Top Posts in August

POST : Views

Fraternal Order of Police Endorsements: 268
Irish Festival Abandons Baltimore: 243
Final Word on FOP Endorsments: 197
County Council District 5 Question: 180
Greg Fox Qualifications: 160
Jim Robey and me… kinda: 93
Fair and Balanced…: 93
Weekend Open Thread: 85
A Fox/Merdon Aging in Place Property Tax: 81
I pledge no tax increasess ii…: 81
Harpers Choice Candidate Forum: 62
Press Release: 62

Me and Chris Merdon

I first met Chris Merdon in 2001 at a Bob Ehrlich campaign organizing event.  Chris was standing in the corner of a packed room.  The discussion was about the Howard County door-to-door campaign and we were talking about which doors we needed to knock on.  This was the primary and we were close to deciding that we would stick to registered Republican households who voted in the previous primary.  Chris raised his hand and said, “Ehrlich doesn’t face any real competition in a primary.  Why  wouldn’t we knock on Democrat’s doors, after all they vote too?”

Chris’ question was put to us quietly and simply but it silenced the room.  I looked at this guy and I thought to myself, “Why didn’t I say that?”  He cut to the simple conclusion that we needed to forget about the primary and start campaigning in the general election now.  Why didn’t I see the issue with such simple clarity?  Well, end of discussion.  Next topic.  Thanks to that clarity that is what we did and it probably helped the campaign a lot.

County Council 5 Straw Poll Results

Greg Fox:47

Wayne Livesay: 20

Jim Adams: 18

Total votes: 85

View for yourself

Baltimore Sun Endorsements

The article 

We may agree to disagree, but I have something to say about this.  I don’t know if it is a meaningful as the Howard County Times endorsements, but none the less.

First there is a big difference in how the endorsement process is managed by both papers.

The Howard County Times endorsements were derived during an interview with all the candidates in a particular race.  The interview panel was comprised of three members of the editorial board, who are familiar with the County and the race.  The interviews lasted for almost 2 hours in some cases.

The Sun endorsements were derived by interviewing the candidates over the telephone.  The reporter is not from the County and was reviewing a questionnaire over the telephone with the candidates.