One against two
So who's the real conservative in the District One Congressional race? Andy Harris lets fly with a reminder:
State Senator Andy Harris today launched his second television ad of the campaign. The ad factually contrasts Andy's conservative record with the liberal records of his two tax-and-spend opponents.
"Being a fiscal conservative means opposing both higher taxes and wasteful government spending," said Andy Harris. "Republicans in Maryland want conservative representation and I am the only conservative in this race."
The ad shows Gilchrest and Pipkin's records as two tax-and-spend peas in a giant liberal pod. E.J. Pipkin voted for Governor O'Malley's budget (HB 50, 2007). Gilchrest voted for over 20 billion dollars in new taxes in one month alone.
The script of the ad is below:
Announcer: E.J. Pipkin is called a "Hero to Democrats" and even supported Governor O'Malley's Budget costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
That's Liberal.
So is Wayne Gilchrest. Gilchrest raised taxes 20 billion dollars in just one month.
That's Liberal.
Pipkin and Gilchrest are two tax-and-spend peas in a giant liberal pod. Too Liberal for us. Fortunately conservatives have Andy Harris. Andy Harris for Congress.
Andy: I'm Andy Harris and I approved this message.
Well, I approve the message too. But there's a question that some have and that is what Andy plans on accomplishing if elected? It's one thing to campaign negatively against your two closest primary opponents, but some of us want to know what you plan on achieving in Washington. Do you plan on being in the district on a regular basis listening to your constituents and the grassroots or will we only see you in even-numbered years?
Then again, fellow MBA blogger Mike Netherland has his own questions for E.J. Pipkin:
I need to know what exactly makes you think that your candidacy will achieve the main goal of throwing the bum out? The way I see it your candidacy virtually guarantees Gilchrest another term. Please convince me that I am wrong.
Remember the poll that Senator Pipkin trumpeted last week? All it noted was that he was second and Andy Harris was third, but Wayne Gilchrest was still on top. If those results were to hold on February 12, it's just a Phyrric victory for conservatives of the First District who only succeeded in showing they were a majority of the voters but keep the same moderate Congressman.
Tomorrow I'll take a look at how much E.J. Pipkin and I see eye-to-eye on the issues.
For Red Maryland readers: I actually wrote this prior to seeing/reading Brian Griffiths' "unendorsement" of Andy Harris. While I agree to the point that he's running quite the negative campaign (something I addressed here) I did look into some of what he stands for on several posts you may want to check out on monoblogue. Just do a search for Andy Harris and knock yourself out!
Crossposted earlier tonight on monoblogue.
5 comments:
I know that I've said it before, but I'll reiterate the point.
The idea that Pipkin's entering the race renders a Gilchrest win inevitable fails to account for the fact that on the Shore regionalism trumps party identity.
And if one considers that at least possible then there's the even more serious consideration that a Harris win in the primary would quite possibly mean a Kratovil win in the general. Think about it, regionalist loyalty (Well-known Eastern Shore boy vs Baltimore politician no one actually knows) going for a candidate who can easily be portrayed as a centrist against the depraved religious right-winger. It's a huge advantage for Kratovil but it can only be played against Harris.
Finally I'd like to reiterate my point that true conservatism doesn't involve religious right politics. I'd wager most people on the Shore would agree with me, excepting the partisan aparatchiks who are convinced Republican policy equals conservative policy.
I love the whole "Harris will lose to Kratovil" schtick... Have you ever seen the 1st District numbers? It is so stacked in Republican's favor, that we should never lose this seat...also, a lot of those registered "D" are very conservative, but have their own reasons for not switching parties. As far as regionalism, for a long time, CD 1 had a Congressman from Southern Maryland...so being from the Shore is not the only quality one requires to be elected... So, quit scaring the children with that Bogeyman, it holds no truth in the statement...I mean CD1 has elected Gilchrest for the last 18 years...if he can win, Harris WILL!
There's a difference between Southern Maryland, which holds a reasonable degree of cultural semblance to the Shore, and Baltimore which has none. Can you honestly say that Kratovil and the Dems wouldn't massively play up the Baltimore side of Harris. The Shore hates Baltimore and I fidn it hard to believe a reasonably large contingent of people would support a Baltimore politician. They might not vote Kratovil, but they won't vote Harris either, giving the Dem a distinct advantage.
I believe that you are seriously underestimating the intelligence of those on the Shore. You assume that we only elect our own, and that we do not care about values or issus...just the backwards ol' Shore again, huh? Too stupid to choose a real candidate, only believe what they are told. While Harris may be from Baltimore, Kratovil is backed by O'Malley...you think after the recent tax hike that he won't have to bear that cross? It's a stigma he won't be able to get rid of (Kratovil that is). I give the voters on the Shore more credit...we aren't as stupid as you'd like us to be.
I don't think I'm underestimating it at all. To begin with, I live on the Shore and have lived here my whole life.
To be completely honest I do think many here are inclined to elect their own. I don't think you necessarily have a great gauge of what issues matter though. The Shore is an area of live and let live, religious radicalism on social issues doesn't play out well when people have an ethos of mind your own business not your neighbor's.
Further more, I hardly think Shore voters are stupid. It's like I said, I don't think Shore Republicans will vote for the Democrat just because the Republican is from Baltimore. I think it's a distinct possibility though that they just won't vote not in this race anyway. And I guarantee you that many Democrats would vote for their guy out of a mix of values, party loyalty, and regional pride.
And to be honest, I fully expect that Kratovil won't be hit too hard by O'Malley. He has no voting record so can be painted any which way. That way is probably going to be as a very moderate Democrat, one that wouldn't alienate a lot of Republicans.
I don't warn of the possibility of viable Kratovil candidacy just because I don't want Harris to win, it's because I'm genuinely worried that a Harris primary win could result in that.
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