Famous Quotes

Charles Foster Kane: “Rosebud”

Winston Churchill: “There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.”

Pam Oland: “The bank didn’t fail”

Joe G: “If there is some broader realization in Tuesday’s primary win for Baltimore County Sen. Andy Harris, it’s that the Eastern Shore no longer retains the 1st Congressional District stronghold.”

How delicious it must seem to be fresh out of college and for the moment ensconced as a wit and political pundit following employment by the local Gannett outlet.

This from a naïf who thought journalistic ethics strongly suggested it was his civic duty not to register to vote since he was covering politics. Lucky for him that he wasn’t assigned the Personals or Advice to the Lovelorn beats; one can only imagine what one would have to eschew in pursuit of the journalists’ creed in those departments!!

Let’s try clueless, instead. Here’s the short version:

Wayne Gilchrest was initially elected on the basis of his Everyman pose; folks could relate to the idea of a guy who’d been in the service, taught history and painted houses in the off-season. And folks supported him when he came back from Brigadoon every two years to ask for their votes. I did. Every time…but not this time. He’d lost my vote….before any challenger had surfaced. He’d lost my vote based on both his actions and on his in-actions. It was only a question as to whether there would be someone worth voting for.

And the extended version:

In his first try for office Gilchrest came very close to unseating an incumbent Representative, who had some whiffs of scandal surrounding his office. On his second try, he prevailed. He was re-elected against strong opposition from Tom McMillen, a Terp basketball great turned businessman. Since then he’s been an “Aw shucks” Goliath staring down a host of erstwhile Davids. Last time out he faced primary opposition from a local senator and prevailed before handily winning re-election in the general election. That primary opposition in 2006 was a shot across the bow…and it’s clear he chose not to look or listen. So the seeds of his defeat on Tuesday were ones he sowed in his own haphazardly planted garden.

I personally don’t think E.J. Pipken would have attempted an upset run, except for the fact that Andy Harris had much earlier broken trail and was clearly getting a very warm reception. With that as a baseline proviso, it’s just really, really silly to spend any amount of time looking at what counties Gilchrest won and by what margin. The only realistic way to assess the data, leaving the two single digit candidates out, is that all votes for Harris and Pipken were votes against Gilchrest. Evaluated in that fashion, he probably carried only his own street and The Daily Times. He was kicked to the curb in resounding fashion. That is a fate that rarely befalls incumbents in districts that are considered ‘safe’. When it does, it almost always is a clear signal that the congressman is/has been out of step with the mood of his electorate.

Gilchrest had what I consider to be ‘pro forma’ endorsements from the President, former Speaker Gingrich and former Lt. Governor Steele; even though he snubbed his party when it suited him, they came through with endorsements for him, although they probably didn’t knock on many doors. Newt and Steele did go to a fundraiser for him. There is some dispute as to how many candidates Ron Paul endorsed; Gilchrest may have been one of them.

Gilchrest’s petulant refusal to acknowledge defeat and offer a concessionary remark to Senator Harris diminishes only himself. His brief congratulatory remarks were a short, oblique message covering all of his opponents and their staffs and just did not measure up to ‘good form’. In commenting on his refusal to make a concessionary call to Harris he’s quoted as saying “A concession amounts to rewarding unseemly behavior … I’m not bitter, but my God, what’s happened to democracy? It’s a clear sign the party is split between dogma and tolerance.” Translation: I thought we were using my coin for the toss.

There seems to be a food-fight sub-set underway here, as well. Gilchrest’s mouthpiece is upset that Harris’ mouthpiece failed to salute and dwell on Gilchrest’s political achievements in a victory statement, despite the clear evidence that Harris himself had done so in his victory statement (video is posted in several locations).

I don’t think 1st District citizens are looking for pork in the Robert Byrd or John Murtha fashion (named edifices and wasteful spending), but they might have been more impressed if the Dover Bridge had been replaced or Rte 113 truly dualized on Gilchrest’s watch. Not much that’s concrete (pun intended) in the way of improvements to the Eastern Shore comes to mind regarding his tenure. Whether it was lack of influence, lack of effort, lack of teamwork, or lack of publicizing what he accomplished, blame’s on him.

First District Demographics

At $169,300 per year our congress critters are paid a tad more than 13 times the Maryland minimum wage; that may not be ‘big money’ inside the Beltway but it sure is ‘on the Shore’ and in most places in the 1st District.

The 1st District covers a lot of physical turf, but that was a given when he ran and even after the redistricting. Boundaries will change from time to time; the population continues to increase in many parts of the country and the number of representatives is fixed.

On the Shore, there are few ways to have a ‘native’ represent us. One would be to have even more explosive growth than we’ve seen create a population base here large enough to require a district that does not creep onto the western shore. Most of us don’t want to be the next Long Island badly enough to choose that option. A second way is to have talented folks who are native, or ‘Come Heres’ who are native enough, (an ill defined term, to be sure) put themselves forward as candidates. Fact is that few, if any, candidates on the congressional ballot last Tuesday are true ‘native’ sons of the Eastern Shore. Others arrived as youths or adults, for a variety of reasons. Until then, we’ll have to judge the candidates by what they’ve accomplished; by what they propose and oppose and by the platforms of their parties.

Back to Pounding Joe G

Comparing Gilchrest to Lieberman is extremely misplaced. Lieberman’s entire (almost) party campaigned against him in the primary and the general election; he lost the primary and won re-election in the general election. Gilchrest had the endorsements, but the voters no longer wanted him. Sorry, no match.

And I’d love to know the party affiliation of Gilchrest’s ‘colleagues’ who are urging him to run as an independent. Dare I guess?

And the Democratic challenger Kratovil? Just a standard issue prop from Democratic central casting. Replete with endorsements from all our favorite folks – O’Malleable, Gansler, Mike Miller, Glendenning and Curran. Sure to be a fan favorite here on the Shore!

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