By Adam Pagnucco.
Generally speaking, an elected official can only hold one elected position at a time. Donald Trump, for example, is the president of the United States. But judging from the campaign emails and social media I see, it would be reasonable to conclude that he is also on the ballot for statewide office, General Assembly, county executive, county council and, well, just about everything else. Who knew?
Why am I led to believe this? It’s because the huge majority of Democratic candidates for state and local office are talking a LOT about Trump. Sure, I get it. He’s odious – at least to those of us with a D in our voter registrations. But there is not a whole lot a state legislator or county official can do about Trump other than hit the streets, at least for now. That doesn’t stop many of these state and local candidates from talking about Trump ALL THE TIME. Trump Trump Trump. For heaven’s sake, don’t I hear enough about him?
OK, local Politician X. Here is what you’re telling me when your message is primarily about Trump.
1. You think I don’t know the differences between federal, state and local governments.
2. You don’t know the actual authority and responsibilities of the elected position you are seeking. Or maybe you don’t care.
3. You have not bothered to research the issues covered by your elected position. Hint: unless you’re running for Congress, they probably don’t include Ukraine, Gaza, national defense, NIH funding, Social Security and the federal shutdown.
4. Most importantly, you think I’m a chump. You think I am going to see you put “Trump” in your emails and social media and immediately think, “OMG, they’re against Trump so now I gotta vote for them.” The problem is that ALL of the Democratic candidates are against Trump and I am forbidden by law to vote for every single one of you.
And don’t talk to me about Trump and the economy. MoCo’s economy has had competitiveness problems for many years. Most state and local elected officials have avoided talking about that because it’s embarrassing. But now that Trump is targeting Maryland with federal cuts, they are oh so concerned about the economy. I wonder why?
If you want to make this guy mad, vote for Politician X for delegate!
So puh-LEEEZE stop with the Trump stuff except if you have a specific idea that can counteract his policies that falls within your office’s authority. In an effort to be helpful, I’ll give you an example.
Maryland leads the nation and MoCo leads the D.C. region in federal government job losses. Council Member Will Jawando responded by introducing Bill 10-25, which creates a preference for displaced federal workers when they apply for county jobs. The county council unanimously passed it in July. We can debate whether it’s the best policy – do federal workers have the skill sets for county jobs? – but the point here is that Jawando saw a problem and addressed it through substantive legislation. He deserves credit for that. Most of the rest of you? Not so much.
So gimme a break with the Trump stuff unless you have a specific idea to help as Jawando did. Talk to me about MCPS, private sector job growth, transportation projects, housing supply, budgeting, taxes, public safety, land use and all of the other things that state and local officials actually deal with. And save the Trump rhetoric for when you get to Congress or the Oval Office.