I have a letter to the editor in this morning’s Frederick News-Post boiled down from a longer blog post that appeared in this space on Friday:
On June 6 you ran a letter to the editor signed by Delegate Sam Arora, D-Rockville, ostensibly praising Sen. David Brinkley as an ally of liberal Democrats.
Any readers who took this letter at face value got fooled. Looked at closely, it was plainly meant to hurt Brinkley, not help him, with conservative Republican primary voters.
Whatever would motivate retiring Delegate Arora, a very liberal Montgomery County Democrat, to do that? Maybe it’s that Sen. Brinkley single-handedly derailed the False Claims Act sponsored by Arora, which would have stood as the major legislative accomplishment of his brief Annapolis tenure (and would have pleased some wealthy trial lawyers, even as it appalled business groups).
I conclude that Arora (1) bears a deep grudge against Brinkley precisely because of Brinkley’s success in blocking Democratic legislation; (2) doesn’t mind doing a favor to Brinkley’s opponent, Delegate Michael Hough, who broke with most Republicans to back Arora’s pro-lawsuit bill.
I also wonder whether Delegate Arora thought up this little stunt all by himself, or had help.
WALTER OLSON
New Market
My Friday post has more backstory about how many of his own liberal allies came to shun Del. Arora for what they saw as double-dealing and opportunism.
Free State Notes 