Robert Garagiola - Perhaps Not the Brightest Democrat

Maryland State Senator Robert Garagiola has announced that he will run for the newly redrawn 6th District that Martin O'Malley carved out for him in an effort to unseat Republican Congressman Roscoe Bartlett. This announcement in an of itself is not too surprising or eyebrow raising.

What should concern you and most Marylanders is that Mr. Garagiola is running for Congressman in an area that has a lot of Republicans. Yes, the newly redrawn district created by Martin O'Malley and his blue crayons has more Democrats than Republcians, but it is certainly not a safe district, such as John Sarbanes' district, which basically traverses down streets of Democrats while avoiding streets of Republicans. Sarbanes' district is probably the least consolidated districts in the country. I guess in Congressman Sarbanes case, Governor O'Malley had to make it as easy as possible for him to win.

However, in State Senator Garagiola's bid to win District 6, he'll have to do some work. But he's not going to win with statements like the first one he made directed to the voters in District 6. He said, “You know the damage that has been done to the country by the radical right that has taken over the Republican Party and the U.S. House of Representatives,” reads the announcement, which was first reported by the Maryland Juice political blog. “The Tea Party has rebuilt the House in its own image, making it into a place where Maryland values like common sense and compassion have become vices to be scorned. The results have been disastrous -- let’s do something about it.”

Garagiola is basically telling about half of his district that they are a bunch of morons. Hello, Mr. Garagiola, Western Maryland is loaded with right-wingers and many of them support the Tea Party movement. And despite your dillusional perseption of what the Tea Party movement means, most of us common folks actually get it - spend less money and cut taxes. We don't hate black people. We don't think that Obama is not an American citizen. And we don't hate you.

If Garagiola wanted to get a lot of attention with his announcement to run for Congress, he certainly got it. His over-the-top, in-your-face announcement will not win over independents and Reagan Democrats. Most political campaigns are won on promise, hope, and positive changes to come. Garagiola, on the other hand, comes out swinging the hammer of division and negativity. We need to unite our country and state. Not further divide them like Obama and O'Malley have done.

The best thing to come out of Garagiola's announcement, other than nearly solidifying his own defeat, was the quote from Roscoe Bartlett's spokesman. Roscoe Bartlett is "proud to have enjoyed the support and votes from Democrats and independents as well as Republicans.” To win District 6, you'll need the votes of everyone, not just the left-wing extremists and Socialists.

Is Western Maryland ready for a left-wing narrow-minded liberal extremists like Robert Garagiola who is out of touch with the views of many Marylanders? I certainly hope not.