WHAT TO DO WITH BOB IN THE NEXT ELECTION?
(January 2005) As we get closer to next year's election it may be increasingly important for us to distance ourselves from Governor Ehrlich in the public eye. The differences between our community goals and the administration's performance must be clear. What is at stake is our issue's viability in the following term. (Fans of other conservative issues take note.)
You see, while the Governor is not a serious conservative, the press (and many politicians) portray him as such, and he therefore serves as the de facto spokesman for right-of-center causes, whether or not his record squares with those issues once you drill down to the details, as most of the public does not. If we are linked with Ehrlich in the public eye, then his 2006 reelection failure will be for us a public relations disaster of epic proportions – spin from the left will teach “Bob lost because his issues were too extreme for Maryland” independent of the fact that he really wasn't representing (much less promoting) our issues. Our enemies will exploit his loss to issue advocate against us.
A 2006 Ehrlich victory could arguably be worse: He can't win without nailing down the conservative base, so here is an opportunity for us to teach that issue groups will work hard to elect moderates, who can then ignore us without consequence. Why would he promote a core constituency when he can have its help for free? They haven't felt the need to involve our community this term, so they certainly won't have need to pay attention in the next.
That's a pretty bleak picture. Barring an unlikely turnaround (that isn't simple pandering) our only present course is to politically insulate ourselves from the administration – make it harder for left-wingers to translate Ehrlich failures into a broad public perception that damages our issue. If Bob fails, people must see it is because of Bob, not guns.