Tawes Recap

This year was another great political event. The event was much more subdued than in years past. It appeared fewer people came this year than in previous years. Thankfully, a light breeze made the event more bearable from a temperature perspective.

Two things dominated the talk of the event.
1) Comptroller Peter Franchot made his way from the Board of Public Works meeting down to the event. He was politicking hard. The question is "Why is Franchot trying to increase his public persona?" The scuttlebutt in Annapolis that Franchot may Primary challenge O'Malley for Governor in 2010. More about this in future posts.

2) The race in CD1 between Andy Harris and Frank Kratovil took center stage. The Harris campaign had his own tent. Kratovil did not. Harris t-shirts and lapel stickers were everywhere you looked. Kratovil did not appear very happy the event. He came in with about 8 people surrounding him and went straight to the Democrats tent. He did not walk around the event to meet people.

Many other blogs have great posts about the event. See one here and here.

Tawes

This week brings the political event of the year in Maryland - The J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clambake in Crisfield. This event will bring politicians from both parties from around the state to a small Eastern Shore town in an area that appears to be the end of the earth.

This event is not as much about meeting voters as it is about interacting with reporters, politicians, and other grassroots activists.

Last year, the talk of the event was Andy Harris challenging Wayne Gilchrest in the Republican Primary in the first district. People wondered how Andy Harris would be received by individuals on the Eastern Shore. Most predictions at the event were that Andy Harris did not have a prayer of winning, but that proved to be wrong. This year, the talk will be whether Frank Kratovil will make the race in the first district competitive.

If you have not been to the event, you should take the long trip down to Crisfield because it should be a good opportunity to hear all of the good political rumors from across the state.

Death of Tony Snow

Today our country lost one of the great writers, commentators, and press secretaries, Tony Snow at age 53. Though this author only met him once, his bright spirit was evident to everyone in the room.

Many articles have been written on all of his accomplishments. Had Tony Snow been Press Secretary instead of Scott McClellan, President Bush's approval ratings would be 15 points higher. Snow had a way of communicating the positions of the President in a clear and concise way.

He was one of the best communicators in the conservative movement and his perspective will be missed.

This author's prayers are with his wife and children.

McCain Doesn't Email

Today the New York Times ran an article, McCain's Conservative Model? Roosevelt (Theodore, That Is), on an interview they conducted with Senator John McCain. Read the article here or an excerpt below.

The article provided many items to comment on, but the one I wanted to focus on was John McCain admitting he does not email. The fact that John McCain does not email is symbolic of a broader problem McCain has. He is viewed as too old and out of touch with the issues of today.

Polling has also proved that John McCain's age is an issue. A mid-June USAToday/Gallop Poll found that 23% of Americans said John McCain's age could negatively affect his presidency.

The public does not expect the President to design his own website or constantly be looking at a blackberry while walking ropelines into events, but they do expect their President to understand one of the most crucial legs of today's economy and culture.

John McCain not understanding how to operate the internet is the same as John Kerry windsurfing. It shows McCain is out of touch with voters.

A vast portion of the economy is based on the internet and the fact that McCain's staffers have to pull up websites for him to read shows he does not understand one of the most crucial elements of the developing economy.

John McCain should learn how to operate the internet at once. I would suggest he start a campaign blog must like his daughters (which provides an interesting perspective on the campaign) McCainBlogette.com . If McCain fails to understand the internet, his age will only become a more prevalent issue.

Below is a section of the article that deals with the internet:

He said, ruefully, that he had not mastered how to use the Internet and relied on his wife and aides like Mark Salter, a senior adviser, and Brooke Buchanan, his press secretary, to get him online to read newspapers (though he prefers reading those the old-fashioned way) and political Web sites and blogs.

“They go on for me,” he said. “I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need.”

Asked which blogs he read, he said: “Brooke and Mark show me Drudge, obviously. Everybody watches, for better or for worse, Drudge. Sometimes I look at Politico. Sometimes RealPolitics.”

At that point, Mrs. McCain, who had been intensely engaged with her BlackBerry, looked up and chastised her husband. “Meghan’s blog!” she said, reminding him of their daughter’s blog on his campaign Web site. “Meghan’s blog,” he said sheepishly.

As he answered questions, sipping a cup of coffee with his tie tight around his neck, his aides stared down at their BlackBerries.

As they tapped, Mr. McCain said he did not use a BlackBerry, though he regularly reads messages on those of his aides. “I don’t e-mail, I’ve never felt the particular need to e-mail,” Mr. McCain said.

Welcome

Welcome to the first post on Chesapeake Politics. While some individuals try to set strict guidelines for the focus on their blogs, this blog will cover broad areas.

This blog will discuss politics in all of the areas surrounding the Chesapeake Bay. The states and the regions surrounding the Chesapeake Bay drive the politics across the country. While this state and region has numerous political blogs that provide unique insights, a new perspective could add to the discussion and hopefully drive the political discussion in this region.

The commentary on this blog will be based on the right-of-center political philosophy of the author. The posts will not spout the normal, political talking points, but instead provide unadulterated right-of-center commentary.

The best way to see what this blog will focus on is to read some of the posts to come.

Thanks for stopping by.

Chesapeake