Ms. Mizeur Whines Again -- This Time About Anthony Brown

What I have witnessed in watching the general election campaign for governor of Maryland unfold has been nothing short of a tragic, missed opportunity to lead our state with vision, passion and a positive outlook for how to build a better Maryland. Voters who are fed up with status quo politics as usual have started to organize an organic effort to write my name on the ballot and their campaign appears to be gaining some traction. For this reason, I am writing to explain why I ask you to stay focused on making a difference, not making a statement.

Let's start this conversation with some heavy doses of truth. I share your frustration. This campaign cycle has been an epic disaster. Maryland's race for governor has been labeled one of the nastiest in the nation. It didn't have to be this way and we deserve better.

I met with Lt. Gov. Brown just a couple of weeks after the primary and pledged my support in barnstorming the state on his behalf if we could work together to run a general election strategy that was focused on the issues that matter to Maryland. We discussed partnering on a few items that my campaign had promoted as a way to bridge support between the voters who were inspired by my candidacy and my desire to excite them about the man who could now get this work done. We discussed campaign finance reform, equal pay for equal work, improving the minimum wage law, small business tax cuts and protections against fracking.

We walked away from the meeting with a plan – I would write a policy memo highlighting a range of options; Mr. Brown would pick a few that suited him best, and we would do a joint press conference to announce the alliance. Weeks after delivering the memo, I received word that the campaign "was taking a different approach." I was told they had no interest in promoting new policies but were instead locked on a strategy to just draw contrasts with their opponent. That is campaign doublespeak for settling to run negative attack ads rather than to promote a positive vision.

More