Message Finesse (Wednesday LINKS)

I stayed up until about 10 pm watching the returns from Super Tuesday.  I really do love this stuff, but CNN's coverage may have actually made me tired.  They have this tympanic high-paced background music, paired with sliding iPad screens, focusing in and out of obscure counties in Ohio, intermixed with Wolf Blizter gravely announcing "We have news.  We HAVE news."

I watched the first hour or so with Jane.  After one of Wolf's stutter-steps, she asked me "Is he serious?" as if this was actually mock up coverage of Super Tuesday.  She had a point.

Jane also made a second astute observation when Sarah Palin was interviewed after casting her vote in Alaska: "It seems like nobody cares that she is there."  I would like to think that this sentiment is shared across the entire Country.

In my two hours watching, I also saw three "Victory" speeches: Paul, Gingrich, and Santorum.  Ron Paul's speeches have a predictability that is almost comforting.  He slams the federal government, then President Obama, and then does his best to hold back his own distaste for the Republican Party, while still letting everyone know that he does not find the GOP harmless.

Limbaugh Gingrich (whoops -- Thanks Spymoose) gave a long-winded diatribe about why he is great and why people keep missing out on the fact that he is great.  He also worked in the Tea Party "I am one of you" codeword of "elite" about 10-15 times.  Santorum did the same, to the tune of about 20.  "Elite" is a funny word, especially with how it is used in politics.  If you needed surgery and I said "I know one of the elite surgeons in the Country who is available to do your surgery," you would obviously take my offer.  If I said "Political Elite", no matter what the context, you would imagine a malevolent cabal.  I don't know if that is successful branding or some evolutionary construct passed down from generations in fear of kings, but the darn thing works.

But how does it work within the Republican narrative.  Political chemistry says you can't put "elite" too close to "class warfare" in a speech or the whole thing will blow up.  Supporting high income earners, corporations (are people too), and organized religion (just the "good" kind, not the "bad" kind), is supporting elites.  So pardon me if I find some cognitive dissonance whenever I hear a Republican pretend they are fighting against the "political elite."

But that's my fault for expecting any of this to make sense.

LINKS

Anne Arundel County's largest police union has called on County Executive Leopold and Police Chief Teare to step down after the former was indicted for misconduct in office.  There is no doubt that the indictment puts a great deal of mud on the face of AA Police, but I would think their primary concern would be to make sure something like this never happens again.

An assistant principal at Howard High School has been accused of stealing credit cards from colleagues and using them to buy presents for her family. 

Lindsey McPherson's Political Notebook observes that Republicans feel emboldened by the new legislative redistricting plan and feel that they can pick up two HoCo Delegates in the new 9A and Delegate Liz Bobo's seat in District 12.  While Del. Bobo may have had a firm hold on her sub-district in 12B, the removal of subdivisions within the district makes the GOP feel they can garner support from outside of Columbia to bump the incumbent.  Based on my amateur review of voter registrations, it also looks like GOP numbers have gone up since the last election, making these projections much more realistic than they may have been four years ago.

Featured Blog Post of the Day: 53 Beers notes that the new redistricting map may not preserve a 4-1 majority for Dems if Courtney Watson chooses to run for Exec in 2014.  You also have to wonder if Courtney would be interested in another hard-fought battle in D1 if she can substitute a hard-fought battle for County Executive.

Have a great Wednesday doing what you love!