Maryland Juice is playing a bit of catch-up this week, after spending a few days on the Left Coast. Unfortunately, my return flight had "mechanical failures," and so I was forced onto a midnight "redeye" flight and didn't get to post yesterday. Below you can read a round-up of interesting political tidbits from the recent news cycle:
JUICE #1: REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN FOR MINORITY LEADER? - A few weeks ago, Maryland Juice noted that if U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi retired, Minority Whip Jim Clyburn was set to take on Maryland's Steny Hoyer for the top Democratic leadership position in the House. Josh Kurtz of Center Maryland, however, notes that if Pelosi leaves, Rep. Chris Van Hollen would be better positioned to vie for Pelosi's job (excerpt below):
JUICE #2: TEA PARTY RESPONDS TO MOCO MUSLIM SCHOOL HOLIDAYS - Earlier this week, Maryland Juice reported that Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal requested that MoCo public schools close down for two Muslim holidays. The proposal seems to have alarmed rightwing activists in Maryland. Check out the response from the Potomac Tea Party Report (excerpt below):
JUICE #3: FREDERICK REPUBLICAN BLAINE YOUNG PROUD OF MAKING NATIONAL ANTI-IMMIGRANT LIST - Last Sunday, Maryland Juice noted that Frederick County's Tea Party loudmouth Blaine Young was moving forward with a run for Governor in 2014. Today, the Frederick News-Post reports that he has been named one of the top-ten anti-immigrant officials in America, and he appears to be proud of the distinction. Clearly, Maryland's Republicans see no long-term downside to trying to win primary votes by playing to racism and xenophobia. See a clip from the Frederick News-Post's coverage (excerpt below):
JUICE #4: CHALLENGE TO MARYLAND REDISTRICTING MAPS PROCEEDS (FOR NOW) - Yesterday the Associated Press reported that Maryland Republicans turned in signatures to try and subject the state's new Congressional Districts to a referendum. Below we print a brief excerpt from the AP report, along with a response from the Democratic Party. Note that the GOP only turned in 25,000 signatures, but that 18,000 of them must be valid. That means they need a validity rate of 72%. Given the rushed nature of the GOP's signature-gathering, Maryland Juice thinks there is a very good chance that the effort will not proceed. Sources in the Democratic Party indicate that the Dems will vigorously contest and scrutinize the GOP effort. See the news excerpt below:
Below is the press release featuring the Maryland Democrats' response:
PRESS RELEASE
Chair Yvette Lewis Responds to Redistricting Petition
ANNAPOLIS (May 31, 2012) – Maryland Democratic Party Chair Yvette Lewis issued the following statement today after Maryland Republicans submitted signatures to petition the Congressional Districting Plan to referendum:
“In the face of dwindling electoral success and political irrelevancy, Maryland Republicans have turned to the petition as a means to circumvent legislative procedure and impose their partisan agenda. The GOP attempt to overturn a fair, transparent and legal process, which was supported by the Governor and an overwhelming majority of the General Assembly, is nothing but a brazen attempt to hold onto political power despite being out of step with the values of most Marylanders.
"The new congressional map reflects Maryland’s diversity and largely Democratic population growth over the last decade, creates more competitive districts and complies with the letter and spirit of the law. The map was unanimously upheld by a panel of three federal judges, and has withstood all legal challenges.
"The choice in this election is whether we will continue to move forward by promoting opportunity, expanding dignity and investing in the future. We are confident that voters will continue to resoundingly reject the Maryland Republican Party and their tea party allies at the ballot box.
"As the required petition signatures are filed and reviewed, the Maryland Democratic Party will consider all options to verify the integrity and transparency of the petition effort, and engage and mobilize voters in the fall.”
###
JUICE #1: REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN FOR MINORITY LEADER? - A few weeks ago, Maryland Juice noted that if U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi retired, Minority Whip Jim Clyburn was set to take on Maryland's Steny Hoyer for the top Democratic leadership position in the House. Josh Kurtz of Center Maryland, however, notes that if Pelosi leaves, Rep. Chris Van Hollen would be better positioned to vie for Pelosi's job (excerpt below):
CENTER MARYLAND: ...the emerging thinking on Capitol Hill goes, Pelosi, who is 72, will decide to leave — either retire outright, or take a plum ambassadorship if Obama is re-elected.
After that, House Democrats scramble to replace her — and all hell breaks loose.
Two Marylanders, of course, will figure prominently in any succession discussion: Steny Hoyer, the House minority leader, and Chris Van Hollen, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee....MINI-JUICE: VAN HOLLEN & JEB BUSH VS. PETER FRANCHOT - On a brief side-note, Maryland Juice caught a brief news item about Rep. Chris Van Hollen on Rachel Maddow's blog today. The Maryland Congressman asked former Florida Governor Jeb Bush whether he agreed with anti-tax activist Grover Norquist's effort to ask candidates to sign a pledge against ever raising taxes on anyone. Republican Jeb Bush said he disagreed with the pledge and refused to sign it several times. Apparently, he understands that governing requires responsibility and not just slogans and empty promises. This is a message Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot would be wise to learn, since Franchot has adopted the nutty Norquist pledge as his central talking point in his quixotic bid for Governor in 2014.
Hoyer, too, is well liked and much admired as a tactician, though as his ongoing battle with Pelosi has raged, he is identified more with moderates and conservatives in the caucus....
For all their friends and skills, neither Hoyer nor Clyburn is ideally suited — or ideally situated — to take over. Clyburn is 71 and Hoyer turns 73 in June. Surely Democratic members will be demanding generational change when it comes to replacing Pelosi. They’re crazy if they don’t....
This is where Van Hollen, who is 53, comes in. He’s one of several younger, ambitious, skillful Democrats who are seen as the next generation of members likely to ascend to the higher echelons of leadership....
Van Hollen is a rare combination of member who has both policy chops and excellent political antennae. From his colleagues’ standpoint, he has battled the forces of evil from his perch on the Budget Committee, and he collected plenty of chits during his two terms as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — both in the up cycle of 2008 and the thoroughly disastrous 2010.
But like some if not all of his potential rivals, Van Hollen has a limited world view — at least when it comes to the arcane and somewhat unknowable internal politics of the House Democratic Caucus are concerned. The rap on Van Hollen, no matter how smart and well-respected he is, is that he hasn’t assembled a big enough rainbow coalition of allies....
JUICE #2: TEA PARTY RESPONDS TO MOCO MUSLIM SCHOOL HOLIDAYS - Earlier this week, Maryland Juice reported that Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal requested that MoCo public schools close down for two Muslim holidays. The proposal seems to have alarmed rightwing activists in Maryland. Check out the response from the Potomac Tea Party Report (excerpt below):
POTOMAC TEA PARTY REPORT: This is Shariah creep .... almost everyone is too afraid of being called a racist or an Islamophobe if they should speak up.....
Irma Hafeez, director of the Montgomery County Muslim Council, said her organization is starting a letter-writing campaign and hopes to gather signatures to support closing schools on the holidays. She estimates that Muslims make up 3 percent of Montgomery County....
When we check the census figures for MoCo we see that the entire population of the county in 2010 was 971,777. If I am doing my math correctly (check me!) that means the Muslim share of the population is only about 1.2%....
Read more about George Levanthal, here, an early director of CASA de Maryland and surely heavily involved in the Sanctuary Movement responsible for high populations of Salvadorans in Montgomery county.
See also this related post about the proposal to teach Arabic in Maryland Public Elementary Schools. I don’t know if this is still an on-going campaign by Muslim political activists in the state. Does anyone know?....
JUICE #3: FREDERICK REPUBLICAN BLAINE YOUNG PROUD OF MAKING NATIONAL ANTI-IMMIGRANT LIST - Last Sunday, Maryland Juice noted that Frederick County's Tea Party loudmouth Blaine Young was moving forward with a run for Governor in 2014. Today, the Frederick News-Post reports that he has been named one of the top-ten anti-immigrant officials in America, and he appears to be proud of the distinction. Clearly, Maryland's Republicans see no long-term downside to trying to win primary votes by playing to racism and xenophobia. See a clip from the Frederick News-Post's coverage (excerpt below):
FREDERICK NEWS-POST: A Frederick County commissioner this week joined Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio on a political action group's list of the 10 most anti-immigration officials in local governments across the nation.
But Commissioners President Blaine Young isn't upset about making the roster, which put him in company with the Maricopa County sheriff whose crackdown on illegal immigration has granted him national name recognition. To the contrary, Young posted a link to the list -- called the 2012 Local Hall of Shame -- on his Facebook page Thursday night....
Young's stance on illegal immigration has drawn attention in recent months, especially after commissioners declared English the official language of Frederick County.
The February ordinance change grew out of brainstorming sessions between Young and Sheriff Chuck Jenkins about preventing Frederick County from becoming a "sanctuary" jurisdiction....
The proposals were dubbed "xenophobic" by members of Immigrants' List, the pro-immigration reform group that posted its "Hall of Shame" online Thursday....
"The reality is, a lot of the debate is really taking place at the state and local level," said Zack Stanton, spokesman for the Immigrants' List.
Although Young says he supports immigration as long as it's legal, Stanton said the commissioner's actions contradict his words. Adopting English as the official language of Frederick County seems to target immigrants in general, not just those who cross borders illicitly, the group's spokesman said....
JUICE #4: CHALLENGE TO MARYLAND REDISTRICTING MAPS PROCEEDS (FOR NOW) - Yesterday the Associated Press reported that Maryland Republicans turned in signatures to try and subject the state's new Congressional Districts to a referendum. Below we print a brief excerpt from the AP report, along with a response from the Democratic Party. Note that the GOP only turned in 25,000 signatures, but that 18,000 of them must be valid. That means they need a validity rate of 72%. Given the rushed nature of the GOP's signature-gathering, Maryland Juice thinks there is a very good chance that the effort will not proceed. Sources in the Democratic Party indicate that the Dems will vigorously contest and scrutinize the GOP effort. See the news excerpt below:
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Opponents of Maryland’s congressional redistricting plan say they have passed the first hurdle in putting the plan before voters.
Opponents said they filed about 25,000 signatures Thursday night, exceeding the more than 18,000 they needed by June 1.
If the signatures are certified by the state’s elections board, the referendum supporters will have until July 1 to collect the remainder of the 55,736 signatures needed to put a referendum on the ballot...
Below is the press release featuring the Maryland Democrats' response:
ANNAPOLIS (May 31, 2012) – Maryland Democratic Party Chair Yvette Lewis issued the following statement today after Maryland Republicans submitted signatures to petition the Congressional Districting Plan to referendum:
“In the face of dwindling electoral success and political irrelevancy, Maryland Republicans have turned to the petition as a means to circumvent legislative procedure and impose their partisan agenda. The GOP attempt to overturn a fair, transparent and legal process, which was supported by the Governor and an overwhelming majority of the General Assembly, is nothing but a brazen attempt to hold onto political power despite being out of step with the values of most Marylanders.
"The new congressional map reflects Maryland’s diversity and largely Democratic population growth over the last decade, creates more competitive districts and complies with the letter and spirit of the law. The map was unanimously upheld by a panel of three federal judges, and has withstood all legal challenges.
"The choice in this election is whether we will continue to move forward by promoting opportunity, expanding dignity and investing in the future. We are confident that voters will continue to resoundingly reject the Maryland Republican Party and their tea party allies at the ballot box.
"As the required petition signatures are filed and reviewed, the Maryland Democratic Party will consider all options to verify the integrity and transparency of the petition effort, and engage and mobilize voters in the fall.”
No comments:
Post a Comment