For those of you who haven’t heard, there are some Democrats in Maryland who have expressed reluctance or outright refused to endorse the Democratic nominee for Governor, Ben Jealous. If you’re already upset about this lack of unity and want to do something about it, maybe look up contact info for Peter Franchot and Ike Leggett to see what justifications they offer. My guess is they’ll say something about how the Republican incumbent is a popular moderate and it’s important for them to maintain good relations with him so they can best serve their constituents under Republican leadership. Personally, I don’t buy that or any other excuse: Democrats need to fight to win every election this year to maximize the impact of the Blue Wave and a governor’s seat is a prize well worth winning.
Now some might argue that Democratic resources are limited and it’s best to allocate them to more “winnable” races than a gubernatorial election in a blue state. Setting aside the obvious counter-point that endorsements don’t cost any money, it’s worth reiterating that Maryland is a blue state with a Republican governor. We can win this seat if we turn out the vote and Ben Jealous’ campaign has already organized a broad coalition of volunteers from organizations advocating on behalf of Women, Veterans, African Americans, Business Leaders, Seniors, Environmentalists, Muslims, Americans with Disabilities and the LGBTQ+ community among others to do exactly that. But there’s a more important and urgent reason for Democrats to rally behind Jealous that has implications for Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
As we’ve all learned this past week, the FBI will not investigate allegations of attempted rape against Brett Kavanaugh unless directed to by known-sexual-assailant-turned-president Donald Trump. Since there’s no statute of limitations for attempted rape in Maryland, state senator Cheryl Kagan asked Republican governor Larry Hogan to investigate Christine Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh. And how did this “moderate” Republican governor respond?
“The Maryland State Police will not be getting involved in this,” [Republican Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan] said, without further explanation.
Seems like there’s an opportunity here to hurt Republicans on several levels at once and it involves pulling Democrats off the sidelines. First and foremost, we draw attention to Gov. Hogan’s refusal to conduct the investigation in his jurisdiction for which there is no statute of limitations; we can do this by retweeting Senator Kagan, by sharing the linked article or even this diary and encouraging people to call Hogan’s office; if you have a hard time contacting him through the governor’s website, maybe contact some local newspapers to complain about that too. Probably doesn’t hurt to also call out the Maryland Fraternal Order of Police for endorsing Hogan despite his reluctance to investigate attempted rape. If we apply enough pressure quickly enough, maybe it enters the national dialogue while the hearings are still taking place and the country gets one more example of how little regard Republicans have for the Rule of Law. Once pressured, Hogan will have to choose between ordering an investigation likely to be the death blow to Kavanaugh’s confirmation OR destroying his credibility as a “moderate” Republican and hurting his re-election chances. Hogan probably won’t investigate figuring he only needs to hold out for a week or so till the hearings finish so it’s really important that we’re able to ramp up the pressure on him during the hearings; one way to do that would be grant his opponent endorsements he previously wouldn’t have gotten. Maybe you don’t think Democrats endorsing other Democrats means much to Republican voters but you have to remember Maryland’s a blue state and Gov. Hogan’s appeal is rooted in his reputation as a “moderate” able to appeal to centrist democrats — a reputation that is validated by Democrats Ike Leggett and Peter Panchot’s neutrality. If either of these neutral Democrats endorse Ben Jealous, it’ll send a message to all the centrists in Maryland that Hogan isn’t their guy. Will it be enough to hurt Kavanaugh’s confirmation prospects? Maybe; the bad press could be a “straw that broke the camel’s back” situation even without Hogan actually launching the investigation. Will it be enough to flip Maryland’s governorship Red-to-Blue? Can’t hurt to find out!
By the way, Ben Jealous is a great progressive candidate with proven business accumen who supports Medicare For All and Tuition-Free College because they make sense economically. There’s a lot more that makes him great (Rhodes Scholar, Marylander of the Year, etc) and you should totally do what you can to help him become the next Governor of Maryland!