20061006 Gazette endorses Ehrlich

Gazette endorses Ehrlich

A colleague e-mailed the Gazette endorsement below, with the following preface… Since he said it much better than me, I’ve pasted his words of wisdom below. The entire Gazette endorsement is also pasted below.

ENDORSEMENTS

Governor Ehrlich picked up significant endorsements this week including the Maryland Farm Bureau, Maryland Fraternal Order of Police, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and the Gazette newspapers.

As Blair Lee described on WBAL Radio yesterday, the Gazette editorial is especially noteworthy: (1) it was unexpected because the Gazette editorial board traditionally endorses liberal Democrats; (2) the Gazette covers a broad segment of high population counties with both Democrat and Republican majorities (Montgomery, Prince George’s, Frederick and Carroll counties as well as Southern Maryland); (3) the editorial was printed early in the endorsement cycle meaning that the editors expect that it will have significant impact (in the Primary, the Gazette came out early for Ike Leggett in the Montgomery County executive race and Leggett won by a 2 to 1 margin); and (4) it is a detailed and well-reasoned editorial that references the strengths and weaknesses of both candidates. The link and text are pasted below:

Gazette endorsement editorial:

http://www.gazette.net/stories/100606/poliiss160939_31958.shtml

Gazette.Net – Maryland Community Newspapers Online

A second term for Governor Ehrlich

It was former Democratic Gov. Parris N. Glendening who often referred affectionately to politics in Maryland as a contact sport. If so, the current race for governor would be no exception.

As the ever-tightening race enters the home stretch, the campaigns of Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the Republican incumbent, and Democratic challenger Martin O’Malley, the mayor of Baltimore, have traded so many charges and countercharges, the voters are ready for the game to be over.

Their records have become blurred in the dust kicked up in the campaign ruckus, with both sides running fast and loose with interpretations of their opponent’s stances on everything from crime fighting to educating children.

After the dust settles, the central question remains: Which individual possesses the right balance of integrity, experience, substance and leadership to govern Maryland?

In our judgment, Maryland is best served by the continuity and the stewardship that would come from re-electing Governor Ehrlich to another four-year term.

To serve as a Republican governor is to serve under siege. After all, the Democrats held the top spot in the state for 40 years prior to Ehrlich’s election and control the legislature.

Regrettably, Ehrlich at times takes the bait, and partisanship rules Annapolis in a most unhelpful manner.

But in the end, when one examines the record, Ehrlich has matured in office, has exhibited the willpower to make difficult decisions and has learned something about moving toward the middle ground.

O’Malley, on the other hand, seems to have been preening for governor since before his tenure as Baltimore’s mayor and has not adequately proven a case for unseating Ehrlich. He is a reformer without a cause with a script better suited for running for the White House than leading the state.

After an unimpressive beginning, his performance as mayor has improved, but he overstates his accomplishments in managing the difficult problems of cleaning up crime, turning around the schools, making city government efficient and bringing real economy to Baltimore. Nobody expected miracles, but O’Malley would have us believe he has delivered them.

His knowledge and solutions for statewide issues make for better sound bites than public policy. For example, his idea of offering $200,000 signing bonuses for principals in low-performing schools typifies the kind of short-sightedness and subtle values conundrum that is O’Malley.

Ehrlich has done a respectable job of spelling out priorities and the ways and means to achieve them.

His record, while not unblemished, has been fair and centrist in the key areas of budget, transportation, economic development, growth management, education, crime and justice and the environment.

On most budget matters, he has been a moderate. Maryland’s governor has considerable sway in shaping the budget and Ehrlich’s approach has been sound, helped by a stable economy and soaring property values.

Ehrlich has also kept an eye on Maryland’s economic future with the Department of Business and Economic Development under the leadership of Aris Melissaratos. With military base expansions throughout Maryland, along with the growth of government-related businesses in the Washington suburbs, the prospects for the state could not be better.

Of note in the traffic-clogged Washington suburbs, Ehrlich held true to his word and got the derailed Intercounty Connector project back on line. The multi-billion-dollar highway, linking Interstates 270 and 95 near Gaithersburg and Laurel, is an essential part of the plan to ease congestion.

Still, the problem of transportation transcends the ICC and Maryland lacks a comprehensive answer and a financing instrument for projects in the pipeline — from the proposed Purple Line rail link, to the Waldorf bypass and the Corridor Cities Transitway, which some day might extend to Frederick.

On environmental issues, his ‘‘flush tax” was a bold stroke to continue efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, and Ehrlich worked for tighter restrictions on power-plant emissions.

The governor took a responsible position opposing legislation that would require certain private employers, specifically, Wal-Mart, to provide health insurance. After the legislature overrode his veto of the bill, a federal court struck down the law.

While steadfastly supporting law enforcement, Ehrlich also quietly exercised his powers to pardon nearly 200 convicts, far more than Glendening.

There have been rough patches and inconsistencies. Ehrlich’s decision to cut funding to state colleges forced tuition increases — by as much as 40 percent. Yet he supported expansion for the University of Maryland’s Shady Grove campus and later OK’d spending increases for the university system.

Attempts to reform a juvenile justice system with chronic problems that Ehrlich inherited have been less than stellar.

Administration efforts to fire political appointees in state offices, holdovers from previous Democratic administrations, drew cries of foul, but a legislative investigation has so far uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing.

In four years, Ehrlich has carefully sculpted a moderate image that is fiscally and socially responsible, and demonstrated he is up to the task of leading a changing Maryland for another term.

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