Advice Worth Ignoring

My latest Washington Examiner Local Opinion Zone blog post:

Maryland Democratic Party drone and chief Astroturf farmer Matt Verghese’s diagnosis (Left behind: The Maryland Republican Party) of MDGOP’s travails is an incoherent mess resulting from vigorous intellectual masturbation. Feigning as some sort of objective analyst Verghese’s diagnosis is nothing more than a hackneyed cliché-filled taunt.

Silly me but shouldn’t Maryland Democrats first actually acknowledge rot and corruption in their own party before lecturing Republicans?

Verghese is right when he talks about the state’s electoral math. However, he’s wrong when he says MDGOP’s “support and values are out of line” with Maryland’s demographically diverse voters. While this may be true on the surface, the only reason these voters align with Democrats is because they pander to those voters. What Maryland Republicans have failed to do is educate those voters that Democratic pandering is really code for taking their money and redistributing it to their special interest masters, be it public sector unions or corporate benefactors.

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Verghese pooh poohs the notion that MDGOP needs to “embrace new ideas, energy and personalities” when that is exactly what it needs to do—among other things—as I laid out in the Chambers Compact.

Verghese scoffs at Republican gains in the county and local races pointing to them as proof of a Republican flat line. In fact, they are a source of strength to develop a bench and hone our arguments. While some in our party think we should concentrate solely in those regional strongholds—I’ll concede they make a fair point—but abandoning the urban regions would be a mistake.

Verghese writes this puzzling statement: “a schism has developed as the conservative-tea party wing want to abandon the self-imposed ‘moderation’ imposed by the Bob Ehrlich establishment over the last decade.”

Well which one is it? Was it self-imposed or was Ehrlich the imposer? Someone inform young master Verghese one cannot self-impose moderation while simultaneously having it imposed by an external actor.

Then there is Verghese’s use of the abracadabra phrase “pro-corporation orthodoxy.” What pray tell does he mean by this? Most Republicans I know (though not all) preach free market ideas, and if you know anything about free markets principles they are anti-corporation. In fact, it is the Democrats—to who hue—to use Verghese’s term to—“pro corporation orthodoxy.” Can you say corporatism?

Furthermore, when you take a look at the vast chasm between campaign contributions between the Maryland Democratic Party and MDGOP and Verghese’s statement looks even more absurd. According to the Maryland campaign finance data base in the 2010 election cycle, Maryland Democrats raised over $2.7 million from business entities (including unions) while MDGOP raised only $141,000. So which party really is the “pro corporation” party? Only the Maryland Democratic Party could wag a school marmish finger at “corporations and special interests” with one hand, then rake in millions of dollars from those same corporate special interests with the other hand.

It appears the only thing “left behind” was any sort of cogent argument by Verghese.

Yes, MDGOP has it’s problems to be sure. However, there is a groundswell of energy and enthusiasm growing among the party’s grass roots and newer activists to build a party, which can effectively educate voters not predisposed to vote Republican why free markets and limited government are preferable to the snake oil the Democrats are peddling. Yes there will be disagreements, as there are in any political party, but in the end MDGOP will be united and ready to fight and win.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/local-opinion-zone/2010/12/advice-worth-ignoring#ixzz17djQ0nmt