Md. governor should be content with office
Ambition can be a beautiful thing.
It is what motivates many to stay in school, start their own business, invent, save and invest. But like many things ambition is a double-edged sword.
Ambition has been known to prompt war, illegal business transations and excessive risk-taking. Accordingly, ambition must be channeled in productive ways. This, as it turns out, is especially true for human endeavors that impact the greatest numbers of lives, like governing Maryland.
We are about to select the next leader of our state. From my perspective, I prefer a governor who is not especially ambitious.
I seek someone who is amply satisfied with simply being governor of the greatest state in the greatest nation. But in recent decades we have suffered at least two governors for whom being governor of Maryland was simply inadequate.
The first such governor was Martin O’Malley, who governed the greatest state from 2007-2015. On May 30, 2015, Gov. O’Malley announced his candidacy for president of the United States.
Perhaps you remember the moment well: Surrounded by well-wishers and with glorious Federal Hill in the background, our governor was set to challenge the presumptive nominee of the Democrat Party, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It wasn’t the announcement of candidacy that concerned me but what preceded it.
With Clinton holding the reins of influence in the Democratic Party, O’Malley needed to set himself apart. He did that by amassing a series of legislative victories that pulled Maryland far to the left.
Mind you, I have nothing against the far left, but it’s not really who we are. While we are a majority Democratic Party state, many of us are centrists.
We produce the likes of Dutch Ruppersberger, Ben Cardin and Steny Hoyer. Being that far left of center is really the province of Californians and New Yorkers — at least that’s been my perception.
But desperate to grab the left-most ranks of the Democratic Party as he readied his run for president, Gov. O’Malley pushed for, and saw passed, a series of highly progressive legislation that battered Maryland’s economic development competitiveness and increased taxpayer liabilities. As noted in an April 2015 “CBS News” piece, it was “during his second term that O’Malley stacked up a list of progressive accomplishments that would make any liberal Democrat jealous” — including abolishing the death penalty and raising the minimum wage.
I’m not suggesting these are bad policies; that’s for you to decide. I am merely questioning whether these policies were promoted because they were best for Maryland or best for an O’Malley run for the White House. As it turned out, even this incredibly progressive record failed to position Mr. O’Malley for victory as he was outflanked by the perhaps even more progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
The second politician for whom being governor of the greatest state is apparently inadequate is our current leader, Larry Hogan. I’ve become concerned that some of our governor’s recent decisions have been more influenced by sensibilities of a national Republican electorate than what average Marylanders would want.
In May of this year the governor vetoed 18 bills, including a measure that would have permitted voters who neglected to sign their mail-in-ballot envelope to do so after mailing it to get it counted. As you are aware, Republicans in certain parts of the nation have been working hard to limit access to voting. The governor also vetoed a bill that would have stayed eviction proceedings for tenants awaiting a determination regarding rental assistance.
Once again, I am not attempting to debate the merits of these vetoes. My only inquiry pertains to whether these decisions would have been different were the governor not contemplating a run for leader of the free world.
Which brings us back to the idea of ambition. As I contemplate this impending election season, I will be searching for someone who isn’t especially ambitious.
Give me a Marylander who understands that being governor of the greatest state is perfectly adequate. In fact, I suspect it’s the greatest job in the world.