What Wayne Gilchrest, and Frank Kratovil, Don’t Want You to Know

You’ve seen the TV ads, Frank Kratovil is a moderate.  He’s independent.  He’s just like Wayne Gilchrest.  At least he’s right on the last one.  Frank Kratovil is a liberal already in the pockets of left wing environmental activists.  That’s pretty good for a guy who has never served a day in any legislature.

I know, the left will cry foul.  The truth hurts and for some reason the left thinks that it’s unfair to use their own record against them.  However, Wayne Gilchrest is trying to help his new ally Frank Kratovil by hiding the truth from the people of the First District.

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Gilchrest Claims, I Bear No Grudge …

… 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.

According to Gilchrest:

“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!

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Will Gilchrest Abandon the GOP?

While it has been rumored for some time, the Baltimore Sun reports that soon to be former Rep. Wayne Gilchrest will jump ship and support Democrat Frank Kratovil. While it would not be wholly unheard of, usually incumbents who lose in the primary simply take their loss like a man and move on.

If Gilchrest wishes his legacy to be that of a sore loser, so be it. As the Sun has been known to get it wrong before, we’ll wait until Gilchrest actually crawls in bed with the loony left before we comment further.

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The Re-Packaging of a Boondoggle

Salisbury Mayor Barrie Tilghman’s “State of the City” address on Monday provided us with a glimpse of how a truly devious mind works. For several years Tilghman and her “Dream Team” promoted the idea of a revitalization of the “North Prong” area of the city. The unstated goal has seems to be the gentrification of the West Side of Salisbury. To those of you not familiar with the term, gentrification usually has the end affect of driving the poor black folks (and Latinos) out and replacing them with nice, well coiffed white folk.

To date Tilghman and her minions have been unsuccessful in their pursuit. Their desire to subsidize developers through a Community Development Corporation (CDC) have been a bust. Too many of the unwashed see it for what it is (a bureaucratic boondoggle designed to consolidate Tilghman’s power while funneling city funds to her friends). The state has, so far, refused to fund Tilghman’s attempts to push a large portion of the minority community out of the city. Oh, what to do?

To get around this little problem Tilghman has devised a brilliant solution! The North Prong project is no long an economic development issue. It is now an “environmental disaster”! Tilghman is now seeking federal funds, with the help of Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (?-MD). Read more

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Crybabies for Kratovil

In a totally expected development, a staff member of Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (?-1) has formed a group calling themselves “Republicans for Kratovil”.  It appears that reporter Joe Gidjunis and the management of the Daily Times have signed up to be the group’s ad hoc publicity committee.  Why else would they bother to give a rump group of nominal Republicans (or closeted Democrats) in Kent County such prominent coverage?

There was never a question of the Daily Times‘ support for Gilchrest.  In all fairness, they should have.  Hardly an enclave of conservatism, our local paper had the perfect candidate in Gilchrest – liberal on social and environmental issues, moderate on fiscal and defense issues.  Unfortunately for them, but not for the people of the First District, their shining knight was showing signs of tarnish and lost.

Now they appear to be linking arms with a group led by paid Gilchrest staff to push the candidacy of Queen Anne’s States Attorney Frank Kratovil.  Why?  The answer is a simple one.  If Andy Harris wins in November, their beliefs will have been repudiated. Read more

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Try A Few Facts Next Time

A post appeared yesterday on Salisbury News (I blog which I contribute to) which I find disturbing on several levels. My friend and colleague Joe Albero has chosen to reprint an entry from the Daily Times “Story Chat”. While there’s nothing particularly wrong with that, unless the folks at Gannett want to get into a twist over a perceived copyright infringement, the piece has no context and is riddled with inaccuracy. The writer of the “Story Chat” entry lists a series of “Facts”. Sadly, there is only one fact listed. Everything else is opinion or conjecture.

Yes, it is a fact that nearly seven in ten GOP voters in Maryland’s First District voted against Wayne Gilchrest. We all knew that late Tuesday night / early Wednesday morning.

The writer claims that Maryland Sen. Andy Harris’ win would have been by an even larger margin had the weather been better on the Western Shore. While this is possible, perhaps even probable, it certainly does not rise to the level of fact. An equally strong case can be made that better weather would have narrowed the margin a bit. Let’s face it, among registered Republicans, much of Gilchrest’s support was “soft”. Far more of Harris’ voters are willing to go out in bad weather because they have a strong philosophical bond with Harris.

The writer claims that “Wayne Gilchrest is a dirty campaigner”. “Dirty campaigner” is a subjective term. Logically, it cannot be a fact. What evidence does the writer provide? Read more

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Hotline’s Take on MD-1 Primary

The Hotline provides an objective, if brief, view of the MD-1 GOP primary.

cross posted at the Campaign Edge

Technorati Tags: 2008, Maryland, politics, Maryland politics, GOP, conservatism, Andy Harris, Wayne Gilchrest, E J Pipkin

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Daily Times True to Form Again

Wanting to sow additional seeds of discord among First District Republicans, the Daily Times stretched the truth a bit today. While I can certainly understand the disappointment and even transient bitterness of Rep. Wayne Gilchrest’s staff and supporters, the Daily Times published an article where readers are left to believe that Maryland Sen. Andy Harris failed to acknowledge Gilchrest’s service in Congress, to his country, and to the people of Maryland’s First District.

There’s just one problem for reporter Joe Gidjunis and his employers at the Daily Times, it’s simply not true. WBOC ran video of Andy Harris thanking Gilchrest for his service. While the video is no longer available on WBOC’s web site, someone did post it on YouTube. You can view it here (if your browser does not properly play the embedded player, click HERE)):

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw-bisfGij0]

What’s the point of the article? While I’m sure that the editors of the Daily Times will protest, the inference is that they want to continue poking sticks at Gilchrest’s supporters in the hope that they will vote for Frank Kratovil in the fall.

cross posted at Salisbury News

Technorati Tags: 2008, Maryland, politics, Maryland politics, media, Daily Times, Gannett, Andy Harris, Wayne Gilchrest, GOP

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Graciousness In Victory or Defeat?

Note – this is a long post, even for me.

I sincerely hope that passions quell and cooler heads prevail over the next fews days and weeks. After months of a primary campaign that supporters on all sides called “negative” and “nasty” the race is over. In each race there can only be one winner. Unfortunately, some of those very same supporters who pointed fingers during the race are making statements that are far nastier than anything that came out of any campaign.

Don’t believe me? Simply go to the “Story Chat” area for the Daily Times article declaring Andy Harris’ victory in the MD-1 GOP primary. I realize that this was a very personal race for some. I understand that passion can be a positive thing. However, the race is over. I’m not going to give ya’ll some speech with a bunch of “Kum By Ya” foolishness. If you want to vote for Frank Kratovil in the coming general, that is your right. If you want to “hold your nose” and vote for Andy, great. Your vote will count the same as someone like me who will proudly cast my ballot for Andy in November. If you want to criticize Andy, our Founders saw to it that you are protected. I would, however, appreciate it if you got your facts right when doing so. One of the things that I happen to like about Andy, and about Wayne Gilchrest, is that neither claim to be perfect.

In all fairness, the post-primary pot shot party started on a blog that I contribute to. Joe Albero penned a post last night that was a tad out of line. However, after a few hours of rest Joe was man enough to apologize. I certainly don’t expect a bunch of folks on “Story Chat” to immediately “see the light” and start apologizing to one another. I do hope that a few of you read this and give pause the next time you decide to “lose it” online. Read more

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Get Out and Vote!

Don’t forget to vote today, particularly if you live in Maryland’s First District. Your candidate of choice needs your vote and if you haven’t made firm choice, vote for Andy Harris.

My friend and Red Maryland colleague Michael Swartz (of MonoBlogue fame) has gone out on a limb with some pretty detailed predictions. While I will agree that McCain should handily win the Maryland primary and I substantially agree that the First District GOP congressional primary is awful close, I think that Michael is overlooking one thing that will put Andy Harris over the top. I expect Mike Huckabee to garner far more than 26%, both statewide and in the First District.

A Huckabee voter should be a Harris voter. I know of few, if any, Huckabee supporters who are not adamant social conservatives. I cannot understand any social conservative voting for either Gilchrest or Pipken when they have a choice like Harris. I can’t imagine a social conservative pulling the lever for Pipken under any circumstances. His record on abortion and same-sex unions effectively knock him out of contention with these voters.

Given strong support (not an official endorsement, but through issues advocacy) through the Association of Maryland Families, and the endorsement of strong values based conservatives such as James Dobson, Phyllis Schlafly and Maryland Sen. Lowell Stoltzfus, Harris should receive the bump necessary to win today.

cross posted at Salisbury News

Technorati Tags: Maryland, politics, Maryland politics, John McCain, MonoBlogue, Mike Huckabee, Andy Harris, E J Pipken, Wayne Gilchrest, conservatism, values, social conservatives, James Dobson, Phyllis Schlafly, Lowell Stoltzfus

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