Ehrlich/Steel Inauguration

[Kizzy]

Dear Friends:

Thank you for electing me the next governor of Maryland .

Michael Steele and I are honored and humbled by the confidence you have shown in us. We have been besieged by heartfelt expressions of support from enthusiastic well-wishers across Maryland. This has been a very exciting time for both our families, and we are tremendously grateful.

As we savor an historic victory, we realize that the real challenges lie ahead. The issues we ran on – fixing the budget mess, improving our schools, combating crime, ending gridlock, and bringing a spirit of change to Annapolis – still require our immediate attention.

In the coming weeks, I will assemble an administration made up of outstanding Marylanders of many different backgrounds. Working with our partners in the Maryland General Assembly, we will roll up our sleeves and achieve progress on the issues that matter to us all. It’s time to get our hands dirty.

On behalf of Kendel and Drew, thanks for your confidence, and for giving us the chance to change Maryland. We will not let you down.


Sincerely,


Bob Ehrlich


What a wonderful day in Maryland's history!

 

[Sharon]

Originally posted by IM4Change
The issues we ran on – fixing the budget mess, improving our schools, combating crime, ending gridlock, and bringing a spirit of change to Annapolis – still require our immediate attention.
Sincerely,
Bob Ehrlich

Hey Bob,
Don't forget those stupid gun laws that were made by the moron you replaced.

 

[yakky doodle]

I wonder

what KKT and Spendenning are doing today? Emptying packed boxes?

 

[Sharon]

Bluto

That's pretty close. I'm in the process of buying now because the serial number shows that the gun was manufactured before 12/31/02. Handguns made after the 1st of Jan o3 cannot be shipped to MD w/o the new requirements.

 

[Sharon]

Originally posted by bluto
What's your take on this strategy?

One thing to think about is...if you need to use the gun for personal protection reasons, they're probably going to take it either way. You just might get it back when you are cleared if it happens to be registered in your name.

I don't worry about it much, before the libs go gun snatching in MD, mine will be living in a new location with me.

 

[Sharon]

Originally posted by bluto
Keep some 'dummy' weapons around for home defense and confiscatory purposes, keep the unregistered ones carefully hidden for when we are eventually forced to defend the American Way.

Bingo!

 

[Sharon]

In a tight situation at home I'll take the semi-auto handgun with a hi-capacity mag and go for slidelock!

 

[Sharon]

I edited it just for you. Hope it makes sense now.

 

[vraiblonde]

Well, I just updated our Government section and, I must say, it gave me a LOT of pleasure to replace King Parris and Mean Kathleen with Bobby and Mike!

 

[demsformd]

Yup, so much will get accomplished I am sure. Every person in Annapolis with experience is being handed a pink-slip. Slots will return and Ocean City is gonna be the next Atlantic City. Funding for schools will decrease as well as for higher education (the strides that the University of Maryland made will just be cut short). Corporations will receive a fatter paycheck due to reduced regulation that ensures stable labor practices. Insurance in the state will become for the CEO and not the person. And kiss the environment good bye my friends. You are right things WILL change. Enjoy four years, because that is all that the GOP is gonna get here.

 

[demsformd]

To add, if I was a Republican I would be thrilled to win but come on, you guys are celebrating like you never win. It's like when the Cincinnati Bengals win a game and pour gatorade on the coach. They suck!

 

[vraiblonde]

Hey, Dems!

 

[demsformd]

Yeah, I am incredibly sour because our campaign just sucked this year. I cannot believe the strategy that the Democrats used. KKT's entire message: Bob Ehrlich: too conservative. How about your plans to fix the budget deficit. Instead of banging on gun control, abortion, and health care, maybe we should have relied on our true message: "It's the economy, stupid!" I think that our inability this year to coordinate a true strategy makes me reconsider my idea to leave politics and pursue a lucrative law occupation. I just cannot get this...maybe I will take Wood's seat when he leaves in four years...how about that? I can play off as a conservative and be anti-Hoyer because his place is in DC. Be pro-life, anti-gun control, anti-slots. With my name, I could win too. I wonder

 

[demsformd]

Besides that, congratulations on your victory but I cannot see this election as being indicative of future ones. Unless Ehrlich has a tenure like George Pataki's in New York, the GOP will just die out here in Maryland again if we get a candidate that can make some sense.

 

[vraiblonde]

Originally posted by demsformd
Yeah, I am incredibly sour because our campaign just sucked this year.

It wasn't your campaign that sucked - it was your candidate.

Are you that partisan that you can't even give Ehrlich a chance? He can't possibly be any worse than Glendenning.

I can play off as a conservative and be anti-Hoyer because his place is in DC. Be pro-life, anti-gun control, anti-slots. With my name, I could win too.

Three things:

1. If you try to pawn yourself off as conservative, we on this forum will bust you out.
2. If you go anti-Hoyer, you DEFINITELY won't win - he's pretty popular and you'd need his endorsement.
3. Ask KKT how much help HER name was to her.
   [/list=1]

 

[Ken King]

Originally posted by demsformd
maybe we should have relied on our true message: "It's the economy, stupid!"

Yeah, the message that I heard during the past election from KKT was. "I'm stupid, look what Parris and I did to Maryland's economy, vote our team back in. We can and will do more of the same." Happily the people said "NO!"

 

[Kizzy]

Dems,

Funding for schools will decrease as well as for higher education (the strides that the University of Maryland made will just be cut short).

Currently, I am a student at the University of Maryland. I went to a class on Monday and Tuesday because in order for me to graduate in May, I needed 1 credit in the CMST group. The college MADE me take Introduction to Desktop OS/Windows XP. Now, I asked if I could CLEP this and the answer was no. They wanted my $209.00 tuition plus computer fee for this 1 class is what it boiled down to. I wasn't too happy about that considering I have been socked with a $375.00 lab fee for each and every 3 credit course I have taken this past year.

So anyway, I get out of the car and walk past a construction zone. The college is whining about enrollment being down, having no money, yet they are building a new building on campus. So, I asked what's up with the new building. I thought the college was broke. The answer I got was well that they had money in bonds.

Now, who runs their finances this way? I call that irresponsibility in managing funds, and how can anyone call it anything else otherwise? :shrug:

 

[Tim Mcneil]

I wish Governor Ehrlich all the best, but I have to be a realist here. Is he going to get anything accomplished in Annapolis? The answer is a probable no. A majority Democratic statehouse will prevent much of his agenda from passing. These are large majorities, not just one or two votes, but large ones. Slots are going to die in the House and the budget will not get fixed unless everything is cut or Ehrlich raises taxes. Tough choices are ahead and I just cannot see how the Republican could win reelection against a competent Democratic candidate with a real message.

 

[SmallTown]

Being a fairly new Maryland resident, I don't know the political history here. But all I have heard from people is how bad the last governor was, and the same thoughts stem back to the time that a republican was governor here. My question is, what kinds of people were the republicans putting forth that couldn't beat a governor nobody seemed to like?

I was glad to be able to vote for Ehrlich, even though I am leaving the state. But being a Maryland neighbor, it is always good to have a good guy leading the state in case the two states need to work together on something. Heck, I even rushed my wife to the polls before they closed to help to make sure Ehrlich walked away the winner. I just don't understand why it took so long for a change of power.

 

[demsformd]

The Republicans put up Ellen Sauerbrey the last two elections...Not the best choice in the world. She narrowly lost to Glendenning in the 1994 Election but she decided to challenge the results because apparently the Democrats had some dead people that voted. Then it was discovered that they weren't dead and in fact some of those allegedly dead ones voted for her. She was far too conservative in all areas. She could not get anywhere near the amount of minority votes in Montgomery and PG counties in order to be respectable and the Republican bases in the other counties could not be energized. She came for a rematch in 1998 but lost by a larger margin and mostly due to her failed challenge and a pro-incumbent wave throughout America. That and while Glendenning was not the most popular governor, he was an incredibly shrewd politician.

The reason that so many Democrats won between the 1960s and the 1990s was that the state legislature was dominated by Democrats and so were local officies. This is due to the southern Democratic roots found in Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore plus the urban base of minority Democrats. Republicans throughout much of the last century solely came from Western Maryland due to its mountain heritage. There just wasn't a significant base for Republicans to start from. For instance the last GOP governor, Spiro T. Agnew, was the county executive of Baltimore County, a major jurisdiction that could actually jumpstart a GOP candidacy. But after Agnew left the county executive position, it was captured by Democrats. The other two largest jurisdictions, Montgomery and PG counties were also dominated by Democrats. This thus created a lack of prominent GOP leaders besides the GOP congressmen. Thus when GOP congressman Bob Ehrlich decided to run, it energizing the Republicans here as well as conservative Democrats that were weary of voting for another liberal Democratic gubernatorial candidate. The terrible organization and message of the Townsend campaign also made Ehrlich's candidacy seem much more attractive. Thus with an unusually strong Republican and an unusually weak Democrat, the GOP can win here just as last election.