Seventh State reports today that Democratic gubernatorial candidate (and current PG County executive) Rushern Baker has endorsed high-rolling liquor salesman David Trone for Congress in CD6. This is particularly remarkable because no part of CD6 is anywhere near PG! But maybe it isn’t so remarkable after all, since the yesterday’s Washington Post reported that the Trone family has given $39,000 to Baker.
I have already written copiously about how awful Trone is (see the notes on the bottom of my most recent post).
Prior to this endorsement, Baker already had the reputation of being a middle-of-the-road, uninspiring, machine politician. But Baker himself already has the support of big-name Democratic establishment types, like Chris Van Hollen and Ike Leggett, proving yet again that a roto-rooter needs to be taken to this state’s center-right clinging-to-power-at-all-costs Democratic “old guard.”
While David Lublin’s (Seventh State) reporting is valuable, about half his piece today is devoted to hero worship of Aruna Miller in CD6, as if she were Trone’s only rival. (The two progressives in that race are Andrew Duck and Roger Manno, who go completely unmentioned by in the blog post). Lublin fails to state what seems apparent: that he is in the bag for Miller. This is reminiscent of my frequent criticism of the blog when it was still called Maryland Politics Watch: shilling for candidates by cherry-picking facts that favor them, without revealing what side they’re on. (Granted, Adam Pagnucco, Seventh State’s other writer, has been much more transparent about his loyalties, recently.)
Rushern Baker must be stopped. Anyone who would align themselves with David Trone is not only unfit to be our governor, but coupled with Baker’s complete inability to inspire enthusiasm and – thanks to the Great Democratic Establishment – we might be looking at a repeat of Anthony Brown’s devastating loss to Governor Bruce Hogan four years ago.
I am still undecided in the governor’s race, but my guess as of today is that progressives will need to coalesce behind Ben Jealous in order to send Baker packing.
©2018 Keith Berner
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