What good is a 50 State Strategy when the Democrats where I live cannot even fill all the slots for our County Council race?
I live in Anne Arundel county in Maryland. The number one issue we are facing here in Anne Arundel is development. The issue of development is not even just about sprawl, but it is also about appropriate development, and development that limits its impact on the environment. Why is this important? Because Anne Arundel county has the most shoreline out of any other county in the entire nation. We have 6 rivers in Anne Arundel county that feed into the bay, and the entire eastern side of our county is the shore of the bay.
Not to mention, we are facing critical shortages of teachers, firefights, police officers, and other young professionals because they cannot afford to live in Anne Arundel county. This is literally one of those "kitchen table" issues that politicians can and should latch onto.
The political entity that has the biggest effect on these issues facing our county is the county council -- not the state legislature, and definitely not congress.
But let's take a look at the current political landscape facing us right now in Anne Arundel county:
County Council
7 County Council seats (single member districts) --
3 Republicans are currently running unopposed (districts 2, 3, 5)
One council seat is open and there are FOUR Democrats running for that seat
State House
There are two of the state house districts (three member districts)that overlap three of the unopposed Republicans we have:
District 30 (overlaps County Council Dist 5) with 5 Democrats in that race (this is the district of Speaker of the House Mike Busch)
District 31 (overlaps County Council Districts 2 and 3) with about a gazillion...well actually about 5 or 6...maybe 7 Democrats running (the number changes almost daily).
Now...there is lots of talk on this site about the 50 State Strategy. However, what good is a 50 state strategy when you cannot even get the Democrats to find candidates to run for local level races? Or when you have an imbalance of candidates that might ultimately hurt the leaders of your party? Not to mention, if you have any interest in running for state house or even Congress, you need to have experience running a campaign. If you want a healthy party in the long run, you need to make sure you have a well stocked "farm league" of candidates and volunteers who learn campaign skills at the local level. If you don't have your grassroots on the local level, how can you expect to win the top level races? Have you ever heard the term "top heavy"?
Are there any Democrats in Anne Arundel County in Maryland willing to go up against Ed Middlebrooks (District 2), Ron Dillon Jr. (District 3), or Cathy Vitale (District 5)???
If so...you have till 9pm tonight to drive to the Board of Elections (http://www.aacounty.org/...) in Glen Burnie, MD and file your paperwork. I believe the fee is $25. Call ahead to make sure you bring all the necessary info and IDs to file.