Wednesday, December 01, 2010

The Republican Farm Team

December 1, 2010

The Republican Farm Team http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4087

Kevin E. Dayhoff

In the days following the November 2 state and national midterm elections, pundits have superficially opined at great length as to the depth and meaning of the phoenix-like resurgence of the Republican Party on the national level.

Beyond the media bright lights and glamour focused on the national contests, the number of Republicans voted into local and state offices lends us a better fundamental nuts and bolts gauge for the future of the GOP.

Writing for the Oregon Statesman, my Capitolbeat reporters’ association colleague, Peter Wong, called the November midterm elections a political hurricane when he recently reported on a presentation by Tim Storey, a senior fellow with the National Conference of State Legislatures...

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Besides, I have never been a fan of the “great person” theory of history.

In Ms. Bykowicz’ article she quotes Mr. Murphy to wisely note: “We turned a pretty good election into a defeat,” Murphy said, describing how Ehrlich's loss overshadowed the local gains. “It's our own fault. We focused all our attention like a laser on one person, one position. And we've got to stop doing that.”

In Carroll and Frederick counties, Republican leadership appears to be much more public policy fundamentals-driven than that of the cult of personality.

According to Ms. Bykowicz, “When … officials are sworn in next month, 15 of the state's 23 counties will be run at the local level by Republicans. Nine of those won't have a single Democrat in their governing body – a phenomenon Republican blogger Richard Cross described as ‘Maryland's red underbelly.’ ”

Or what I refer to as the Republican farm team.

However, to paraphrase my McDaniel College political science professor, Dr. Herb Smith, “Now comes the hard part – governing.”

... http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4087

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