Sunday, January 31, 2010

Another Day in Paradise

It was nice of the sun to lend a hand in clearing the streets and walks from yesterdays badly under forecast snowfall. And speaking of the sun, Larry Carson’s story in The Sun about hoco politicos and their campaign war chests generated a little buzz from my local blogging brethren. I suppose the combination of money and politics is just too good to resist.

One can easily picture Free Market sticking his tongue firmly in his cheek as he posted that “…no special favors were given for those contributions, of course,” after highlighting some of Ken Ulmans larger business contributors.

In Larry’s article Ken makes “no apologies” for his prolific fundraising and refutes the criticism that business money buys favors.

“…despite the suspicions of some, donors don't get preferential treatment or consideration."We have people who can afford larger contributions.

I'm really pleased we have a range of contributors," he said. "I'm glad to have the support of the business community."

HoCo Rising has a problem with the reporters take on the fundraising prowess of certain Democrats. He takes issue with Larry Carson “describing the "insurmountable" advantage of Howard County democrats.”

He’d like to think that his candidate of choice for the District 2 council seat and his war chest of $454 can still mount a formidable to challenge to Calvin Ball who’s got $56,182 in the bank.

My take?

I’m a realist. I also have contributed to local candidates. I’ve never written a check for over five hundred bucks to any candidate and I’ve never thought that contributing to a campaign was anything more than supporting somebody I like. I also like how easy it is to find out who’s giving what to whom, thanks to the internet.

And though the sun did warm things up a bit again today, yesterday provided us a rare treat that we only get with a major snowstorm.
Mama Wordbones and I took a walk on College Avenue. I’ve driven and biked this road more times than I can count over the years but until yesterday I never walked it. It’s not what you’d call pedestrian friendly.
Yesterday it was and it was absolutely beautiful. I also gained a new appreciation for just how steep those hills are.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hilarious! Jordan has no political experience, no name recognition, no money, no support from anyone (except maybe Senator K., who gave him 1/6 of his war chest), and is center-right in a center left district. No one even knows if he has a job. Guess he doesn’t mind getting spanked and being made an example of. His running will only get Dems excited in a district he can’t win and run up Ulman’s numbers.

Anonymous said...

Yeah. We'll see how hilarious it is when candidates with LESS money actually begin to win these races.

We'll see.

Anonymous said...

Maybe instead of supporting the unfunded candidate with our vote, maybe we should support the candidate with the highest number of dollars from our community members. Maybe we should see who can raise the most lower dollar (under $100) from people who actually live in the districts in which the candidates are running. If someone cant even get financial support from their neighbors, maybe that says something too.

Anonymous said...

I think we should change campaign financing and have the government pick up the tab entirely. Incumbents should be given $1000 and newbees should be given $2000.
Perhaps we would find out exactly who is committed to doing something for their constituents and get rid of a lot of arrogance.
HH

Tom Coale (HCR) said...

Why, Wordbones. You have hurt my feelings. I worked hard on that post. Ha ha.

Honestly, although Anon 6:21's spanking sounds fascinating, I think things are just starting up.

Anonymous said...

HH, this is the first time I've ever agreed with you, and it's an enthusiastic agreement!!

Anon 6:33 must be able to put on the pretense of affluence. He/she cannot fathom that folks in Jordan's district can't afford 10 bucks. Good for you.

Now open your eyes and try to grow up. The world is vast and diverse, we're not all like you and further, we don't want to be.

Anonymous said...

Anon 6:21, we can keep ridiculing fellow citizens or we can keep our ruling elite.

Who in a right mind would EVER want to keep the ruling elite in America?