CD6 GOP JUICEBLENDER: Rob Garagiola Push Poll, Sen. David Brinkley Apologizes to Burger King, Negative Robocalls & More!

With the first ballots due to be cast during early voting tomorrow, Maryland Juice is noticing a few things things about the 6th Congressional District Republican Primary:

THE STATUS OF THE CD6 GOP RACE // FOUR QUICK POINTS

1. There is a great deal of dissatisfaction among Republican activists about Rep. Roscoe Bartlett.
2. That dissatisfaction has lead to candidacies from CD6 candidates representing the Liberty, Tea Party, and Norquist wings of the Maryland GOP.
3. But some of the elected challengers (ie; Sen. David Brinkley & Del. Kathy Afzali) are spending more time attacking each other than the incumbent Rep. Bartlett. That may help draw votes to party activists like Joe Krzystoforski and Robin Ficker.
4. As a result, Roscoe Bartlett hasn't had to spend much of his campaign cash, and it seems as if none of the challengers has so far succeeded in turning this into a head-to-head race.

Early voting begins tomorrow, so the candidates are busy throwing punches right now to try and get some traction. See a few examples below:

SEN. DAVID BRINKLEY APOLOGIZES TO BURGER KING: We previously reported that prominent Tea Party blogger Ann Corcoran was pissed off at State Senator David Brinkley for what she believed to be demeaning treatment of Del. Kathy Afzali (the only woman in the CD6 race). Sen. Brinkley suggested that Ms. Afzali would be better off working at Burger King than in the Assembly, due to the whoppers she was telling. Some felt that this sort of treatment would never be used for one of Mr. Brinkley's male competitors:

POTOMAC TEA PARTY REPORT: It is one thing to say she is exaggerating her record in Annapolis and quite another to suggest she should be working at Burger King.  Can you imagine for one minute that Brinkley’s staffer would suggest Roscoe Bartlett, or any of the men in this race should be working at Burger King.  Not a chance!  What?  Are attractive blond women somehow fair game?  This has got to stop!...

Is it any wonder so few women are willing to run for elected office?

Time for an apology Mr. Brinkley!

DAVID BRINKLEY TEMPER FLARE-UP: Rather than apologizing to Del. Afzali for suggesting she should work at Burger King, Sen. David Brinkley apologized to Burger King! Wow. The Frederick News-Posts's Bethany Rodgers reported on the flare-up (see excerpt below):

FREDERICK NEWS-POST: At the core of the exchange was a comment made by Delegate Kathy Afzali during a Monday night Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce forum for hopefuls in the race to represent the 6th Congressional District. A battle of news releases began Tuesday, when Sen. David Brinkley's campaign circulated a statement titled, "Afzali should be working at Burger King...."

Afzali had said that during her time in the Maryland General Assembly, she had been "passing bills that Senator Brinkley tried for 20 years to pass," according to a recording of the forum. The news release pointed out that in fact Afzali, a freshman lawmaker, has never passed a bill through the legislature.

Afzali responded the next day by stating that Brinkley had crossed the line....

"One must wonder if Brinkley would have made such comments toward a male candidate based on his previous, well-documented treatment of women." (Double zing!)

Afzali said she was referring to Brinkley's troubled marriage, which ended in 2010, two years after police went to his home for an argument between the couple....

Brinkley's campaign spokesman, Don Murphy, then sent out another release offering an apology ... to the people of Burger King. Someone who lies on their résumé isn't fit for work in Congress. Or at a fast-food restaurant, Murphy indicated.

TEA PARTY DISCHORD: This once again set off Tea Party blogger Ann Corcoran, who noted the following dissatisfaction about the status quo of the Republican Party:

POTOMAC TEA PARTY REPORT: Last night the Hagerstown Tea Party hosted another candidate forum... There was no particular highlight that stands out from last night.  The lowlight however came in the opening minutes as each candidate was given a couple of minutes to say what they were all about.  That charming (not!) MD Senator David Brinkley took some of his time to lambaste Del. Kathy Afzali for leaving Annapolis before a certain vote yesterday which was a personal assault that moderators had just moments before forbidden.

One of the motivating concerns for Tea Partiers from the outset is that generally we are sick of a certain style of politicking.

Most of us just want to hear the issues discussed, hear the candidates opinions and plans, look at their records, and observe who works hard to meet voters and establish a grassroots campaign.   I think everyone is sick to death of personal attacks and dirty campaigning.

HAGERSTOWN TEA PARTY STRAW POLL: The Potomac Tea Party Report also notes that Republican candidate Joe Krysztoforski (the winner of Maryland Juice's GOP grassroots straw poll) nearly tied Rep. Roscoe Bartlett in a recent Hagerstown Tea Party straw poll. Ms. Corcoran comments:

If the Krysztoforski vote surprises you, it doesn’t surprise me.   He has worked very hard over a couple of years to build a grassroots network throughout the district.

1. Roscoe Bartlett 27%
2. Joseph Krysztoforski 26%
3. Brandon Rippeon 12%
4. Robert Coblentz 8%
5. Robin Ficker 8%
6. Kathy Afzali 7%
7. David Brinkley 5%
8. Peter James 4%
9. Ron Little 1%
10. John Delaney 1% (Did not attend)

DAVID BRINKLEY ROBOCALL: Meanwhile, a Twitter user reports on a robocall she received from State Senator David Brinkley's campaign. It came by way of a taped message from Gaithersburg Councilmember Henry Marraffa boasting that Mr. Brinkley "beat the Garagiola gas tax." (Personally, I think David Brinkley's campaign is hopeless at this point).

GARAGIOLA PUSH-POLL? - Last bit of campaign gossip out there comes (again) from Potomac Tea Party Report writer Ann Corcoran. She has a quick description of an alleged "push poll" from State Senator Rob Garagiola's campaign:

...just as I was getting ready to leave for the event last evening, I got a “push-poll” phone call clearly from Garagiola’s gang.  I had to laugh as I listened to the questions because they were so unbelievably slanted that I joked on several occasions with the caller about the bias.  (I think he thought it was funny too).   Garagiola must be loaded with money for calls like the one I received and all the pieces of mail we receive from him almost daily it seems.

ROBIN FICKER ON THE PROSPECT OF WAR WITH IRAN: Meanwhile, Robin Ficker and a few of the CD6 Republican candidates appear (in some respects) to have a stronger anti-war positions than some Democrats. What's up with that?




MUCH MORE ON THE CD6 BATTLE SOON!