Soccer Dad: The sun's crocodile tears

November 26, 2006

The sun's crocodile tears

New Maryland Blogger Alliance blogger, Howard County Maryland Blog highlights an editorial in the Sun that I also found troubling. In Free Advice he notes that the Sun effectively advocates Republicans becoming more like Democrats in order to have a say in governing Maryland. HCMB rightly rejects this advice

Let me ask, how many Republican candidates for Governor or President has the Baltimore Sun endorsed? Very few in the past 50 years. To paraphrase: Would Peter Angelos take advise from George Steinbrenner on how to beat the New York Yankees?

The editorial, Picking up the Pieces makes a number of faulty diagnoses too. For example

But what has worked for the Republicans nationally - tough talk and a socially conservative agenda - doesn't fly here, at least not in statewide contests. It's telling that the two biggest successes for Maryland Republicans this year, the election of county executives in Anne Arundel and Harford, represent the triumph of can-do pragmatists. Neither John R. Leopold nor David R. Craig could ever be considered a zealot. The question is, will others follow their lead?

But what was Governor Ehrlich? He had a solid record behind him and yet the Sun didn't endorse him. And he is hardly an ideologue.

Consider this: in order to embarrass Ehrlich, Maryland's General Assembly overrode a number of his vetoes in the last legislative session. The Maryland Court of Appeals - dominated by Democratice appointees - threw out three of the most significant bills passed over the governor's overrides. The problem in Annapolis wasn't that Governor Ehrlich was too partisan, it was that the General Assembly was too partisan.

The Sun agrees too much with the most extreme elements of the Democratic legislature and that's why it can't see the truth. (It hurts that Ehrlich made a fool of the Sun in court too, no doubt.)

The Sun continues

As if on cue, Mr. Leopold has shown his intent to govern Anne Arundel in a bipartisan fashion. On Thursday, he named Democrat Dennis Callahan, a former mayor of Annapolis, as his chief of staff. He also plans to retain a substantial number of department heads from his Democratic predecessor, Janet S. Owens.

And didn't Governor Ehrlich reach out too? He most certainly did. One of the most prominent members of his transition team was Wayne Curry the former Prince George's County Executive. (Oh by the way where's the political diversity on Gov-Elect O'Malley's team?)

For the Sun, cooperation means the Democratic way or now way. Even the Washington Post, in endorsing Governor Ehrlich for a second term recognized this.

More worrisome yet is the fact that an O'Malley victory would herald a return to the brand of one-party Democratic rule that has served the state poorly in the past. Mr. Ehrlich, for all his faults, has shaken up the old guard in Maryland politics -- while appointing plenty of Democrats to his cabinet and judgeships. If he were wise, he would use a second term to start anew with the legislature and build on his record of achievement.

The Baltimore Sun showing no respect for true bi-partisanship doesn't consider this a problem.

The Sun's conclusion, again, insults our intelligence.

Over the past dozen years, Republicans have shown they can raise money, run credible races and even win a governorship in a state that is dominated by Democrats. Much can change in four years. The political tsunami could just as easily run the opposite way. But the unique challenge for Republicans here will be to field candidates with a Maryland sensibility, particularly on social issues.

Governor Ehrlich had a solid record of accomplishment and was popular statewide - he had a popularity rating of over 50% - showing that he appealed to most of Marylanders and yet he couldn't win when faced with a competent campaigner. The election results demonstrated once again that Maryland is a single party state. The Sun can expect that over the next four years much of its left wing and pro-union agenda will be implemented with no brakes. The election of 2006 bodes ill for the state of Maryland. The Sun is too deeply embedded in its liberal cocoon to see otherwise.

UPDATE: I forgot to cite Monoblogue's excellent number crunching on this topic. He's not nearly as pessimistic as I am. OK, he's a lot more optimistic than I am about the situation for Republicans in Maryland. And read the comments too. This guy should be writing for a newspaper. (No that's not an insult; I mean to say he would raise the level of punditry by a lot.)

Technorati tags: Maryland Politics, Maryland Politics.