The collected works of Del. Frank Conaway, Jr.

“Why did you move to Baltimore?”

“Oh, for the quality of the representation.” (via James Taranto).

Baltimore Sun endorses Anthony Brown

The Sun’s bizarrely left-handed endorsement reads like a breakup letter with Anthony Brown that talks itself into giving him one last chance. It cites his “strikingly dishonest” campaign with its “unrepentant mendacity” and says his growth promises “sound laughable” after his role in the “disastrous” health exchange “debacle.” It praises Larry Hogan as “genuine and appealing” with a “strikingly moderate” agenda. Then … it forgives Brown while pledging to hold him accountable next time. Next time — but not this time.

Dear Sun: Stop trying to reform him. It’s over. Move on.

Show Me The Way To Frederickstown, or, Lost In Maryland

Update: Here’s Lauren Weiner’s rendition, to the tune of “Sweet Betsy from Pike.” Freelance writer Lauren Weiner has lived in Baltimore since 1992. Also, thanks to the Weekly Standard for their reprint!

[News item — in the final debate between Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Larry Hogan, asked about whether Western Maryland interests were neglected, Brown referred to “Frederickstown” — 53:34 in video]

[can be sung to “Nottamun Town,” made famous by Jean Ritchie, or other tunes.]

By Walter Olson

SHOW ME THE WAY TO FREDERICKSTOWN,
or, LOST IN MARYLAND

Come all you good people and now gather round,
I’ll sing you the story of Anthony Brown;
Who wandered thro’ Mar’land, up hills and down,
Saying show me the way to fair Fred-er-ickstown.

“For eight years in office I’ve just hung around,
Except for that website I ran to the ground,
But Emperor O’Malley has willed me his crown,
So show me the way to fair Frederickstown.”

“Oh Tony, oh Tony, please pencil this down,
There’s a city called Frederick, of famous renown,
The state’s second largest, with green hills all round,
But there is no city called Frederickstown.”

“Do not contradict me,” Tony said with a frown,
“These eight years I’ve traveled this whole state around,
Eastminster, St. Gary’s, and Salisboro town,
From Hagersville-Port to the Chesapeake Sound.”

We wanted a governor with feet on the ground,
We chose Larry Hogan, our taxes came down,
If out on the byways you should meet Mr. Brown,
He’s still out there looking for Frederickstown.

New Washington Post poll finds 9-point gap in governor’s race

The Post’s new poll is less favorable to Republican Larry Hogan than some others, though it still shows considerable narrowing from an 18-point difference early in the summer. It also makes clear that the remaining gap is entirely owing to the gigantic Democratic edge among D.C.-orbit voters (who tend to tune out state politics; Gov. Martin O’Malley, who has become unpopular in the rest of the state, still coasts along with high numbers around D.C.). Even in this relatively unfavorable poll Hogan is leading in traditional battleground Baltimore County by 11 points, but the Post has him trailing in Montgomery and Prince George’s County by a very wide margin (the numbers, for whatever reason, appear to no longer be online).

Is a month long enough to educate enough residents of Rockville and Silver Spring and Greenbelt and Fort Washington about what the rest of the state knows so well? One indication of just how much education remains to be done during the campaign’s final month is found in this truly surreal sentence from the story by John Wagner and Peyton M. Craighill (emphasis added): “voters give the nod to Brown on health care, despite his oversight last year of the state’s botched rollout of its online health insurance exchange.”

As I’ve said before, most well-educated, civic-minded D.C. suburbanites I’ve met simply don’t know about Brown’s leading role in the colossal, expensive health exchange fiasco. If only a newspaper of wide circulation and journalistic ambition in this coverage area — say, the Washington Post — had kept on the story long enough and with enough reporting muscle to get the word out!

In miniature, October 3

• Hogan momentum continues in governor’s race as Cook Political Report moves MD-GOV, which started at “Solid Democrat,” from “Likely Democrat” to “Lean Democrat”;
• Montgomery County task force proposes lowering voting age to 16 for county elections [MC-GOP]
• Maryland has widest distribution in country of free cellphones under federal Lifeline program [Washington Examiner]
• President, or even Vice President, O’Malley? Ain’t gonna happen, says Blair Lee [Gazette]
• “For instance, a 2013 law requiring doctors to obtain licenses to mix medications causes ‘a huge amount of confusion’ and delay in medical services, Terri Hill said.” [Md. Reporter on docs running for lege]
• This totally bolsters my confidence in how Prince George’s County schools are administered.