Politics at its finest

Sometimes I'm lucky enough to have an idea for a blog post land right into my lap.

I was waiting outside of the Annapolis Marriott Waterfront Hotel, where I am staying this week, for my wife to arrive back from her nail appointment, when I observed a curious vehicle sitting in the front parking lot:

The van apparently belongs to the campaign of one Carolyn J.B. Howard, D-24th Legislative District Maryland Delegate. It was parked just across the lot from her personal vehicle, a very nice Lexus LS 400:



To my thinking, there's really only one reason to have a van such as this - to ferry voters to the polls in order to vote for the good Delegate, in the best Chicago and New York tradition. To find out, I walked up to the very nice, hardworking man loading all of the Nordstrom bags and other things into the van, and first asked him where the 24th District was located. After he told me that it was in Prince George's County, in the area of Central Avenue and Route 450 (not 20 minutes away by car), I then asked him "So, is this van for giving voters rides to the polls?"

He replied (quote) "Yep, that and other things - parades, campaign errands, and other stuff like that." After about 30 seconds, he realized what he had said, and with a very guilty look on his face added "Well, I've never taken voters to the polls, but I've done those other things."

A quick check of Maryland's laws finds no law making it specifically illegal for campaigns to bus voters to polls. It is illegal, however, to pay someone to do the following while the polls are open on Election Day:

(1) distributing campaign material;
(2) stationing a person, including oneself, or an object in the path of a voter;
(3) electioneering or canvassing as described in § 16-206 of this article;
(4) communicating in any other manner a voting preference or choice; or
(5) performing any other service as a poll worker or distributor of sample ballots.

Isn't the above van "communicating a voting preference" and "electioneering"? It certainly qualifies as "campaign material" in my mind, especially if it's parked right outside of a polling place while disgorging its load of compliant voters.

Am I the only one who thinks this, or does anyone else think that it's awful sketchy for a politician to perform a "noble public service" such as rides for the poor and elderly in a vehicle such as this. There wouldn't be any pressure at all to thank the good delegate for a lift to the polling place with a vote, now would there?

Just then, the good delegate herself came out, and she graciously agreed to take a picture with me for posterity:


After she left, I conferred with the bellman, and confirmed that Delegate Howard indeed stays at the very expensive Marriott at taxpayer expense for the entire three month legislative session, even though her district (and presumably her residence) is literally right around the corner, automotively speaking, from the Capitol. In fact, his exact words were "She squeezes every dime that she can out of the taxpayers".

Marylanders, this lady is a prime example of the benevolent overlords who tax you to death and then personally profit from it, and who consistently deny you your inherent right to self-defense by carrying a firearm for personal protection. Its for reasons such as this that I had no problem moving away from here in 1995, and I have yet to regret my decision.