.
But not because I’d vote for a single Deemocrat of which I know. I have not seen a one of them who spoke out against Anus Porker in Houston, or “Mommy Dearest” Davis.
I just won’t vote for some of the stinking people running down-ticket as Republicans. They will win anyhow, but they’ll do it without my support.
Me too! Luckily there were Libertarians running against Culbertson and Cornyn. Culberton is in a safe GOP district and should be more proactive bringing conservative solutions to issues before Congress. Cornyn thinks I’m stupid because I called him on voting for cloture (and not supporting Ted Cruz) to defund Obamacare, when he KNEW he could stop this from coming before the Senate for a full vote! They will both win but without my vote!
As a native Marylander (I lived there since I was 3, got married and had my first child there, so I consider myself a “native”), I sure hope you’re right!!
I’m hoping for Bongino to win his House race, too, in the Frederick area district. He is SUCH an excellent, honorable man – a real statesman, IMHO.
(OT – is that Silver Spring/Wheaton? The road shot with the ivy on the hill brings me back….. 😉 )
No DinoRightMarie, it’s Pikesville, just outside Baltimore City.
Hogan is running a campaign of “Not Anthony Brown” but promising that “nothing will change”, which is the only reason it’s close.
Don’t get your hopes too high. It’s just a matter of whether MD conservatives will be picking up the pieces now or in 4 years.
I’ve had enough of MoM and his ilk to last me a life-time. Brown is a third term of MoM.
Frosh is horrible.
These people set gun-rights back 100 years with SB-281.
They literally tax the rain that falls on my property by the number of square feet of asphalt and concrete.
In a state that is 2/3rds Democrat, it’s saying something about how terrible these guys are when the race is a statistical dead heat. That means a lot of democrats are thinking of voting republican this time.
Why vote for Democrats? That’s an easy one.
It’s masochism without the bruises.
DINORightMarie, it sounds as if you have managed to escape. I am jealous.
I can’t get the image of a smirking Brown out of my mind, from a photo published in a Washington newspaper (I can’t remember which one) after the MD General Assembly passed the Wal-Mart law several years ago (a law that has since been struck down).
LCVRWC – The Walmart law was one of three vetoes overridden by the legislature that were eventually ruled unconstitutional. Every Democrat who voted for those overrides should have been automatically booted from office. If our lawmakers don’t understand how laws work, they shouldn’t be making them. For that to happen 3 times is a sign of how politicized the legislature was during Ehrlich’s term in office.