I will freely admit it; I am a political junkie, especially
on the local level. I will also admit, I couldn’t go to bed on election night especially
when the all of the news outlets had Brown out to an early lead in the Maryland
gubernatorial contest just minutes after the poll closed. Most of the national
outlets had declared Brown the winner months ago. Some, including I believe
MSNBC, had Brown winning the election even before he announced he was running.
I am clearly exaggerating, but you get the point, this was Maryland, things are
supposed to go this way.
Despite the huge odds faced by challenger Larry Hogan in
taking on the Goliath also known as the Maryland Democratic Party starring
Martin O’Malley, I just had a feeling Hogan might be able to eke out a victory
and put a severe cramp into the third term bid for O’Malley. Maybe it was more
of a desperate hope than a good feeling but the fact remains, I couldn’t go to
bed until it was decided.
My spirit was slightly bolstered when around 10:00 PM Hogan
went ahead in the results, much to the chagrin of all of the national pundits
and talking heads. I was jumping between national and local coverage as the
night wore on. Eventually I stuck with the local stations as they all had
people out at the respective campaign headquarters. Reporters on the scene
described the mood at Brown headquarters as “hopeful” and “optimistic” as some
of the expected returns from what they thought would be heavily democratic
areas had yet to be posted.
Reports from the Hogan gathering reported the atmosphere as
“subdued” and “highly anticipatory” Not since the 2002 Governor’s race when
Republican Bob Ehrlich upset the preordained coronation of Kathleen Townsend could
folks have even imagined the possibility could exist. The big question remained,
could Larry pull off the unthinkable once again?
Who could ever forget the 2009 quote made by the illustrious
and perpetual President of the Maryland State Senate Thomas V. Mike Miller.
Speaking about Maryland Republicans to Baltimore Sun reporter Laura Smitherman
Miller barked, “We’re going to shoot 'em down and we’re going to bury them face
down, deep and far. So deep and far it’s going to take 20 years for them to
come out the other side. They’ll see China from there. But I was wrong. It’s
going to take 40 years for them to recover from what we did to them in
2008."
The results kept coming in and Hogan’s lead did nothing but
widen despite all of Millers previously threatened shoot’in and burying. As the
evening wore on, a few of the victorious Democratic candidates on hand at the
Brown camp agreed to be interviewed. The tap-dancing and preliminary finger
pointing that I sensed in their commentary gave me a warm and fuzzy but I
wasn’t quite ready to break open the champagne, at least not yet. Eventually,
it was reported that Brown was ready to concede, I thought perhaps I had fallen
asleep and was now dreaming.
The local coverage then went back to Brown HQ where all of
the notables present had assembled on the stage behind an empty lectern
festooned with a large Brown/Ullman sign. To say the mood there was a bit less
than joyous would be an understatement, the looks and body language said it
all, words like stoic, resigned, funeral like, and pallor come to mind. As the
gathering stood and appeared to be mourning I noticed that none of the usual
campaign headquarters music could be heard and the looks on the faces of the gathered
were priceless. For a real stomach turner, flashback to the Paris Glendening
crowd gloating and dancing to the sounds of The
Wind Beneath my Wings, pass the Rolaids.
Instead tonight, long faces and small talk were the order of
the day, disbelief was in the air. The various reporters on the scene did their
best to babble on awaiting Anthony Browns anticipated arrival. Some of the
anchor desk folks were still holding onto a shred of hope that Brown could pull
it off.
I am thinking if the viewer’s knew it would have been such a
trouncing, they all would have left the coverage early and when back over to
one of the many mindless talent shows that dominate today’s airwaves. The
anchors and reporters were doing their best to keep it close, and interesting.
Some of the notables present on the stage were Steny Hoyer,
Elijah Cummings and Dutch Ruppersburger. My guess is, they had to be there,
they were on the ballot and had been successful in their respective reelection
bids. I thought it was mildly entertaining when first Hoyer, then Ruppersburger
both left the stage prior to Browns arrival after what I am sure they
considered too long for an esteemed member of Congress being made to wait,
regardless of the circumstances. Unfortunately for them, they would have to
return.
Eventually Hoyer, Dutch, running mate Ulman and both the
Brown and Ulman families made their way to the stage, Anthony Browns arrival
was imminent. Again, the body language shown by the participants was a hoot.
Who got hugs, gave them, who received glares and cold shoulders and from whom,
classic stuff. If only I had the foresight to run the DVR thing, or better yet,
if I even knew how to.
Upon reflection the next day, the thing that I found most
interesting was who was not present on the stage for the wake. Barbara
Mikulski and Ben Cardin were nowhere to be seen, maybe they had other plans for
Election night, perhaps a rousing game of Mahjong took precedence. The Mikes,
Miller and Busch were not spotted, probably out digging some burying holes down
in some Calvert County cornfield I suspect.
Let’s not fail to mention the biggest, most notable, ‘no
show’ of them all, Governor Martin “gee I really, really, really want to be the
President” O’Malley. Here is a guy who will normally knock down small children,
senior citizens and pets to get in front of a camera. The fact that he wouldn’t
show up to offer his friend, protégé, right hand man, and personally selected
successor even an ounce of consolation or condolence for a job done spoke volumes.
Simply amazing and truly unbelievable on the surface, but when you give it some
thought, completely expected, especially given the players and the stakes.
It is my humble opinion if the results had went the other way;
you would have needed the National Guard as security to keep the aforementioned
politicos from elbowing their way to the stage to once again bask in the
limelight of an election night victory here in the one party rule state of
Maryland.
I can see it now, Martin, flashing that big Irish grin,
sleeves rolled up, tie loosened, arm around Tony, hoisting his arm in the air
like a prizewinning boxer. Of course, he could have also used the moment to
give but a few interviews to tell the cameras how smart the Maryland voters
were and how this reaffirms the mandate started by his administration, in other
words, welcome to my third term.
You don’t suppose that the absentees purposely chose to
abstain from attending do you? I can’t imagine that Marty’s handlers advised
him they thought it would be best if he not be seen with a, and I hesitate to
use the word, ‘loser.’ They wouldn’t do that would they? After all, aren’t they
the party of compassion, tolerance and feelings?
I am sure they were all busy with previous commitments that
they made for election night in Maryland that did not involve celebrating
another Democratic trouncing that we have all come to expect on the first
Tuesday in November here in the free State.
While it is way too early to know for sure, one can
certainly be hopeful that maybe, just maybe, we might be moving toward a more
balanced form of governing in Maryland. A person can dream can’t they? The more
I think about it, the more I realize I just have to ask, how’s that shovel
ready burial project working out for you there Mike?
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