O’Donnell 1 Rascovar 0

Some of you may remember the interview we did on Red Maryland Radio back in September of 2013 to discuss what Barry Rascovar opined was the imminent demise of the Maryland Republican Party.

Barely more than a year ago, Rascovar wrote:

“The state’s Grand Old Party is no longer grand, is not aging well and is not much of a political party. The battle between pragmatic conservatives and ideological purists looks like a bunch of vultures fighting over the scant remains of an unrecognizable skeleton.

This follows a trend in many other urban states where the GOP no longer has a message that resonates with voters. It seems lost on a stormy sea. More and more it is turning into a party of neo-Dixiecrats — hostile to minorities of all stripes; hostile to immigrants; hostile to the poor; hostile to government spending regardless of its purpose; hostile to federal authority of any kind, and incendiary in its seething hatred of a president who is both black and liberal.

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It is not a pretty picture. Look around the country where Missouri Republicans voted to outlaw federal gun-law enforcement. Look at North Carolina and Texas where Republicans voted to deter blacks and Hispanics from voting. Look at Arizona and other Republican states that voted to nullify federal immigration policies.

Today’s Republican Party, both in Maryland and nationally, lacks a coherent set of values and beliefs that can capture statewide offices in Annapolis or the national presidency. The upcoming insanity in Washington over raising the nation’s debt ceiling (let’s not pay our IOUs) and notching up sequestration’s budget screws could come to symbolize the growing futility and disintegration of the GOP.”

As the former minority leader in the House of Delegates, Tony O’Donnell told us at the time, Barry Rascovar had no idea what he was talking about and there were even then many signs of what was about to happen in November 2014.  As Delegate O’Donnell reflects he puts it this way:

“A full year before this past November’s general election in Maryland, political commentator Barry Rascovar offered his analysis and prognostication for the state of the MDGOP and its electoral chances in Maryland in the future on MarylandReporter.com. As a Maryland Delegate and former House Minority Leader I offered this response 6 days later on September 3, 2013 on the same web site.

The MDGOP picked up the Governor’s office, 2 additional MD Senate seats, 7 additional MD House seats, now control 5 of 9 county executive seats and made even more gains in local government elected positions across the state on November 4, 2014. The election results obviously speak for themselves. I thought it would be fun however to revisit these two offerings from 2013 as 2014 winds down and see which commentator got it closer to actual a full 14 months before the election. I hope you enjoy as much as I did reading and revisiting these two past columns (copied below) predicting the electoral future in Maryland. Enjoy!“

Score one for Delegate O’Donnell!

And let me say what Delegate O’Donnell is too gentile and modest to say, Barry Rascovar is a know-nothing, knee-jerk leftist who epitomizes the out of touch conventional view which dominates so much of Maryland’s media.  His colossal failure to see what was going on in Maryland politics in this election cycle forever destroys whatever credibility the remaining few in the media still believed he had.

The successes of our state party are the result of years of hard work by many dedicated Republicans and visionary party leaders like Delegate O’Donnell.

And if doubt the truth of Delegate O’Donnell’s prescience, read his piece linked above or, better yet, listen for yourself from our show in September, 2013