More in Sorrow than in Anger

I don’t know Greg Fox that well, but he strikes this author as the lumbering embodiment of the Peter Principle.  In my former career as a Very Important Republican ™, I would meet office-holders like Fox all of the time…generally hyper-parochial and somewhere on the George Babbitt spectrum of unoriginal.  Entirely unremarkable…of whom little is given, less is expected. And on that measure, Fox does not disappoint.

The point of this is to say that when folks hold themselves up to a higher standard of progressive thinking, unlike Fox, they had better deliver the goods.  This is where word has to match up with deed and this is where Allan Kittleman, with his promised veto of the sanctuary bill, falls short.  If you want to be a different kind of Republican, now is the time to demonstrate your values by your actions.  I read his statement and found a great deal of the rationale therein to be disingenuous fear-mongering.  Right out of the old Newt Gingrich/Joe Gaylord playbook.  I didn’t see anything that was reassuring in the least to those who might feel “othered,” Not even a nod recognizing legitimate fears, like those expressed by the woman in Tom Coale’s excellent piece today. 

So I can only believe that this is the real Allan Kittleman, or that he is posturing for another office and he feels the need to align himself, on this wedge issue, closer to where the Maryland GOP base is. 

On a related note, do I know what Governor Hogan’s plans are?  Oddly enough, Big Lar’ doesn’t confide in me his electoral intentions.  His loss.  At least he had the fortitude to grab for the brass ring in ‘14.  I, personally, would wager at this moment that he runs for re-election, but something closer to 60% likelihood on that, in short, not a slam dunk.  His favorability numbers are quite good now, but so were George H.W. Bush’s approval ratings in early ’91.  Even if he runs for re-election, I believe it will be a tough road for Hogan assuming the Democrats nominate a half-way decent candidate.  Maybe he wants to focus on governance and not on campaigning?  Take the James K. Polk approach perhaps.  Stranger things have happened. 

If he doesn’t seek re-election, the lack of anything near a deep bench means that the GOP will be looking for any Republicans who might be electable, and with Kittleman’s positioning on the sanctuary bill, he might just be palatable enough to emerge as the GOP nominee in ’18.   We should know about Hogan’s plans within the next few months.  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, all “Democrats for Kittleman” should remember where he stood on the sanctuary issue.  Maybe it’s time to donate those T-shirts.

Next up:  Thoughts on 2 and 3, probably before the end of this weekend.

Stay tuned, as more will follow.

Thunder on the Right and Grand Theft Punditry

Note to JB: try changing your password. GrandVerbalizer93? Do you log on to your blog using Prodigy?

Slats here.  I saw the reaction to my Guest Column (four words: laudatory and deservedly so) and thought I would chime in. 

I heard about this Frank Mirabile (among other Republicans) looking at a County Executive primary run.  He is more of a symptom of a larger issue.  In the 1990s, you could get away with triangulating, Bill Clinton did that with the liberals in the Democratic caucus and with the Republicans who controlled the House for most of his Presidency.  It worked (plus ou moins) because you had deal-cutters on all sides (R/D, White House/Senate/House of Reps), and this was particularly the case between 1995 and December 1997.

Kittleman doesn’t have Bill Clinton’s political skills.  He reads glass-jaw to me, but what do I know. I am writing this 50 feet from a fjord.  Beyond that, today’s Republican Party is so radicalized, institutionally and from the top down, that any effort by a conservative like Kittleman (who tries to play the role of moderate) is going to fire up the folks to his right.  This Sanctuary bill puts him in a tough spot.  If he backs it, someone like Mirabile is starting at 30% - 35% in a primary instantaneously.  It becomes the “No New Taxes” in HoCo in the Trump era.  But if he doesn’t support the concept behind the Sanctuary bill, Kittleman loses support among Democrats and moderates who like having a “good Republican” for whom they can vote (See: Anderson ’80, Huntsman ’12, Kasich ‘16).

Frankly, the bill should have three votes on the Council right now.  I understand that Jon Weinstein may have some concerns, but I am not sure why Sigaty is holding back.  Unless she has decided that she wants to run to the right of folks like Ball or Woodcock.  How will that work out for her? Ask President Paul Fucking Tsongas.

Anyway, it seems like the Nullifiers are where the Democratic base is when it comes to Federal immigration policy and the incoming Administration.  It’s a values play: are Americans generous of spirit and respectful of our neighbors or do we run around demanding, “papers, please?”  I don’t know all of the details about that particular piece of legislation, but the fundamental principles behind the debate are the important ones.  And it is always fun when Democrats are able to coalesce human rights, civil rights and state’s rights issues into one package.

Let me answer JB’s viewer mail.  I know his job keeps him occupied and my answers are no better than guesses but until these reindeer stop grazing around my 4C, I am stuck at this bar for a while.

I think he wants to write about other races, including the Board of Education.  He seems jazzed about the current pro-Reform bloc on the BoE and sees opportunities for further progress, with the right candidates, in 2018.  I’m not sure if he thinks there is much to say about County Districts 1 or 5 right now, although he seems high on a “Doctor Z ” even though he is pretty sure she is still steamed over the Schmaltz Incident of ’14.  I think he wants to write about State Legislative Districts 12 and 13…and 9B to a lesser extent, but he wants to hear more from certain incumbents before he engages in open, public speculation involving potential retirements and shifting slates in ’18.

Will he write more? Depends on the gig.  As his mentor, I always told him the key is to “retire young, retire rich.”  The hard-headed bastard never listens. 

Serious offers only on the alpacas.  As is.