A Letter To The Editor

WE NOW HAVE A REAL RACE FOR WICOMICO COUNTY EXECUTIVE!

Even those who don’t support Joe Ollinger must concede that during the past several weeks his campaign has at last materialized and Rick Pollitt can no longer be regarded as a sure winner for another term. The primary election, once regarded as the prelude to Pollitt’s victory, proved to be a shocker. He received only about 2/3rds of the votes cast for that office by Democrats, and the conservative in that contest, John Wayne Baker received about 20%.

The real bombshell was the fact that Mr. Ollinger got a much greater vote in the Republican primary than Pollitt got of the Democrat vote. Because Ollinger ran almost no campaign before the primary, while Pollitt has been in high gear for months, that is incredible. It has been followed by significant publicity the media, including his invitation for informal public debates with Pollitt. That was last week.

This week was just as good for Mr. Ollinger, including his successful fund raiser, followed by two miracles. John Wayne Baker announced that he will support Ollinger and urged those who supported him in the primary to do likewise. Then the Daily Times ran a bold headline containing Ollinger’s name and a photo of his road sign on the first page, above the fold – providing publicity that can’t be bought. The Daily Times’ article focuses on his large "road" signs, which it tried to portray as the smaller "yard" signs that Ollinger has decided not use in his campaign.

In just a few weeks, Ollinger’s campaign has gone from invisible and dormant to energized and publicized, after a surprisingly good showing in the primary. So, the "internals" of the race seem much better and improving for him. Now let’s consider the "externals" which are very good for him.

Anti-Obama sentiment, always strong on the Lower Shore, has swelled since the 2008 election. That and the heated races for governor, congress and the General Assembly seats are sure to motivate Republicans and conservative Democrats to vote in large, possibly record numbers. In addition, the independent and "third-party" voters are mostly conservative and together they and the registered Republican voters outnumber the Democrats, The turnout in the primary – more Republicans than Democrats voted – reflects the motivation of the former and apathy of the latter; other voters could not participate in the primary.

In fact, there is a distinct conservative trend in Wicomico County– in 2006, the first of two Democrat "wave" elections nationally, Bob Ehrlich, while losing statewide, won Wicomico County by a greater margin than he did in 2002, when he beat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend statewide. This year Pollitt won’t have the benefit of a Democrat wave as he did in 2006. Nor is he running against an opponent with the public stigma of his opponent in that election.

And this year Pollitt may have a special problem of his own making – his role as O’Malley’s campaign leader for Wicomico County. That relationship, a negative on its face, may fuel the public perception that Pollitt also supports Obama, who O’Malley has strongly supported and recently asked to campaign for him. Republican strategists could easily portray them as "three stooges" who are a danger that should be avoided. Pollitt’s position on the property tax revenue cap could be the catalyst to labeling them the "tax & spend" trio.

Thus, after a summer doldrum during which Pollitt’s reelection seemed certain to occur, the colors have changed with the coming of fall. At this point it is uncertain who will be elected County Executive. But you can sense that the tide may be turning.