Alan Walden for Mayor of Baltimore
Several months ago, I wrote how serious times in Baltimore demanded a serious candidate for Mayor. After months of waiting, we finally have our man.
Alan Walden is a unique candidate for mayor of any large city. While he has lived in Baltimore for nearly three decades, his perspective is different than your average city resident. As a newsman, he saw things with a journalistic eye. As a commentator, he was able to articulate the problems with the city and with our state, and make compelling arguments for the things that he had been pondering.
Throughout his career as a pundit, Walden always looked at things through a conservative perspective. No, he did not tow the Republican Party line, but he was able to call them like he saw them and articulate the case for conservative leadership.
It was quite a surprise when Walden announced his candidacy for Mayor this week. But if you listen to his interview on WBAL, you hear the demeanor of somebody who is a conservative candidate who is running for the right reasons.
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Walden‘s notoriety is something else that certainly helps his cause as well. Many of our most politically astute readers probably cannot name a Republican nominee for Mayor of Baltimore from the last 30 years. Walden‘s name recognition certainly will not be the thing that propels him to victory, but any Republican with even a smidgen of name identification will increase the likelihood of a better performance this November.
The best thing about a Walden candidacy is the stark contrast between Walden and his likely Democratic opponent, former Mayor Sheila Dixon. Walden‘s tenure reporting the news and commentating on WBAL has been that of being a consummate professional. Somebody who is trusted by public at large and known for being straightforward with facts and honest with their opinions. Dixon’s well-known history and criminal record conveys many thing, but honesty certainly is not one of them.
We note that Walden is not unopposed for the nomination. Brian Vaeth is also running. As we’ve noted in the past, Vaeth is not a good representative of Republican position on issues, focusing his campaign on legalizing weed and giving out free stuff to people. His campaign seems to be the latest in a series of attempts to become a professional office-seeker after his unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 2012 and after being disqualified as a candidate for Governor in 2014. Vaeth is not the right choice for any office.
A professional who represents conservative values who has a sense about the history of Baltimore and its neighborhoods is the kind of series candidate Baltimore City Republicans should nominate. And for that reason, Red Maryland endorses Alan Walden for Mayor of Baltimore.
