Anthony Brown Not Ready for Prime Time

The WaPo gives us a run down on a recent fundraiser by Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown in Prince George’s County.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D) held his first fundraiser since the inauguration at Newton White Mansion in Mitchellville last week. About 150 people attended the evening cocktail mingler, including developers and several elected officials. Members of Brown’s staff said they expected that the event would raise between $140,000 and $160,000 to support his future political ambitions.

In comments to the crowd, Brown offered a version of what has become something of a stump speech for Gov. Martin O’Malley’s (D) plan to raise taxes and close the state’s budget deficit. “Each of you could probably find 12 reasons why not to support this solution,” he told the crowd. “But understand: It’s a consensus plan. [ed note: there’s that word again]”

He also talked about how the plan includes money to expand health coverage for Marylanders, a particularly poignant topic in Prince George’s, where the drain of caring for the uninsured has hobbled the local hospital system.

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I didn’t know that Brown’s designated fundraising demographic was room-temperature-IQ segment but if this story is accurate, the guests all arrived on the short bus.

Presumably no one thought to ask why 12 good reasons were not as important as a consensus. And how would spending more raising taxes to spend more money on health care help the indigent who are already covered by medicaid? And what guarantee would PG County have that the tax money would flow to them and not to another jurisdiction which is not only vote-rich for O’Malley but down in the heels? Like Baltimore City.

One hopes Anthony Brown is not the pathetic lightweight the media coverage has made him out to be thus far. One hopes.