Annapolis Capital Punishment

The Marylandian Candidate  

Part One of Two


It sounds like we could film a thriller about it to be called The Marylandian Candidate. National political figures in the Democratic Party prop up a young candidate for statewide office in order to prepare him to run for the presidency. Wait a minute--they think it already happened with the current president and they are going to do it again!

According to the conservative, national publication The American Spectator, the Marylandian Candidate is none other than liberal Democrat Judd Legum in Maryland’s 30th District who hopes to capture the seat currently held by first-term incumbent Ron George, a moderate to conservative Republican and jewelry store owner. It so happens that Mark Hyman, the profoundly conservative writer of the July 7 piece in The American Spectator is a graduate of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis and lives in nearby Baltimore.

Hyman begins his piece by laying out the stage, that Maryland is a state dominated by Democratic lawmakers, although he failed to mention that Republican Bob Ehrlich served as governor for four years and that his lieutenant, Michael Steele is now national chair of the GOP. Yes, the Dems do outnumber the Repubs, but Maryland is really a red state on all its sides and edges with a dark blue center in its more populous areas and there have been some leading conservatives from Maryland, but that’s a quibble. Let Hyman think what he will.

Hyman says that “national Democrats, including numerous heavy-lifters from the Clinton camp, have descended on Annapolis, the heart of Maryland District 30, to help elect a virtually unknown challenger who is running against a first-term delegate seeking reelection.”

Descended on Annapolis? He says that “Legum is likely being groomed for bigger office in the years ahead.” Maybe. Maybe not. How would Hyman know? But that’s important for his narrative as we’ll soon see.

Legum is a liberal and he has been the target of other conservative activists in Maryland, but is Hyman being a bit hyperbolic in his criticism? Hyman adds that “Legum later left CAP [Center for American Progress] to join the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign as ‘Research Director,’which is the euphemism for partisan dirt-digger.” Is Hyman missing something here? Isn’t partisan dirt-digging what politics is all about these days? Isn’t what he is engaging in by digging up this stuff about Legum the same thing? Or is Hyman just doing journalism?

Here’s where it gets serious, as Hyman picks apart Legum's fundraising. “In his most recent finance report (January 2010), Legum raised $65,000 for his race with nearly three-quarters of the money coming from out of state. In fact, Legum received donations from 30 outside states and the District of Columbia. A mere 80 of Legum's 482 donors gave an address that falls within District 30.” OK. I’ve written about this as well, but not because I am going after Legum, but because I am going after this type of activity in general, but I wish, and I really do wish that if Hyman were so concerned about this type of fundraising, that he would go after conservatives and Republicans when they engage in it as well as they are doing in Maryland's First and Fifth Congressional races to unseat Frank Kratovil and Steny Hoyer. But perhaps Hyman simply feels he is engaging merely in “research”.

Mayor Josh Cohen got a lot of outside money to get elected last fall, and for which he has now built a "campaign war chest". Oh, by the way, Cohen and Legum are good pals and are endorsing and helping each other out, and they have enlisted the support of and are supporting Attorney General Doug Gansler and, here’s the rub, Delegate Michael Busch who is also running for re-election in District 30. Busch also happens to be the Speaker of the House. Busch, who recently hosted other House Speakers from around the country in Annapolis, is keenly interested in retaining and adding as many Democrats as is possible, especially in his district and has also been viewed by many as a mentor to Josh Cohen.

Hyman delves further. “The D.C. contributions came mostly from political operatives with deep ties to the Clinton political machine or from staffers working for a pair of liberal special interest groups. Former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, Hillary campaign chief Patti Solis Doyle and longtime Clinton mouthpiece Howard Wolfson sent checks for several thousand dollars.”

Legum counters that “They are my relatives, friends and former colleagues” and is quick to add that “Every dollar I raise (and how I spend it) is publicly available on the Maryland Election Board website. I'm proud to have hundreds of contributors from within the district and Maryland. I am also the only candidate that is voluntarily refusing contributions from registered lobbyists and PACs.”

But does he really have “hundreds of contributors from within the district and Maryland” as he claims?

To be continued tomorrow......