Monthly Archives: November 2014

2014 Elections, turnout

This is How You Do It

Two Democrats have shown how to make lemonade when life hands you lemons. This is just one of Delegate Ariana Kelly’s responses on Facebook to very low early voting turnout in her district:

ariana1

In other words, she used a negative–low Democratic turnout in early voting in her district–as a means to stimulate more people in her network to go out and vote. Call it early voting jujitsu.

Montgomery County Young Democrats President Nik Sushka is using the tightness of the gubernatorial race to similar effect:

Nik

In other words, instead of denying that there is a problem or just bemoaning it, use it to motivate supporters. Smart leadership.

Share
District 16, District 20, MCDCC

UPDATE on Sample Ballot Snafu

This post is an update of my post from last night on major problems with the Democratic sample ballot produced by MCDCC (Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee)

Bad News on Delivery

I am receiving reports that many people who live in Districts 15 and 39 did not receive their sample ballots today. It’s unclear what share of voters in these districts or elsewhere have not received their sample ballot. But, let’s face it, a sample ballot received Wednesday is about as useful as an airline seat from last week.

Good News on Signs

Brown, Frosh, and Leggett plan to make sure that their campaigns deliver tons of signs to polling places in Montgomery. That’s why there were no signs for them at the bag pick-up.

Republicans and Greens Unhappy

Republicans are complaining that it is a conspiracy that Republican Rose Li, a candidate for the House of Delegates, was left off the Democratic sample ballot for District 16. Similarly, the Green Party delegate candidate was left out in District 20. While I imagine it would have been better to get it right, it seems an odd series of complaints. It is the Democratic sample ballot.

It takes chutzpah for the party that created sample ballots for Republican candidates that falsely linked the names of popular Democrats with Republicans to complain about a minor slip up that clearly results from incompetence rather than foul play. After all, the Democrats messed up the bio for one of their own candidates in the same district.

Share
2014 Governor's Race, Gun Control

Hogan Slammed for NRA Support

In the final days of the gubernatorial campaign, attention is rightly being focused on Republican Nominee Larry Hogan’s refusal to release his responses to the NRA questionnaire on this issue. A good question: candidates should be prepared to share their views not just with special interest groups but the general public.

Moms Demand Action

Jennifer Coulter of Moms Demand Action is asking exactly what did Larry Hogan do to receive an A- rating from the NRA and this robocall funded by the NRA in support of his campaign:

Maryland Democrats are also pressing hard on Hogan’s unwillingness to share with the public what he promised the NRA in exchange for their support:

MDP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, November 2nd, 2014
Contact:  443-221-4779
JSmith@mddems.org

BREAKING: NRA Robocalling Marylanders to Prop Up Larry Hogan

Payback – Gun Lobbyists Spending for Hogan After He Put Secret Promises in Writing to Earn NRA’s Endorsement

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Last night, reports across the state confirmed that the National Rifle Association is opening up their wallet to defend their endorsed candidate for Governor, Republican Larry Hogan. The robocall says that “there’s only one candidate in the race for governor of Maryland who has stood strong against the Obama Bloomberg gun control agenda, that candidate is Larry Hogan.” It goes on to attack Lt. Governor Brown because he “helped to enact one of the largest gun bans in the history of Maryland” – the ban on the sale of assault rifles contained in SB 281.

Larry Hogan, who filled out the NRA’s questionnaire, earned an A- rating, and was recently endorsed by the NRA, has continually refused to release the promises he put in writing to gun lobbyists.

“Larry Hogan opposed common sense background checks to prevent criminals from getting handguns and opposed banning the sale of assault rifles and high capacity magazines, so it’s no surprise that the gun lobbyists at the NRA are spending money to prop up his campaign,” said Jared Smith, Maryland Democratic Party Spokesman. “Larry Hogan has refused to release the questionnaire that earned him the NRA’s endorsement because he knows that Maryland families don’t support his dangerous pro-gun agenda.”

You can listen to the NRA’s pro-Hogan robocall by clicking here.

“Hello, this is the NRA calling from 703-267-1200 with an important election alert. There’s only one candidate in the race for governor of Maryland who has stood strong against the Obama Bloomberg gun control agenda, that candidate is Larry Hogan. His opponent, Anthony Brown helped to enact one of the largest gun bans in the history of Maryland last year. That extreme anti-gun legislation, Senate Bill 281 was enacted over the objections of thousands of Marylanders who voiced their strong opposition. Anthony Brown would expand the Obama Bloomberg gun control agenda as governor and further restrict the rights of Maryland’s law abiding gun owners. This race could be decided by just a handful of votes so your vote could make the difference. Please vote Larry Hogan for governor on November 4th and encourage your family and friends to do the same. Thank you”

Share
harford, LGBT

Anti-LGBT GOP Strategy Extends Beyond Peroutka

Earlier this week, I detailed how Anne Arundel Republican County Council Candidate Michael Peroutka is using robocalls from a fake group “Marylanders for Transgenders” to call attention to his opponent’s sexual orientation in a negative way.

Unfortunately, this approach does not appear limited to Peroutka, a man that advocates southern secession and belongs to the extremist John Birch society. Another Maryland Republican is using similar attacks against openly gay candidates.

In Harford County, a public letter posted on daggerpress.com attempts to support Republican County Council Candidate Curtis Beulah by linking his opponent, out candidate Joe Smith, to sexual predators and pedophilia:

In addition, Smith is a founding member of the Stonewall Democrats of Central Maryland, a gay rights activist organization. These are the kind of groups that gave us the recent ”Bathroom Bill”. This statewide law is so poorly crafted that it allows sexual predators to claim sexual identity confusion, thereby ushering them into the public restrooms of any gender they choose. A pedophile’s dream come true.

Can we expect more of the same should Mr. Smith have a hand in policy making for Harford County?

The real question is how many more of these smear attacks can we expect from Maryland Republicans?

Share
MCDCC

MCDCC Sample Ballot Incompetence Spoils Dems Pre-Election Weekend

The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) sends out a sample ballot before the state elections to urge Democrats to the polls and remind them of their party’s ticket. There were some major snafus this year.

I’ve been receiving a lot of reports, some conflicting, of problems, and have been attempting to sift out fact from fiction. This is why I’ve delayed posting on this topic.

Mix and Match Candidates

In District 19, incumbent Sen. Roger Manno‘s name has been replaced by that of Sen. Rich Madaleno–the candidate in District 18. As you can imagine, Sen. Manno–who donated money to help pay for the sample ballot–was understandably not happy about it.

I suppose one could view this as karma, since Rich Madaleno’s name appeared as Roger Madaleno on the Apple Ballot during the Democratic primary.  But at least the critical last name and first initial were right in that case. I hope Roger gets his donation back.

In District 16, Delegate Nominee Marc Korman‘s biography has been replaced with that of Aruna Miller. I am sure Marc was interested to learn that he worked for county since he was eight and has already served on a House committee before winning election.

Latino Outreach Fail

MCDCC has touted its efforts to reach out more strongly to the County’s fast-growing Latino community. Unfortunately, the sample ballot was a textbook example of how not to go about it.

First, the name of incumbent Delegate Ana Sol Gutiérrez (D-18) was misspelled on the sample ballot:

sample2

Second, accents and the tilde of ñ were often left out in Spanish text. The office titles are sometimes incorrect, even though they could have been directly copied from the official bilingual version. Even español has been written as espanol:

sample1

Finally, the sample ballot directs people on how to find a Spanish sample ballot online. Other than that it doesn’t exist, this is an excellent idea.

Small Mailing and Still Waiting?

Beyond the giant mistake in District 19, the real story may be how many sample ballots were sent out. I am told that elected Democrats were promised that hundreds of thousands would go out but that only around 90,000 were mailed. I am unable to confirm this. MCDCC has made clear that they will not respond to my requests for information, though I understand they are also being closed-mouthed with electeds on this issue too.

While many, including your gentle blogger, have received their Democratic sample ballot, I have heard that other Democrats who did not vote early have yet to receive them. No doubt this is due to the last minute mailing. On the other hand, I imagine Roger (or is it Rich?) Manno must be relieved that at least early voters did not get it before going to the polls.

Missing Signs on Bag Day

There were no signs for either Brown/Ulman or for Brian Frosh. In other words, there were no signs for the two statewide candidates who need strong visible support in Montgomery on Tuesday.

Rumor that Should be Ignored

Some told me that they were shocked that their congressman was left off the sample ballot. This is not an error but intentional in order to comply with federal campaign finance law. Advertising their names counts as a campaign contribution.

Why Did this Happen?

MCDCC Chair Kevin Walling personally managed the sample ballot with his inner circle (the Politburo? the Presidium?) of MCDCC. It arrived very late to the printers and few others were involved to review it and make sure that they got this complex task (different versions need to go to different areas of the County) right.

MCDCC staff has long been dedicated to the Democratic Party and helped with this task many times before. They should not be blamed and I hope no one tries to throw them under the bus in order to save their own reputation.

As in the past, MCDCC has many excellent members. But they need to address these issues squarely. The central problems with MCDCC remain the ones I outlined in a previous post: a lack of accountability, transparency, and inclusion. I should now add incompetence. Mistakes happen but both elected officials and ordinary Democrats are mad about the sample ballot snafu–and rightly so.

Share
Montgomery County Council

Dyer Attacks Riemer

The world has truly gone upside down.

Republican Robert Dyer is attacking incumbent Councilmember Hans Riemer (D-At Large) for being too close to fat cats on Wall Street and K Street–a Romney clone.

When I saw Robert Dyer in the pre-primary debate, I was pleasantly surprised by his problem-solving demeanor (came across in person better than on video) but this is a veritable negative ad cliché. Still, I doubt Hans Riemer is best pleased by this attack on his efforts to project an image as a practical, positive reformer.

 

Share
Peroutka

Peroutka in Mailer with Hogan and Schuh

@1430WNAV caught this story first and sourced the photos replicated here.Why are Larry Hogan and Steve Schuh in a mailer with a candidate they disavowed? In this mailer for the “Team for Change,” racist theocrat (h/t to Jon Hutson) Michael Peroutka is presented as just another Republican along with them:

Peroutka3

Peroutka2

Hogan and Schuh say that this is a mistake and continue to say his views have no place in the Republican Party. Then why did they allow their names to be attached on an official GOP flyer?  The official MD Republican line is: “He paid to be on a flyer.”

First, the GOP operative who thought it was a great idea to link their gubernatorial and county exec candidates to this loser should be fired. Second, Hogan and Schuh should publicly endorse Armstrong at an event at this point to undo the damage.

The real difference between Peroutka and Armstrong is really much simpler than presented in the mailer:

Peroutka

Remember this is a guy who said please rise for the national anthem before “Dixie” was played and advocates southern secession from the United States. As I said before, this is a chance for Democrats and Republicans to have a united purpose as we agree that politics is better off without Peroutka poison.

Share
Anne Arundel

Peroutka Smears Armstrong in Anne Arundel

Michael Peroutka, a Republican candidate for the Anne Arundel County Council, has now launched a smear campaign of robocalls against his Democratic opponent, Patrick Armstrong. The call is from a fake group, “Maryland for Transgenders” and seeks to use his sexual orientation as a negative. Much of the call focuses on his support for “transgenders.”

Here is a recording of this despicable robocall:

Peroutka Smears Armstrong Robocall

Peroutka, a Bircher secessionist, was disavowed soon after he won the nomination by both Gubernatorial Candidate Larry Hogan and County Executive Candidate Steve Schuh. I think they can feel extra-good about that decision now and I hope they will take a moment to reiterate their opposition to Peroutka-style politics.

Armstrong is a real local, having grown up in Annapolis and graduated from Broadneck High School and Salisbury University. has been strongly endorsed by the Capital newspaper. Vote Armstrong on Tuesday. It’s the rare opportunity to help out both the Democratic and Republican parties–not to mention Anne Arundel.

 

Share
2014 Governor's Race, polls

Nate Silver Gives Brown 93% Chance of Victory

FiveThirtyEight has released its gubernatorial forecasts. They say Brown will win by 9.7%–an outcome that would thrill Democrats in an increasingly hot contest.

Nate Silver’s forecast of a solid Brown win is squarely at odds with Charlie Cook’s forecast of a very tight race with an edge for Brown. It’s a great face off between people often regarded as the nation’s top polling aggregator and top political analyst.

We’ll find out who is closer to being right on Tuesday.

Share