Sanford wins

[Mac-A-Matic]

RgrF wrote:
Common now, even you might admit that a south of the Mason-Dixon line state to be solid blue is an exception. Maybe you meant to compare with Michigan or New Jersey, although I'm not sure I can recall any voting machine executives who are declared Democrats.

I'm not really concerned about Maryland, The Old Line State, being "south" of the Mason-Dixon Line. That's irrelevant.

Here in Maryland, all you have to have is the Democrat label and you're virtually guaranteed of winning (or maintaining) the seat. Not to mention the blatant and obscene gerrymandering, corruption and draconian approach to laws.

So, while people complain that SC is corrupt and republican (evidently it's corrupt because of the republicans), Maryland is corrupt and democrat (which must mean that it's corrupt because of the democrats).

Of course, both states (and others) lack a semblance of balance in government, which inevitably means corruption.

[RgrF]

Single party rule breeds corruption quicker than lettuce brings rabbits. The polarization of politics only promises more of the same. Excommunication of political heretics exacerbates the problem.

It's obviously easier to influence a secure state legislature than one subject to change. Look at the old South and North for good examples.

Political parties are not different than commercial interests, both unrestrained entities tend toward monopoly. Monopoly gleefully breeds corruption.

[rjmacs]

Mac-A-Matic wrote:
[quote=RgrF]
Common now, even you might admit that a south of the Mason-Dixon line state to be solid blue is an exception. Maybe you meant to compare with Michigan or New Jersey, although I'm not sure I can recall any voting machine executives who are declared Democrats.

I'm not really concerned about Maryland, The Old Line State, being "south" of the Mason-Dixon Line. That's irrelevant.

Here in Maryland, all you have to have is the Democrat label and you're virtually guaranteed of winning (or maintaining) the seat. Not to mention the blatant and obscene gerrymandering, corruption and draconian approach to laws.

So, while people complain that SC is corrupt and republican (evidently it's corrupt because of the republicans), Maryland is corrupt and democrat (which must mean that it's corrupt because of the democrats).

Of course, both states (and others) lack a semblance of balance in government, which inevitably means corruption.
I call BS, Mac-A-Matic. I live in MD, and i can say with some certainty that the Democratic Party is hardly a monolith. We've also had a Republican governor in the last decade. Yeah, it's tough for the GOP here, but that doesn't mean that the Liberal Agenda reigns unchecked here. O'Malley took his sweet time getting to support same-sex marringe, and the Democratic legislature was slow to illegalize capital punishment. There's a vibrant political ecosystem here.

[Mac-A-Matic]

rjmacs wrote:
I call BS, Mac-A-Matic. I live in MD, and i can say with some certainty that the Democratic Party is hardly a monolith. We've also had a Republican governor in the last decade. Yeah, it's tough for the GOP here, but that doesn't mean that the Liberal Agenda reigns unchecked here. O'Malley took his sweet time getting to support same-sex marringe, and the Democratic legislature was slow to illegalize capital punishment. There's a vibrant political ecosystem here.

Let's see, you mentioned a republican governor, Bob Erlich, who backed casinos and slot machines for the state but was stalled at every turn by the General Assembly - as the then mayor of Baltimore described casino gambling as "morally bankrupt."

Fast forward a couple of years and that former Baltimore mayor turned Maryland Governor, Martin O'Malley suddenly came to believe that casino revenue was a great way to fund the state and would lower taxes (lower taxes? In Maryland??? Bwahahahaha!)

Here's an article from The Baltimore Sun on O'Malley's "transformation":
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-08...xth-casino

As a side note, have you been to Maryland Live! Casino? Table minimums are $50 or $100 and the place is jam-packed. The casino reported $46million in earnings last month. My taxes still haven't gone down - or at least Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is talking about lowering Baltimore property tax by charging groundwater fees. "Nice."

But that's only one, small slice of Maryland politics. Last year, the democratic party redrew the districts to maintain their power by carefully cutting around republican leaning areas to create democratic majority districts in a process known as Gerrymandering.

Now, since everyone here seems to accept the assertion that South Carolina is a backwater state run under the thumb of republicans (which is bad), let's compare that domination with Maryland.

Maryland General Assembly
Senators: 47
Democrat Senators: 35 (74%)
House of Delagates: 141
Democrat Delegates: 98 (62%)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_General_Assembly

South Carolina General Assembly
Senators: 46
Republican Senators: 27 (59%)
House of Representatives: 124
Republican Representatives: 76 (61%)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carol...l_Assembly

So, to presume that South Carolina is dominated by Republicans and pretend that Maryland isn't the same is just ridiculous. In fact, the numbers bear out that Maryland is worse - that democrats in Maryland control a greater percentage of the Senate (by far).

Now to say that "Maryland is hardly a monolith" - especially when compared to South Carolina, is just not based in reality.

[decay]

Classic Republican "Do As I Say, Not As I Do."

Prosecuting President Clinton for lying about cheating, billing taxpayers = OK.

Re-electing Sanford, a Republican adulterer, who abused taxpayer money = OK.

Gotcha.

[Hibidder]

It feels good to win one and bust the democrats bubble.

[$tevie]

Republicans are always grateful when their adulturers are sleeping with a woman.

[Dennis S]

$tevie wrote:
Republicans are always grateful when their adulturers are sleeping with a woman.

I bet they are like the Muslims when they hear about a terrorist bombings - "Please don't let it be a Muslim." The Republicans are saying, "Please let it be a woman."

[SteveG]

Gutenberg wrote:
AP projecting Mark Sanford the winner of House seat from SC. Not surprising.

For Sanford, it was like a walk in the country.

[bruceko]

South Carolina sure does like those lieing cheating husbands.