Election Selection

Nov 4, 2002

For the first time ever, I’ve decided to open my votes for November 5th election
for public perusal. I’ve included some comments and a bit of my individual
research along with each choice.

I have to say that I enjoyed making the list. It forced me to take a better
look at some candidates and justify each selection in some way. It will also
give me a neat checklist when the election results roll in. As a republican
voting in a largely
democratic
state, I’m bound to
lose more than I win but that matters little. I can’t complain if I don’t
bother to cast a ballot and – let’s face facts – what republican doesn’t
have a lot to complain about in Maryland?

If anyone has the itch to share, please do, even if you read this long
after the fact. For anyone still undecided, I found the
voter’s guide
provided by the
Washington Post
to be a very handy guide. Check it out.
One more thing: don’t forget to vote, unless of course
you disagree with me.

Governor:
Robert L. Ehrlich. Jr./Michael S. Steele

This is the easiest vote on the ballot for several reasons. It’s certainly
the one with the highest profile and the one I’ve spent the most time thinking
about. However, it wasn’t a hard decision. A republican with a chance to
take the governor’s post is a no brainer, even if I wasn’t a bit disgruntled
about the last eight years of Mrs. Townsend.

Comptroller: Gene Zarwell

I like Mr. Schaefer – he’s certainly a familiar face – but the state
is currently facing a deficit of over $1 billion. Is it his fault?
Nah. Should he take some of the blame? Just a little. Besides,
the man has an AOL email address.
It doesn’t really matter anyway. This is just a throwaway vote
in the face of what I’m sure to be an impressive victory for Donnie.

Attorney General: J. Joseph Curran Jr.

Mr. MacVaugh says some of the right things, like mentioning he would
be “… Bob Ehrlich’s attorney general …”, but sometimes there is just no substitute for experience.
As the incumbent, Mr. Curran has this qualification down. Note that I
got over the fact that he too has an AOL email address (you’d think
that the people at joecurran.org
would be nice enough to give him one, sheesh).

Representative in Congress (D 2): Helen Delich Bentley
Chalk this vote up to the balance in the House, where the republicans
have a decent chance of controlling both House and the Senate along
with the presidency. My biggest problem with Bentley is the fact that she
looks feeble; she’s not a spring chicken by any means.

State Senator (D 31): Philip C. Jimeno

Ugh, this one hurts. On one hand, Mr. Jimeno is proud of a report card that
in my opinion should send him to detention. One the other, David Kile
doesn’t even sport a college degree or a couple of issues I’m particularly
passionate about. If I was in Florida, I’d punch both holes or neither and
let the voting machine figure it out.

House of Delegates (D 31):
John R. Leopold, Don Dwyer, Thomas R. Gardner

This one is more of a crap shoot because I get to pick three of six.
Mr. Leopold came by and visited us during dinner one night, much to the
chagrin of the wife. Despite this, he still gets my vote. Dwyer
gets a vote for sheer effort. He waves to my wife every day on the
way to work – rain, sleet, snow, or shine. She doesn’t wave back but
she’ll make the wave that counts. Mr. Gardner gets my last vote
because he actually mentioned the deficit. Imagine that. It’s
a republican sweep for me.

County Executive: Phillip D. Bisset
Without revealing the innocent parties, let’s just say that
this one is personal. It’s a simple vote against a
disliked incumbent.

County Council (D 3): Ron Dillon, Jr.
The retired catering manager of La Fountaine Bleu vs. the manager
of Dillon’s Bus Service. It’s a toss up and I’m full.

Judge of the Circuit Court:
Nancy Davis-Loomis, Paul A. Hackner
The only two candidates present me with two choices. I don’t
even understand why they bother with the ink, given that I’d
guess they only need one vote each secure the office
(it probably has something to do with that pesky election law). Let’s
pretend I’m the only one. Everyone, leave this one to me.

Court of Appeals/Special Appeals
Here’s some more wasted ink that presents three candidates for
continuance of office. How many people lose these things
(hey mom, I lost to Daffy Duck, the famous write-in candidate)?
I’ll save the internet some bytes and skip listing their names.

State’s Attorney: Michael W. Burns
Let’s go for the newbie with an eye on Ehrlich’s Project Exile
program. Punish gun crimes like you mean it.

Clerk of the Circuit Court: Robert P. Duckworth
I can’t help but chuckle when I hear his name. He should
be a shrink (2 points if you get the joke). What is it
with Serabian talking about men being problem employees?
Let me write that down and figure out what that has to
do with anything.

Register of Wills: George N. Nutwell
The only candidate gets my vote. Someone wake me before I
get to the questions.

Judge of the Orphan’s Court:
Paul R. Shelby, Gordon H. Witherspoon, Jacqueline Boone Allsup
This is another pick of three out of six. Paul Shelby and
Gordon Witherspoon seem to be the best qualified. Nancy
Phelps went to Lansdowne (my alma mater), so she’s
out. Jackie Allsup gets my toss up vote.

Sheriff: John Edward Moran IV
What is with the IV’s at the end of these guy’s names?
Both of these candidates seem to be pretty good. This is
actually a close one. When in doubt, vote along party lines.

Question 1 – Interim Peace and Protective Orders: Against
This just doesn’t sound necessary to me. I’d need to know more and
I just don’t have the time to research it.

Question 2 – Legislation Authority of the General Assembly: Against
You have to be kidding me. This sounds so far reaching and so encompassing
that liberals and dictators everywhere must have rejoiced when it was first
applied to paper.

Question 3 – Certified Real Estate Appraiser: Against
Let’s get this straight: the government wants your property and gets
someone on their payroll to determine its worth. Somehow I think
Dutch Ruppersberger is involved in this one.

Question A – Ammended Ordinances: Against
Here’s a lazy vote. I don’t know why so I’ll just say no.

Question B – Fire Adminstrator: Against
I leave this vote with mixed feelings. It almost got me.

Question C – County Executive Vacancy: Against
I’m running short on juice and so is my ability to reason.

Question D – Arbitration for Law Enforcement Employees: Against
This sounds like a cost cutting measure but it also sounds like
the dirty parts of my employment agreement.

Question E – Arbitration for Uniformed Firefighters: Against
See question D.

Question F – Cooperative Purchases: Against
I’m a reasonable person and I have to vote yes to something. Don’t I?

Question G – Purchasing Contract Limits: Against
Competition slows things down. It also ensures fair prices and
guards against those nasty political favors you hear so much about.

Question H – Uniform Bidding: Against
Here are some words to guard against when taking true/false tests:
always, never, and ONLY. Let’s keep everyone honest. Shall we?

by | Categories: politics |

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One Response so far | Have Your Say!

  1. dan the man
    November 6th, 2002 at 2:55 am #

    “wow” (good post Ken! way to be informed!)
    on that note:
    here in Massachusetts, apparently a ballot initiative passed (by about 71%)that gives private citizens the right to sue teachers if they don’t provide a proper “english only immersion environment” in their classrooms. Don’t quote me on that, cause I read it in paragraph 5 (or so) of the initiative on my ballot and all I remember was saying to myself “was that what the ‘vote against suing teachers’ signs meant?”- here’s to wishing that everyone did as much research as ken did…. even if it would have made that number 98% – I just hate to think that people possibly didn’t even know what they were voting for (that is: all of us people who read english – but not if there is too much of it, or if we have to look it up beforehand, good grief) – but then again maybe it was just me who almost skipped the rest after I read paragraph one – after all I had places to go, people to see, english to speak (after all, english its a good language, I’ll admit that, i;ve been “immersed in it” all my life so far)

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