All Politics is Local

As Tip O’Neill said, “All politics is local,” and with that, I turn an eye to the Baltimore City Primary Election happening today.  On account of my Republican registration in this city, I am not voting given the incredible dearth of Republican candidates in our heavily Democratic town.  I have been pondering changing my party affiliation just to allow myself a vote in primary elections such as this that are hotly contested, but I did not get around to doing it in time for this primary.  Additionally, there is no Republican primary today.  That said, I wanted to give some time on the blog as to who I support in this primary. 

Mayoral Candidate: Keiffer Mitchell

In the race for mayor of Baltimore City, I have written in the past how I am not at all enamored with the current holder of the office, Sheila Dixon.  I count myself among many Baltimoreans who are amazed that she has not actually made an embarrassing gaffe in her time as Acting Mayor–which in and of itself is quite remarkable.  Nonetheless, I fully support Keiffer Mitchell for mayor.  He has the endorsement from the City Paper, and I find much in common with his campaign platform.  I also think his committment to transparency in city government is huge, considering the potentially frightening amount of old political machinery still going on behind closed doors.  I also much prefer his stance on crime.  It is not quite the return to “zero-tolerance” I prefer, but it does get closest.  Additionally, it does not take on the empathetic and touchy-feely tones that Dixon’s campaign has embraced.  Finally, his plan on crime addresses the biggest issue: boots on the ground.  Getting more police officers on the streets in Baltimore will certainly help matters. 

City Council President: Michael Sarbanes

In a continuing theme today, I, too, have written how I am not at all enamored with current City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.  I support Michael Sarbanes in this race.  To me, I see someone who has played loyal soldier to Dixon and O’Malley, yet has done very little to distinguish herself from her peers.  Additionally, I think she trades a lot on the political capital that her last name bestows (although she denies this).  Of course, with a name like Sarbanes, the same can be said of his candidacy.  There is, however, a large difference that Sarbanes has.  I actually have to admit I am a quiet fan of his approach to community development.  I am a much bigger fan, though, of an outsider becoming City Council President.  Additionally, in a telling segment on WYPR last week, there was a very brief profile on Rawlings-Blake (listen to it here).  The most telling part of the profile was that former City Councile President Mary Pat Clarke did not endorse her, and I find that to be a largely damning indictment of her candidacy. 

Conclusion

In any event, those are my picks for the big races.  I leave City Council races up to folks’ own devices.  Since I live in the 10th Councilmanic District, I am damned to another term of Ed Reisinger.  Perhaps, one of these days, I will get up the gumption to run for office.  I am pretty sure I could do a better job than most of the folks currently in office.    I digress, however.

The bottom line: Get out and vote!  I can’t, but I can do my part by letting people know who I support.