Let’s take the easy one first. Mike McDermott is an easy pick for one of the two 38-B House seats. McDermott is conservative, he’s passionate about what he believes, he has served with distinction as a law enforcement officer. McDermott has a background in agriculture – key to our local economy. There is no doubt that Mike McDermott will stand firm in Annapolis representing the values of the Lower Shore.
As conservative as Mike McDermott is, how could we endorse Norm Conway? It’s simple. While we have disagreed with many of Norm’s votes over the years, Norm is willing to man up and explain himself. Conway is willing to listen AND he’s chairman of the Appropriations Committee (something that no one but the most rigid ideologue should sneeze at).At a recent debate we were gratified to watch Norm own up to criticism. Rather than duck issues he was clear -
“If I had to do it again, I would vote the same way. While you may disagree with me, I honestly believe that this was in the best interest of the citizens of the Eastern Shore.”You have to admire that, even if you disagree with it.
Conway may side with the liberal folk on the Western Shore more than we would like. However, because of his position he has a voice that will be heard above the din. We need that in a legislator, but just one.
We also want to be clear that the other GOP candidate, Marty Pusey, should not be discounted. She appears to hold the same core set of beliefs as McDermott. No candidate has worked harder for a House seat. She is a woman, and candidate, worthy of admiration. It is simply our honest belief that the citizens of the Lower Shore would be best served by retaining Conway.
19 comments:
Not a bad call. Much better this way than if you had endorsed both fo the GOP candidates.
I am a republican and vote as such however, Norman Conway is the only democrat i do vote for, good luck norm.
I always hear this same old argument for Norm Conway...he has a senior position and that he carries weight with the western shore types. Ok.......just what has he DONE for this area? I honestly can't point to one thing that HE has done for the betterment of this area. Please respond and give me the list.
If he has such a strong voice in Annapolis why don't they listen to him???
10:48 Well said!
10:48, dittos. norm needs to go. his voice isn't that strong. time for new blood; a clean slate. we need people who understand how to have a strong economy, how to create jobs, how to make our state and region business friendly, how to CUT spending across the board and how to reduce taxes. stop compromising with the "devil you know" and start voting in people who are willing to get the job done and done right......
New leaders can earn a senior position. Don't vote for someone just because they've entrenched themselves. In addition to the Republican candidates, you have a great candidate in Gee Williams, just look at Berlin and all the good that's been done there.
Who is really going to do anything when they get into office, lately from almost all politicians you hear big promises and see small efforts.
11:58 - New Leaders can earn a senior position? LOL!!!
Only after serving as long as Norm has. NO ONE from the Eastern Shore is anywhere near qualifying for a "senior position" - it takes years.
Those who don't think it will hurt to lose Norm will be the first to be outraged when the Eastern Shore's has no voice. Wise up people! Norm has earned his position and we need to keep him there until some of the "new leaders" earn it!
Disagree with you Joe. Conway needs to go, just like all other incumbents. Term limits are so needed, I hope I live long enough to see it come to fruition.
Double Dipper, School Board
Enough Said
Delegate Conway is a straight up, honest man. He HAS done a lot for the Eastern Shore, especially the 3 lowere shore counties. Some examples: Without the help from Delegate Conway and because he is the second most influential member to the House of Delegates. (The Speaker Mike Bush is number 1)a lot of thing would not have happened. This takes nothing away from our other delegation members and they all work together, but Delegate Conway carries the biggest stick. Here are some of the things that would not have happened: Ocean City would not have the authority to have an extra sales tax on restaurant bills to raise money for expansion and updating the Convention Center. Wicomico County would not have received the extra millions for school construction, most recently for Bennett High School, Shore Transit wouldn't have funding for as many routes to help people without cart get to jobs, doctors appointments,etc. Without Delegate Conway there wouldn't have been state help to renovate the civic center.Without Delegate Conway's help ECI wouldn't have been built in Somerset County, let alone being expanded several times. How many people from all 3 counties work at ECI? hundreds and hundreds. Both UMES and SU as well as Wor Wic Community College have received millions from the state for improvements and expansion of their campuses. These provide educational opportunities for our young people and a lot of jobs, too. That's just a few things off the top of my head. Did Delegate Conway do all this by himself, of course not. But because he's Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee all delegates want to be on his good side, because his committee approves all appropriations!
Yes, he's a little more liberal than I'd prefer, but nobody's perfect. Though I don't always agree with him, I have no doubt he does what he beleives is in the best interest of the Eastern Shore and nobody gets everything they want all the time. He's smart and he's honest. And I voted for him. We need to re elect him. Period.
3:49, no need to LOL, the point is you have to get them in to get them there. It takes awhile, but just because someone has been in awhile and has a senior position doesn't mean they should get your vote. Vote for the best person for the job, don't vote for any other reason. Conway's been there, and yes he's brought us stuff, but at what cost? We need leaders ready to make the tough decisions. It's going to take funding cuts, and losing some things, but Conway's certainly not going to be the one to do that.
don't fall for the baloney that Conway's "senior" position is so great for the constituents he serves. He's a liberal in a conservative area and consistantly gets re-elected on the mantra of how "powerful" he is. wise up as it's nothing more than a political tactic meant to fool everyone. He's a good boy liberal that votes each and every time for his democratic bosses agenda.
He's never once voted against O'Malley's budget and that's enough for me.
Yeah 5:32 and I guess it was Conway's short sightedness that choose to ignore that Ocean City restaurants lost alot of revenue due to that wonderful tax used to fund a convention center that can't pull it's own weight without taxing OC residents and tourists to death.
3:49, the dems in charge would give any junior dem elected to an office on the eastern shore a senior position in order to fool people into continuing to vote and re-electing them. It's called politics! Miller knows he's dealing with a mostly conservative audience down here and needs to make sure his most reliable votes for his agenda are secure in their positions.
Oh, and by the way....
Would someone please call Conway and Mathias out on their misleading ads stating that they gave their pay back to the citizens because "it's the right thing to do"? They gave up 5...that's right 5...days because of the furloughs! It wasn't out of the goodness of their hearts!
And this is the type of person you want to represent us?
The truth is that the Eastern Shore is severely outnumbered in the General Assembly. The only reason we don't get really screwed is that we have had good people that have worked their way up into leadership positions. Clay Mitchell, Danny Long, Bill Horne, etc, etc were all committee chairmen and made sure that we were treated fairly.
Norm Conway is the last of this long line of leaders from the Shore. If we lose him, we will really learn what it is like to pay taxes and get very little in return. There will be nothing to prevent the big counties (which have far more delegates in each county than we have on the entire Shore) from taking the whole pie and leaving us with nothing but a few crumbs.
So be careful what you wish for when you want to get rid of Conway.
Thank you Joe for making this point.
I was going to vote for Marty Pusey but she seems to be in bed with the fat green blogger. She lost my vote and the votes of my friends and neighbors. Sorry Marty, you should have thought about the consequences.
10:50, I too can't seem to get past the Marty/fat green blogger connection. I was going to early vote but this is holding me up. I hope I get some kind of divine revelation between now and Tuesday.
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