ODD COMMENTARY: RNC Chair & Former Homeland Security Head Discuss Doug Gansler Beach Week // PLUS: Much More!

Below Maryland Juice provides a roundup of recent news items regarding our state's heated Governor's race. We include commentary on the Beach Week controversy from some interesting sources, along with additional sparring going on in Maryland's top statewide race:

JUICE #1: FORMER HEAD OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY DISCUSSES DOUG GANSLER BEACH WEEK STORY - In one of the stranger commentaries about the Doug Gansler Beach Week story, Michael Chertoff (former head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) used the controversy to defend the NSA's mass surveillance program. Chertoff's musings on Gansler and NSA surveillance appeared in a Washington Post op-ed yesterday (excerpt below):

MICHAEL CHERTOFF VIA WASHINGTON POST: In the past few months, much has been written about whether the National Security Agency’s authorized storage of anonymous telephone records should be curtailed on the grounds that it’s too invasive of Americans’ privacy.... So it is striking that two recent news stories illustrate a less-debated threat to privacy that we as a society are inflicting on ourselves. Last week, a passenger on an Acela train decided to tweet in real time his summary of an overheard phone conversation by Gen. Michael Hayden, a former director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the CIA (and my current business partner). The same day, a photo was published of Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler at a summer party where he was surrounded by underage youths who apparently were drinking.

Of course, the delicious irony is obvious: In one case, the former NSA chief becomes a victim of eavesdropping. In the other, a politician critical of teen drinking fails to intervene when he is surrounded by it. But both stories carry a more troubling implication....

Where does this lead us? If a well-known person has an argument with a spouse or child at a restaurant, should it be broadcast? If a business personality expresses a political opinion at a private party, should that opinion (or a distortion of it) be passed on to the rest of the world?.... This is worth a national, and perhaps global, conversation at least as robust as the debate over government collection of telephone numbers....

JUICE #2: NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIR REINCE PRIEBUS COMMENTS ON DOUG GANSLER BEACH WEEK STORY - It appears that the national Republican Party has decided to use the Doug Gansler Beach Week story to try and score some political points. RNC Chair Reince Priebus published the following op-ed in The Baltimore Sun this week chastising Gansler over the controversy (excerpt below):

REINCE PRIEBUS VIA BALTIMORE SUN: "Parents, you're the leading influence on your teen's decision not to drink." Those are the words of Maryland's Attorney General Doug Gansler, a Democrat and candidate for governor, in an anti-underage age drinking public service announcement he recorded a year ago.

Sadly, Attorney General Gansler doesn't listen to his own words and reportedly helped plan a party last June at which underage boys would be drinking beer and wine.... As a dad, I'm appalled by his behavior. It's irresponsible for a parent. And as a lawyer, I also know he likely violated the oath he took as attorney general by selectively enforcing the law....

JUICE #3: ANTHONY BROWN'S CAMPAIGN DENIES LEAKING ATTACKS ON DOUG GANSLER, CONSERVATIVE ACTIVISTS CRITICIZE BROWN CAMPAIGN - Given the constant flow of negative attacks on Attorney General Doug Gansler, it seems entirely plausible that rivals (or their allies) have been responsible for the recent spate of embarrassing leaks. But NBC News reported this week that Anthony Brown's campaign is denying involvement (excerpt below):

NBC NEWS:  "We know exactly who these things are fed by ... do I think this is a character assassination set up by my opponent? Maybe," Gansler said at a press conference called to respond to the beach party picture.

But Tuesday, Gansler's chief opponent in the race for governor -- Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown -- said he was not the source of the stories. When News4's Mark Segraves asked the candidate if he had anything to do with the stories, Brown said, "Our focus will not be what other campaigns are doing or candidates, it will be on the future of Maryland."

Segraves asked again if the campaign had anything to do with stories of Gansler at the teen party, or of a previous Washington Post story about a speed-camera ticket that Gansler never paid. "Did you have anything to do with it?" Segraves asked. "Nothing," Brown said, at an appearance at a counseling center for victims of domestic abuse.... 

But in a pair of recent blog posts, the conservative writers at Red Maryland laid the blame for the recent negative turn in the Governor's race at the feet of the Brown campaign. Moreover, the Red Maryland bloggers seem to think Reince Priebus' entry into the Doug Gansler story might be short-sighted as they think Maryland Republicans will be the next ones to receive this sort of treatment (excerpts below):

RED MARYLAND: What the Democrats are doing to Doug Gansler right now is something that few of us have ever seen before in Maryland intraparty Democratic politics.... And it has been extremely vicious between the Brown camp and the Gansler camp. And it has been sustained, from the original story about Gansler's State Police Drivers, to the speeding ticket that became an issue earlier this week, and now on to the Beach House Party story that broke late last night. The sustained assault on Doug Gansler and his character really is a new low for Anthony Brown, Martin O'Malley, and Maryland's Democratic establishment....

And my fellow Republicans, don't revel in the misfortunes of Gansler, Brown, and the open warfare occurring in the Democratic primary. On June 25th, after the primary and regardless of who wins, they will set their sights on us. Just wait for it....

In a second, more recent blog post, the Red Maryland bloggers also seem to imply that negative tactics are the norm for Brown's campaign manager Justin Schall (excerpt below):

RED MARYLAND: Anthony Brown’s campaign manager, Justin Schall, has quite a history, and it isn’t pretty. Maryland political insiders know Schall hopped over to Brown after running John Delany’s successful campaign to win Maryland’s gerrymandered sixth district. However, Schall’s track record is pretty shady.

In 2006, Schall managed the losing campaign of Cindy Chavez, who was running for mayor of San Jose, CA.  Here’s what the website MetroActive reported that election night.

We love election night parties. The exuberance, the fatalism, the cheese cubes. We even enjoyed getting tossed out of the Holiday Inn's Mediterranean Room banquet hall by a man who claimed to be Cindy Chavez's campaign manager, Justin Schall. "This is a private party," he explained with postal rage. (Was it something we wrote?)....

Hostility to a certain media that fails to write nice things about a campaign that won’t talk to said media.... 

Schall was one of the mental giants behind a local San Jose sleaze site called San Jose Revealed.   Funded by a labor union, Schall and his partners, which included the husband of his former boss, Cindy Chavez, dished out all manner of personal attacks and invaded the privacy of its targets.... one frequent victim of San Jose Revealed’s particularly vicious attacks asked Chavez for help in removing a map to his residence that had been posted to the site... After the map was published by Revealed, the home’s owner, falsely accused of making money through pornography, became the victim of a hate crime that involved property destruction and swastika graffiti....

JUICE #4: IN LIGHT OF GANSLER CONTROVERSY, SOUTH BETHANY ISSUES WARNING TO HOMEOWNERS - In our last bit of response to the Beach Week story, we provide a short item from the town of South Bethany. Delaware Online reports that the town has decided to turn the controversy into a teachable moment (excerpt below):

DELAWARE ONLINE: The government of a Delaware beach town is warning homeowners that they can face penalties if underage drinking or other offenses occur inside their homes.

South Bethany was the site of a party for graduating high schoolseniors that Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler briefly visited last summer....

The town government says in a statement many such incidents “are the result of poor or absent supervision by parents....” Homeowners can face fines or the loss of their rental licenses over disturbances on their property....

JUICE #5: DOUG GANSLER LAUNCHES ATTACK ON ANTHONY BROWN'S DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RECORD, DELEGATE CHERYL GLENN RESPONDS - On Tuesday, Doug Gansler's campaign decided to fight back against Anthony Brown by dredging up a 2003 domestic violence bill that they accuse Brown of helping sink. Delegate Cheryl Glenn responded with the following statement:

DELEGATE CHERYL GLENN: Reducing domestic violence is something we should all agree on.  As a survivor of domestic violence myself, it is deeply troubling that the Attorney General’s campaign would use this issue to score cheap political points, especially when Lt. Governor Brown, like far too many in Maryland, has been personally affected by domestic violence.  Anthony has fought for - and won - critical legislation to reduce the scourge of domestic violence, and Doug Gansler knows it.  Political attacks on this issue are entirely inappropriate. 

MORE ON THE MARYLAND GOVERNOR'S RACE SOON!

TV AD: Independent Rob Sobhani Attacks U.S. Senator Ben Cardin // PLUS: Conservative Super PAC Attacks Sobhani

NEW SOBHANI AD ATTACKS CARDIN: The dynamics in Maryland's U.S. Senate battle are beginning to shift. Last month, we reported that independent candidate Rob Sobhani was tied for 2nd place with GOP nominee Dan Bongino. But Sobhani is appearing to try and position himself as the alternative to Ben Cardin today, with a new ad attacking the incumbent Democrat by name (watch below):



RIGHTWING SUPER PAC ATTACKS SOBHANI: Meanwhile, Republican Dan Bongino's supporters are busy trying to keep the anti-Cardin vote from drifting to Rob Sobhani. A conservative "Super PAC" called the Conservative Victory PAC has released a negative video slamming Sobhani and promoting Bongino (watch below). The Super PAC's "about us" section states:

Conservative Victory PAC is both a federal and a Super PAC dedicated to supporting conservative political candidates for office in Annapolis and in Washington, DC.

The text accompanying the ad states:

CONSERVATIVE VICTORY PAC: Why a candidate chose to run for office is an important thing to consider. Dan Bongino's reason has resonated with supporters across Maryland. Despite Rob Sobhani buying his way onto the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate, Dan Bongino is the only true independent voice in the race. Dan is the only one speaking for Marylanders.

MORE ON THE U.S. SENATE BATTLE SOON!

CD6 ANALYSIS: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett Lacking Appeal in Montgomery County // Will Delaney Capitalize on GOP Gaffes?

MARYLAND JUICE'S ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT STATE OF THE CD6 RACE

BACKGROUND: Maryland's 6th Congressional District race is one the nation's most competitive contests for the November 6 elections. Indeed, Maryland Juice has been tracking this slugfest ever since Maryland Democrats redistricted Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's seat to become a majority Democratic U.S. House district. Note: check out our CD6 article archive. The formerly Western-Maryland anchored district now includes a majority of voters who supported President Barack Obama in 2008 -- including many voters in strongly Democratic Montgomery County and the city of Frederick.

MARYLAND JUICE'S QUICK ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT CD6 RACE: For Rep. Roscoe Bartlett to hold onto his seat, his campaign would need to make a number of things happen. First, they would have to appeal to some percentage of the new Democratic majority in CD6. Second, they would have to hope that either overall turnout was low in the Democratic areas of the new district or that enthusiasm for John Delaney remained low. Lastly, they would have to hope for high turnout among GOP base voters in CD6. Here's our take on how these factors are currently playing out:

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's Recent Attack Ad Against John Delaney

WILL NEGATIVE ADS REDUCE SUPPORT FOR DELANEY? - Here's the problem for Roscoe Bartlett: This is a presidential election cycle, which means that turnout will be higher than in off-year cycles (like during the Tea Party wave of 2010). Pinning your re-election hopes on low turnout in a presidential year is no way to win an election. Both the GOP and Democratic bases have additional reasons to be active in Maryland this year, but frankly there are more Democratic than Republican voters in CD6. So barring unusually low turnout in Montgomery County, Bartlett will have to count on finding artificial ways to suppress Delaney's share of the Democratic vote.

This is clearly where the Bartlett campaign's recent attacks on Delaney's environmental record come into play. The Maryland GOP has been sending mail pieces to Democratic voters trying to paint Delaney as a callous member of the 1%. Meanwhile, Bartlett is on TV with similar attack ads against Delaney. Clearly, the Bartlett campaign is trying to raise Delaney's negatives and suppress his support among Democrats.

One unusual feature to this strategy, however, is that Roscoe Bartlett himself does not appear to stand by the negative ads or even know what his campaign operatives and allies are saying. The Gazette recently covered this bizarre disconnect (excerpt below):

GAZETTE: At a recent town hall meeting, a man confronted Bartlett with what he perceived to be a negative campaign on the congressman’s part....

When the man handed Bartlett a campaign flier he’d received in the mail that labeled Delaney a “loan shark,” Bartlett shrugged it off. “That wasn’t me; that was the campaign,” he said, handing back the flier and shaking his head.

In a more recent exchange, Bartlett’s opponent called out the congressman for quoting a 2006 opinion piece in Forbes magazine, entitled “Loan Shark,” for Delaney’s business practice of lending money to small businesses....

“Oddly enough, the veteran Republican actually defended Delaney against accusations that he ripped off small businesses in favor of making bigger profits in the financial loaning industry. ‘I have no idea how he could be called a loan shark,’ said Bartlett....”

CAN ROSCOE BARTLETT SELL HIMSELF AS AN INDEPENDENT VOICE? - While trying to reduce support for Delaney, Bartlett is also trying to re-brand himself as an independent voice in Congress. His campaign is now attempting to make Bartlett more palatable to moderate, independent and Democratic voters  in the new CD6. The New York Times recently profiled a number of embattled House Republicans who are now claiming the mantle of bi-partisanship. Maryland's Roscoe Bartlett, of course, is included in the NYT mix (excerpt below):

NEW YORK TIMES:  In campaign advertisements, some lawmakers who once dug in against Democrats now promote the wonders of bipartisanship. And legislatively, Republicans in tough races are seeking to soften their edges by moderating their votes, tossing their teacups and otherwise projecting a conciliatory image to voters.

The Republican quest for bipartisanship — at least nominally — is not hard to explain. A New York Times/CBS News poll conducted last week and released this weekend showed that 44 percent of Americans see Republicans at fault for gridlock in Washington, compared with 29 percent who blame President Obama and the Democrats....

On election night in 2010, as Tea Party conservatives were being swept into office, Representative Roscoe G. Bartlett of Maryland, a 10-term Republican, declared: “The Tea Party came to where I was. I’ve always been there.”

But then came Maryland’s redistricting and an influx of Democratic voters to Mr. Bartlett’s once-reliable Republican corner of the state. Now much of his advertising emphasizes his support for higher education, including contributions to college funds out of his own pocket.

“Roscoe has never been afraid to buck his own party,” a radio ad intones. “Roscoe Bartlett, an independent voice for Maryland....”

BARTLETT'S GAFFES ARE DISTRACTING VOTERS FROM HIS MESSAGE: The reality, in Maryland Juice's honest opinion, is that it is hard to implement campaign messaging strategy when your candidate veers off course. In Maryland's CD6, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett has been veering wildly off course. Much media attention has been drawn to his recent comments comparing student loans to the Holocaust. The Frederick News-Post, for example, today published an editorial blasting Bartlett's Holocaust comments. But they also took the opportunity to dredge out past examples of Bartlett's gaffes (excerpt below):

FREDERICK NEWS-POST: U.S. Roscoe Bartlett faced a firestorm of attention in the past couple of weeks for his unfortunate invocation of the Holocaust to illustrate how ignoring the Constitution could result in serious ramifications.... Cue the sharp intake of breath, then the apology, then a call to resign....

As longtime 6th District constituents already know, the congressman has flubbed publicly before. Bartlett had been in office for only three months in 1993 when he referred to Asian-American names on a list of scholarship recipients, saying they didn't "represent the normal American." Naturally, a firestorm ensued after the story was first published in The Washington Post.

Then, during a 2002 announcement of expansion plans for Fort Detrick's PX and commissary, Bartlett questioned continued funding for cleaning up a polluted site on post.

IF A TREE FALLS IN THE WOODS // WILL THE DELANEY CAMPAIGN CAPITALIZE? - One great unknown in the CD6 race, is whether John Delaney will start airing advertisements highlighting Bartlett's record and gaffes. After all, it is currently unclear what percentage of CD6 voters have even heard about Bartlett's holocaust comments. My suspicion would be that a relatively small percentage of CD6 voters happened to be reading The Baltimore Sun, Frederick News-Post, Washington Post or Huffington Post at the time that Bartlett made the Holocaust comments. That means that unforced errors from the Bartlett campaign ought to present John Delaney with a "use it or lose it" choice to make about his advertising buys. After all, how many Montgomery Democrats will believe any attempts by the Bartlett campaign to moderate his image after hearing his comments about students loans and the Holocaust?

Yesterday, for example, a CD6 economic development blogger wrote a post titled "Why I Oppose Re-Election of Roscoe Bartlett," and they highlighted his long history of rightwing positions on issues. The blogger, at a site called "Thoughts about K4D" showed a scatterplot comparing Roscoe Bartlett to other members of Congress, and how based on his bill sponsorships, he is among the most rightwing Republicans in the U.S. House (see the graph below, noting that I've circled Bartlett's position):

The CD6 blogger also highlighted Bartlett's votes on a range of issues:

• Voted YES on banning federal health coverage that includes abortion. (May 2011)
• Voted NO on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. (Jan 2007)
• Voted NO on allowing human embryonic stem cell research. (May 2005)
• Voted YES on terminating the Home Affordable mortgage Program. (Mar 2011)
• Voted NO on $192B additional anti-recession stimulus spending. (Jul 2009)
• Voted NO on modifying bankruptcy rules to avoid mortgage foreclosures. (Mar 2009)
• Voted NO on additional $825 billion for economic recovery package. (Jan 2009)
• Voted NO on monitoring TARP funds to ensure more mortgage relief. (Jan 2009)
• Voted NO on $15B bailout for GM and Chrysler. (Dec 2008)
• Voted NO on $60B stimulus package for jobs, infrastructure, & energy. (Sep 2008)
• Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Nov 2007)
• Rated 7% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
• Rated 0% by the HRC, indicating an anti-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
• Rated 25% by the NAACP, indicating an anti-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)
• Voted NO on letting shareholders vote on executive compensation. (Jul 2009)
• Voted YES on prohibiting needle exchange & medical marijuana in DC. (Oct 1999)
• Voted YES on subjecting federal employees to random drug tests. (Sep 1998)
• Voted YES on barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. (Apr 2011)
• Voted NO on $2 billion more for Cash for Clunkers program. (Jul 2009)
• Voted YES on deauthorizing "critical habitat" for endangered species. (Sep 2005)
• Voted YES on speeding up approval of forest thinning projects. (Nov 2003)
• Rated 30% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes. (Dec 2003)
• Voted NO on supporting democratic institutions in Pakistan. (Jun 2009)
• Voted YES on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers. (Oct 2005)
• Voted YES on prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse. (Apr 2003)
• Voted YES on decreasing gun waiting period from 3 days to 1. (Jun 1999)
• Voted YES on the Ryan Budget: Medicare choice, tax & spending cuts. (Apr 2011)
• Abolish federal Medicare entitlement; leave it to states. (Dec 2000)
• Limit anti-trust lawsuits on health plans and insurers. (Mar 2002)
• Rated 22% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)
• Redefine "birthright citizenship" to exclude illegal aliens. (Jan 2011)
• Declare English as the official language of the US. (Feb 2007)
• Declared English the official language of the US. (Jan 1999)
• Rated 0% by the AU, indicating opposition to church-state separation. (Dec 2006)

FINAL THOUGHT: Many of the aforementioned details would surely alarm the numerous Democratic voters in the new CD6. But the question remains, will Democrat John Delaney go on the offensive or will he try to quietly ride into the sunset?

CD6 VIDEO: Democrat John Delaney Airs TV Ads to Counter GOP Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's Negative Attacks // WATCH ONLINE

Maryland Juice recently discussed negative ads that are beginning to appear in the 6th District Congressional race. First, the Maryland GOP sent negative direct mail about an environmentally irresponsible  dump that John Delaney's company CapitalSource financed. Then incumbent Rep. Roscoe Bartlett went on television with an attack ad accusing John Delaney of financing a nursing home company that "mistreated" seniors.

John Delaney is now on the air with a television and radio response to the accusations. Watch the Delaney TV ad and listen to his radio ad below:

John Delaney's Television Response to Rep. Roscoe Bartlett



John Delaney's Radio Response to Rep. Roscoe Bartlett


More on the CD6 race soon!

CD6 VIDEO: Roscoe Bartlett Airs 1st Negative TV Ad Against Democrat John Delaney // PLUS: Read Delaney's Response

BARTLETT THROWS FIRST PUNCH: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett has followed up on recent GOP attack mail against his opponent John Delaney, with a new negative TV ad against the Democratic challenger. The Washington Post's Ben Pershing reported on the context and content for the ad (excerpt below).

WASHINGTON POST: Bartlett’s TV ad, his first of the general election, takes aim at some of the companies that took loans from Capital Source....

“Delaney’s company owned nursing homes where Medicare inspectors found mistreatment of seniors, including failing to properly administer medication and failing to treat seniors with dignity and respect."

“Delaney’s company also backed a landfill that was shut down for illegally accepting thousands of tons of trash."

You can also watch the Roscoe Bartlett attack ad below:



John Delaney's campaign responded with the following press statement and rebuttals: