We’ll certainly have our work cut out for us in the next four years, and teamwork will be more important than ever, but we’ve faced (and survived) worse conditions in the past.
As a legislature, the General Assembly just experienced a sharp tack left. Expect newly-minted Senators like Mike Lenett, Jim Rosapepe and Jamie Raskin to join perennial gun-ban zealots like Rob Garagiola in shrill calls to ban ‘assault weapons.’ How much traction they get will depend a great deal on the budget. You see, money is the great equalizer in Annapolis. If the perception is that there’s plenty of free tax money around to buy whatever any official wants, then that’s a problem: the price on producing enough votes to enact gun control can be met. That’s how it was under Parris Glendening, who lived by the ‘tax money is free!’ mantra. It cost taxpayers millions when he horsetraded for gun control. The price tag for a centrist legislator to alienate constituents by a bad vote has not gone down, so if the economy is poor – as seems likely after years’ growth of big government – then proponents may be forced to choose among ‘big ticket’ items. Yes, a tanked economy may make more legislators posture loudly – after all, they want to look like they’re doing something in office – but lean times mean it is harder for leadership to meet the asking price of support from a legislator in a swing district. Of course, our strategic goal has always been to show there is value to opposing gun control, and a cost to enacting gun control. The tactics we will likely suggest to the community (you!) in coming sessions will reinforce that message in specific ways. (Does that make Annapolis sound like a marketplace, where rights are bought, sold and traded? Unfortunately, it should, because it is! And you’re picking up the tab, in more ways than one …)