Tuesday Night on the Town (Blue Team)

I spotted this bumper sticker in Town Center last night and got a good chuckle. It was serendipitous as well since I was heading over to the candidates forum at Kahler Hall in the Village of Harpers Choice to catch the latest act in the Klobo show.

Judging from the applause and cheers it appeared that the 400 or so attendees were fairly evenly divided between Mary Kay Sigaty supporters and Alan Klein supporters. Though Mary Kay came off as far more knowledgeable and informed about the important stuff like the county budget, it is doubtful that she converted any of Alan’s almost cultist supporters. Despite his continued insistance that he is not a one issue candidate, Town Center redevelopment was the only issue he showed any depth on. When asked about his environmental credentials all he really could fall back on, outside of a CoFoCoDo position paper, was an Adopt a Road program he allegedly started in West Virginia ten years ago and the fact that his daughter is picking up trash across the country.

In the second act of the show Liz Bobo easily outshone her primary opponent, John Bailey. Like her or not, she was much better versed in the issues than John who often stumbled with his answers. For example, when asked about lobbyists and their influence in Annapolis John said that he didn’t know any lobbyists and doubted he’d even recognize one if he saw one. Liz presented a more balanced response suggesting that lobbyists serve a purpose but that one must use good judgment when deciding when to wine and dine with them. Her fifteen years of experience in the General Assembly were a big asset to her last night.

The other candidate for the District 12B House of Delegates seat was also in attendance. Bob Wheatley was not given a seat at the table however since presumably this was a primary forum. I think he’d do much better with Liz in a debate.

The verdict for the evening could pretty well be summed up by the several people I saw who sported both a Mary Kay Sigaty sticker and a Liz Bobo sticker. That’s pretty much how I see this primary battle shaking out, split decision.