Obama Fundraising Mail Highlights Job Growth & Change // Plus, Bumpersticker Indicates Joe Biden Still on Ticket as VP

Maryland Juice just received the following fundraising package from President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. This is one of the first clear "re-election" pieces I have received, and it seems a bit more relevant now that we know how the GOP nominee will be. The three pieces in Obama's solicitation included:

1. A new bumper sticker that is one more sign Obama will be keeping Joe Biden on as Vice President,
2. A graph of job growth before and after Obama took office, and
3. A list of "changes" promised in 2008 that Obama has advanced.

We provide copies of the three pieces below (click to enlarge):

Now, if we could just put some of Obama's other campaign promises back on the radar: ie: stopping U.S. torture/closing Guantanamo, repealing the Patriot Act, aggressive environmental enforcement and ending the failed federal War on Drugs....

ELECTION NIGHT: Links to Unofficial Results // Plus, CD6 Election Night Parties for Delaney, Garagiola, Pooran, Etc.

[ STATEWIDE RETURNS POSTED HERE ]

The night we've all been waiting for is finally here. In just a few short hours, we will know the outcomes in the handful of contested Maryland Primaries. All eyes are on the Democratic and Republican Primaries in Maryland's 6th Congressional District. Additionally, many national observers will be looking at the performance of Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul in the contest for Maryland's 37 RNC Convention Delegates. There are also a number of contested school board primaries (such as in Frederick, Montgomery and Prince George's Counties), as well as other local races going on around the state.

VOTING INFORMATION: Montgomery County Sample Ballots for CD3, CD6 & CD8 // Plus, Early Voting & Polling Location Info

Below, Maryland Juice provides the sample ballots for Montgomery County voters in the 3rd, 6th and 8th Congressional Districts. We also link to a polling location search tool, as well as information on early voting, which is open today through Thursday of this coming week.

EARLY VOTING: Early voting centers will be open from 10 am until 8 pm Monday - Thursday.
Today (Sunday) early voting centers will be open 12 pm to 6 pm.

You can vote in at any early voting center but only in the county where you are registered to vote. Below is a list of Montgomery County's early voting centers. To see the full list from other Maryland Counties, visit the MD Board of Elections website.

Germantown Community Recreation Center
18905 Kingsview Road
Germantown, MD 20874

Bauer Drive Community Recreation Center
14625 Bauer Drive
Rockville, MD 20853
   
Marilyn Praisner Community Center
14906 Old Columbia Pike
Burtonsville, MD 20866
   
Executive Office Building
101 Monroe Street
Rockville, MD 20850
   
Silver Spring Civic Building
8525 Fenton Street
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Find your polling location for the regularly scheduled election day: Tuesday, April 3. Visit: https://www.mdelections.umd.edu. Polls will be open on 4/3 from 7 am to 8 pm.

SAMPLE BALLOTS

Presidential Primary Sample Ballot for MD 6th Congressional District - April 3, 2012

Presidential Primary Sample Ballot for MD 8th Congressional District - April 3, 2012

Presidential Primary Sample Ballot for MD 3rd Congressional District - April 3, 2012

White House 2016: Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley's Week of Presidential Stagecraft

Highlight Reel 1: Future First Lady?

Maryland Juice recently commented on Governor Martin O'Malley's recent trip to India. Today, he provides an update on the foreign trade mission on his blog. Notably, he also highlights Maryland First Lady Katie O'Malley's agenda, which includes visits to "Rule of Law" organizations and attorneys, alongside orphanage and temple visits. See details & photos below:

Photo from Gov. O'Malley's blog

Governor O'Malley Announces 2012 Legislative Priorities // Pundits Speculate on 2016 Presidential Implications

The Center Maryland news aggregator recently flagged an article about Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley's subtle jockeying with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic Party's 2016 Presidential nomination. The Politicker NY article was titled Meet The Cuomo Clog: Is Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley The Only Thing Standing Between Andrew Cuomo and The White House? The piece contains some interesting punditry about Maryland's Governor, albeit from a New York perspective. Here are some choice excerpts:

You can’t get from New York to the White House, however, without going through the state of Maryland, and sitting in the Revolutionary War-era statehouse there is another governor. His name is Martin O’Malley, and although five years is a millennium away in political time, he has emerged as perhaps the single biggest threat to Andrew Cuomo’s well-documented political ambitions....

Advisers to Mr. O’Malley think that he will play better on the national stage than his New York counterpart, who will come across as too New York for the heartland....

Mr. O’Malley, meanwhile, has kept up an aggressive touring schedule, and regularly appears on the Sunday morning talk shows, mostly due to his official duties as head of the Democratic Governor’s Association, a job that has introduced him to the bigwig donors to the Democratic Party and has led him to occasionally cross paths with Mr. Cuomo....

“He is essentially in the Roosevelt/LBJ social Democratic tradition,” said Mr. Raskovar. “He believes in government as a vehicle to assist people in need in society.”

The article above hints at some of the dynamics between Governor O'Malley's legislative agenda and his 2016 strategy. The Washington Post's John Wagner expounds upon this in greater detail today, with his discussions of Mr. O'Malley's 2012 legislative priorities:

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley Is Kind of a Badass // 2016 Looking Good

The Washington Post's John Wagner had an interesting article about Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley last Sunday that left Maryland Juice thinking our Guv'nah is kind of a badass.

The article focused on O'Malley's term as the head of the Democratic Governors Association. Indeed, MO'M (that's his nickname) was a natural pick to lead the Dems, given that he won re-election in a 2010 landslide, while Democrats around the nation were losing office. Wagner noted:

Whatever else one might think of Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s outspoken year as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, this much almost certainly will be true after Tuesday:

The bleeding has stopped....

O’Malley ascended to the helm of the DGA in December, a month after his party experienced a net loss of five governorships during a busier election year — and one his party was eager to move beyond.

In the months since, O’Malley has sought to transform the DGA chairmanship, with far sharper rhetoric aimed at Republicans, and he has seen his national profile rise as well...

Last month, Democrats claimed a squeaker of a win by West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) in a special election....

The Post also notes that MO'M is not just winning Governor's mansions for the Dems and launching a message machine against the Republicans nationally. He's also funding ballot initiatives in key states for Democrats:

2012 Electoral College: OMG, Virginia Gets to Decide Obama's Fate? // Plus, A Plan for Maryland

Run for the Hills! Virginia's in charge!

SURPRISE UPDATE: A knowledgeable Democratic operative confirms that Maryland Juice's "early MD primary" strategy below has been recently discussed --- it is an open question (for the future?).

I can see it now. Due to the porous borders between MD, DC and VA, many of us will start seeing a flood of television spots from President Obama and (fingers crossed) Michele Bachmann. But the reality is, for those of us in Maryland and D.C., the advertising will be all nuisance and no fun. Are you scratching your head? Let me clarify.

The ads won't be for you. They will be for the Virginians some of us share a media market with. You see, President Obama's sagging national poll numbers are big news right now. But let's be clear -- Obama's low numbers are not news because they really reveal his re-election chances (yet) -- they are news simply because that's what the media's focusing on. And that signals.... that the 2012 Presidential (Horse) Race is on!

I'm not the only one that is dismissive of early poll numbers. Our neighboring pundit in Virginia, Prof. Larry Sabato, has an early reminder of the true deciders in our 2012 Presidential Election: the Electoral College.  Maryland Juice summarizes his article below.

Mr. Sabato kicks off the real Presidential race with the following insights:

...behind the scenes, strategists for President Obama and his major Republican opponents are already focused like a laser on the Electoral College. 

The emerging general election contest gives every sign of being highly competitive, unlike 2008. Of course, at this point in 1983 and 1995, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, respectively, were in trouble; and in 1991 George H.W. Bush still looked safe. Unexpectedly strong economic growth could make Obama’s reelection path much easier than it currently looks to be. So could the nomination of a damaged candidate by the Republicans. On the other hand, a few more months like the preceding couple, and Obama’s reelection trajectory will resemble Jimmy Carter’s. 

Presidential Foreshadowing: Martin O'Malley 2016?

File this one in the "my spider-sense is going off" category -- but I just received the email below and started scratching my head. Governor Martin O'Malley often sends me newsletters and emails touting jobs programs, education, environmental projects, transportation funding and other state and domestic matters.

That's why I found it strange to see the Governor highlighting Somalian hunger and quoting the Talmud. Given that someone else contacted me within seconds of receiving this email, I'm not the only one. Is this an effort to build some foreign policy aura (read: a clear sign of O'Malley's interest in a 2016 White House bid)?