Gilchrest Claims, I Bear No Grudge …
September 3, 2008 by Cato
Filed under Democrat Campaigns, Liberalism, Maryland, Maryland Politics
… Sure You Don’t Wayne.
Soon to be former Congressman Wayne Gilchrest has endorsed Frank Kratovil for Congress. We’re supposed to believe that he’s doing it for God and country. We’re supposed to believe that he’s not merely a SORE LOSER. Scratch the surface and you’ll find nothing but a group of slick Democrats using a bitter old man in a desperate attempt for political power. Yesterday’s Frankie-palooza tour and Gilchrest love fest was little more than a farce.
“This isn’t about politics, the Republican or Democratic party. It’s about the people of this district,” said Gilchrest, with Kratovil at his side before a crowd of more than two dozen Kratovil supporters outside the Government Office Building in Salisbury.
Gilchrest said the endorsement is not prompted by negative advertisements he faced in the fierce Republican primary in February. Instead, he is offering Kratovil his support, he said, because the Queen Anne’s County state’s attorney has the values of integrity and bipartisanship that will better serve Maryland’s 1st District.
Stop and think for a moment. Would we be hearing Gilchrest make these pronouncements about Kratovil IF Gilchrest had WON this year’s Republican primary? I don’t think so!
We also need to remember that Gilchrest gave as good as he got in the primary. This supposed “man of honor” even used his congressional franking privilege to make a blatant campaign mailing – at taxpayer expense.
Do you honestly believe that this supposed “man of honor” expressed all of this love for liberals when he went cap in hand to President George W. Bush and former speaker Newt Gingrich for endorsements? Regardless of your opinion of these two men, neither is stupid. When Gilchrest approached the White House I am confident that he was asked if he would jump ship IF he lost. Did Gilchrest lie to the office of the President? Probably.
I’m sure that both Gingrich and former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele are also feeling all kinds of love for Gilchrest this morning. Gingrich burned some political capital by endorsing a liberal republican in a primary. Steele, who has never been a staunch conservative, still hopes for a future in state and national politics. I’m sure he’s looking forward to having his endorsement of Gilchrest thrown in his face in years to come. Why? Not because Gilchrest endorsed a Democrat, but because he has proven to be a man who puts pride above personal honor.
Kratovil’s liberal supporters will attempt to counter that the First District is more important than partisanship. It is. However, that is not what this is about.
This is about a man who lost an election and now will do everything possible to try and defeat the man who beat him. 67% of First District republicans made their wishes known. They were tired being represented by a nominal Repubican who catered more to the lefty enviro fringe than the hard working people of the First District.
It’s amusing that on one hand Kratovil claims that HE is the one who is independent. On the other hand, Kratovil shill’s love to claim that Maryland Sen. Andy Harris is “extreme” and use his refusal to support his own party on key legislation. It sounds like Harris is the principled, independent one to me.
Frank Kratovil – and Wayne Gilchrest – are merely showing that winning an election is more important to liberals than principle or personal honor.
… but Wayne doesn’t bear a grudge.
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The argument as to whether or not Gilchrest would’ve endorsed Kratovil if he won the primary is ludicrous. Andy Harris did win, and he is not a moderate candidate and Congressman Gilchrest feels that Frank Kratovil will better serve the 1st Districts interest; furthermore, Andy Harris specifically recieved only just over 40% of the vote and even though Pipkin touts party line now the reason he ran is that he didn’t like Harris or Gilchrest. So don’t assume where his voters will fall, besides if Harris only wins 67% of the Republican vote then we will all be congratulating Congressman Kratovil come November 5th.
You also make an enormous amount of assumptions that are designed to twist the truth. The truth is that Wayne Gilchrest served his country in Vietnam as a Marine and the education system as an educator and as a US Congressman for 9 terms. He has shown by example what a Patriot he is and how integrity is his best characteristics. Every decision he made was with the weight of his constituency in mind and everyone with any sense will remember his time in congress as 18 years of quality representation for the Eastern Shore.
Cato, you are no Wayne Gilchrest so don’t pretend you have any right attacking him about any issue. The man is an American first and a politician last and we can all hope that Frank Kratovil wins so we can keep that tradition alive in Maryland’s First District.
Joe -
At the risk of hurting your feelings again, please learn to present a cogent argument. Whether or not Gilchrest would have endorsed Kratovil had he won is not ludicrous. It’s a hypothetical. It’s called a rhetorical question.
You also make an invalid inference that I assume those Republicans who voted for Pipkin in the primary will vote for Harris. I did not. I do know that history is a decent indicator of future events. This means:
The vast majority of Sen. Pipkin’s supporters will vote for Andy Harris in November.
So will a vast majority of Gilchrest’s primary voters.
A large number of registered Democrats in the First District will also vote for both Harris and McCain/Palin.
Why? The First District is basically a conservative district. While you may want to claim that it is “moderate”, you would be wrong. Why? Your definition of “moderate” is what the rest of us call LIBERAL.
You and the rest of Kratovil’s surrogates can scream till the cows come home that Andy Harris is “extreme”, or some kind of “right wing nut”, or whatever. As someone who worked on three Reagan campaigns I remember then-Gov. Reagan being called all of those things in 1976 and 1980. Yet, for some strange reason, the people of this country elected him President twice.
Andy Harris is a conservative in that mold. Do I agree with everything that he advocates? No. Am I confident that a Congressman Harris will put the people of the First District before his party? Absolutely. Harris has proven this during his tenure in the Maryland Senate.
Do I know that a Congressman Kratovil will be a slave to the left wing of his party? Absolutely. Why? Simply because it is the left wing of the Democrat party that controls the levers of power in Congress at the present time.
The probability of a Congressman Kratovil voting in the best interests of Maryland’s First District is directly proportionate to the size of a Democratic majority. When, not if, that majority narrows a Congressman Kratovil would sell out his District in a heartbeat. If Nancy Pelosi tells him that he has to vote a certain way, he will. It’s that simple. Kratovil is the kind of guy who wants to sit at the “cool kids” table.
BTW -
Don’t ever infer that I questioned Wayne Gilchrest’s patriotism. I never did, and I never will. I don’t know how old you are, but I missed Vietnam by only a few years. I never questioned his patriotism then, or now. I question his judgment as a liberal Republican Congressman from Maryland’s First District. I question his personal honor as someone who I am confident promised the White House to support the winner of the primary and then backed out on that promise. It’s possible that the White House political operation didn’t require that pledge, but I doubt it. I may not support them, but I never said they were stupid.
The bottom line – Wayne Gilchrest is a SORE LOSER.
You’re joking right? You attack Gilchrest’s integrity, honor, and courage and then have the cajones to state you’re not attacking his patriotism.
As far as the 1st CD being reliably Republican — explain how Senator Mikulski wins nearly every county in the 1st?
The fact is that the District is neither strongly left or right. It is centrist and pragmatic; something you and the hard core GOP in the District are not. While I have seen any number of GOPers crossing over to Kratovil, I have not seen a single Dem going the other way. The Dems may split their ticket and vote for McCain, but (other than perhaps in Harford County) they will not vote for Harris.