Michael over at Monoblogue asks this question in examing the story in the Calvert Street Communist Party Newsletter about declining Republican registration numbers in the face of skyrocketing Democrat registration numbers.
He lays out a decent analysis, even going so far as to highlight the principles of the Republican Party and ask some poignant questions.
But I think the answer is much simpler, and the Maryland Surrender Caucus is not going to like it.
We are losing because we deserve to. Those Republican principles laid out by Michael are all nice as political theory, but when the Party principals fail to live by the ideological principles, they are no principles at all.
During the Special Session, we saw NO willingness to engage in political combat. NO en masse walkouts by Republicans from the floor in protestation. We even saw five Republicans vote for a fraudulent Constitutional Amendment to allow slot machine gambling in the state in order to "save" the horse racing industry. Gambling that won't occur at the state's most popular tracks at Laurel and Pimlico. This end-around the Maryland State Constitution is a dodge to avoid the fact that we don't allow referendums in the state. It's a Trojan Horse. Beware Irish Governors bearing gifts.
And now, during the regular session, we see the ENTIRE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS vote to put House Speaker Michael Busch back in power. One might argue that it didn't matter, since there were not enough Republican votes to stop it. One might be stupid. THEY SHOULD HAVE SENT THE SIGNAL THAT THEY WILL NOT ROLL OVER. Instead, they put their leashes on like good little show dogs and let the Speaker have his way with them. By the way, this was the same Speaker that stonewalled any attempt to pass slots legislation for four years when Bob Ehrlich was Governor.
The Republican Party in this state is a moribund and dying collection of Rockefeller Republicans who prize comity and bipartisanship over digging in and fighting. Forget fighting in a foxhole with them. By the time the first bullet comes whizzing by, they are already shagging ass to the rear and trying to take cover. They would rather be great friends with the Jacobins running the Senate and the House of Delegates than stand up for those coveted Republican Party "principles".
When will they stand up and show a little courage? When will they stand athwart the appropriations process yelling "Stop" as the Governor ups spending in the state by $1.6 billion dollars, right after raising taxes almost $1.5 billion? Does anyone in this state -- including Michael -- think that Page Elmore will grow a spine an bitch slap Norm Conway all the down Route 50 to see what the sales tax will do to Salisbury's retail district? I doubt it, since Page Elmore couldn't get an erection with a lifetime supply of Viagara.
Does anyone see Wade Kach -- who has been in the House of Delegates for 33 years -- crossing swords with any of his "good friends" in the House of Delegates? I don't. He's great at constituent service, but he is absolutely atrocious at serving his constituents when it means doing bloody battle with the Left in this state.
Why should any Maryland Conservative go out on a limb and fight for Republicans that won't fight for themselves?
We aren't talking about a collection of RINOs here. There are very few Charlie Mathias' in this group. We are talking about a collection of Republicans who won't fight. They won't get their dander up. They won't bloody their knuckles. There is no Henry V in this collection of Republican politicians willing to pledge his blood, toil, and treasure to fight the enemy. No one willing to lead "we few, we happy few". No one willing to shed blood with us. The don't live up to those principles.
I am reminded of a story I heard about Lt Governor Michael Steele's tour on the Eastern Shore after Katrina. The tour was prompted by the outrage over the handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Governor Ehrlich wanted to show everyone that the lack of government response couldn't happen here, because we plan better here in Maryland. When the Lt. Governor was informed that one of the state's largest medical facilities in the state, located on the Eastern Shore, did not expect any support from the State Disaster Agency for a minimum of three days, his reaction was along the lines of "say what?"
That's right. Instead of lookig at the officials involved, and saying "Outstanding. It's that kind of planning and foresight that we want to celebrate and regale. That is the kind of community planning we need across the state, and this Administration wants to make that a key principle in disaster preparedness," one of the State's Leading Republicans could not believe that a private medical facility would have the foresight to assess their vulnerabilities and take it upon themselves to plan absent government mandates.
Even our State's Leading Republicans are paralyzed by the notion that we cannot function without state government. Where are those Republican Principles there?
They won't make the case -- forcefully, aggressively, and in a smart uncompromising manner -- for the Republican principles. They won't risk their seats to save their state. They are Bob Michael Republicans, content being in the minority they have, than fighting for the majority they could attain.
And I don't want to hear anyone say that if they did this, they wouldn't get good press coverage. Poppycock. Reporters and editors at any paper like blood on the floor. They days of Michael Olesker ruling the roost at the Sun are over. Editorially, they still take atrocious positions. But if any Republican leader in our General Assembly walked down into the press room in the State House, stood up on a chair, and really started to lay into Mike ManPerm Miller and Mikey Head for the Mountains Busch and O'Guvnah, their quotes would be all over the first edition in three papers.
We will continue to lose as long as our party principals act like losers. Attitude reflects leadership, and the Republicans down in Soddom on the Severn are providing ZERO leadership.
That is why we are losing.