An internal poll taken by the Democratic Party shows that the Maryland 6th District is up for grabs. The poll has 16-year incumbent Roscoe Bartlett up 45%-39% with 16% still undecided. The poll was taken before the stock market plunged below 9,000 points for the first time in five years, failed to include voters under 24 years of age, and did not include new registrations in the last two months. This race is fluid, and tending toward Democratic challenger Jennifer Dougherty.
Bartlett has, in many ways, been his own worst enemy of late. The day before he voted against the revised bailout bill, he appeared at a candidates forum at the Buckingham's Choice retirement community. During the Q&A period, one resident, younger than Bartlett, asked the Congressman if we were headed for a Second Great Depression. Bartlett responded, "I don't know how old you are, but I was born in 1926; I lived through the Depression....it wasn't that bad."
While the financial markets were collapsing last week, Bartlett told a Chamber of Commerce breakfast in Hagerstown that the financial crisis was due to over-regulation. At the same time, Dougherty was blasting Bartlett for voting against the Home Foreclosure Prevention Act and against the Commodities Markets Transparency & Accountability Act. The economy is rapidly eroding Bartlett's base. His commitment to a libertarian ideology has even drawn the ire of The Gazette which just this week said, "He would have been comfortable in the 18th century Whig Party. He opposes virtually any government interference. He's unwilling to heed his own president's argument that extreme situations require far-reaching and rapid action."
Yes, Bartlett has made dozens of speeches on the floor of the House regarding peak oil, and he likes to point out that he bought the first Prius in Maryland, but lately the Prius has disappeared. Instead of driving his Prius to debates, he has his Chief of Staff Bud Otis drive him around in a 2005 Cadillac Deville with a 4.6 liter V-8 that guzzles gas at a rate of about 16-17 MPG.
The final straw may become Bartlett's opposition to federal support of public education. While most Americans realize that education holds the keys to our economic recovery, Bartlett wants to disband the Department of Education. In fact, he told the Hagerstown Chamber that it was unconstitutional for the federal government to support education.
Dougherty can win this race, but she needs our support now. Go to her website and contribute what you can right now. This race is winnable!