Governor Hogan, if elected, could well be an independent senator, as he argues on his campaign website. What is striking is the lack of any reference to his party affiliation, which, to be clear, is still Republican. Independent, perhaps, but certainly not without significance if Republicans take control of the Senate.
I like Larry Hogan. He is a smart, mature, down-to-earth and entirely reasonable politician whose judgment and motivation we can trust. A man of proven integrity who has been an excellent governor and enjoyed widely deserved popularity. A Republican whom Democrats can respect and support.
More specifically, he is by far the better candidate of the two candidates seeking to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate after Senator Ben Cardin retires. Democratic candidate and County Manager Angela Alsobrooks is campaigning as if she were running for re-election in Prince George’s County and is no less a match for Governor Hogan as a politician or a statesman. And yet I will vote for her because there is no way we can risk a Larry Hogan victory giving Republican control of the Senate.
I’m sorry, Larry. There is no doubt that your Eisenhower/Reagan-style Republicanism is exactly what your party and the Senate need now more than ever. Unfortunately, you cannot promise us that your personal sense of legitimacy and fairness in government extends to the leadership of your party.
I can believe in you. What I cannot trust, however, are people like current Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his successor. As you know, it was then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who in 2016 blocked the Senate from nominating Merrick Garland as a possible successor to Chief Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Garland was nominated by President Obama toward the end of his second term. That shouldn’t have been a problem, but McConnell used it as a pretext to pursue his goal of a Republican-leaning Supreme Court. … Notice that I said “Republican-leaning” and not “conservative” Supreme Court. True, textbook conservatism and the Constitution had nothing to do with it.
McConnell knew better and lied to the American people when he claimed there was a tradition of not processing nominations in the final year of a president’s term. This was a terrible act, a betrayal of his oath of office, and contrary to the integrity we have every right to expect from our elected officials.
This subversion of due process made McConnell complicit in no small part in the Republican Party’s loss of morality, ethics, and decency that characterized the Donald Trump era. McConnell’s behavior is historically interesting because of its consequences for the politicization of the Supreme Court.
It is also telling because its timing proves that the Republican Party was well on its way to becoming a sloppy, amoral mess – not because of Trump, but long before Trump’s rise to power. Far from being the instigator of his time, Donald turns out to be just the random candidate fate dealt us – an intellectually weak, ethically questionable individual who, as history will one day recognize, was exploited more by those around him than by the leader of the movement that bears his name. That we give him more credit for his achievements than he deserves is the real secret of his success.
I don’t doubt for a moment that if Senator Hogan had been in the Senate in 2016, he would have done everything in his power to do the right thing and ensure that Merrick Garland was treated fairly – but to no avail. So, despite your many proven qualities as a government official, we part ways. It’s not you, Larry. It’s your party. Simply put, I refuse to do anything that could give Republicans control of the Senate.
There are currently 47 Democrats in the Senate, plus four independents who work with the Democrats, and 49 Republicans. That is a lead of 51 to 49. The Democrats only have a two-vote majority. In the event of a tie, Vice President Harris, the current President of the Senate, will cast the deciding vote.
There are 34 Senate seats up for election this year. Ten of them are Republican. 19 are Democrats – including Ben Cardin’s seat in Maryland. Four are independents who caucus with the Democrats. Another – the 34th – is a special election to replace Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who resigned two years before the end of his six-year term. The Democrats, including the four independent seats, must hold 22 of their 23 seats – and Vice President Harris must be elected president – to maintain their Senate majority.
The situation in the Senate is too uncertain to predict. We cannot make self-serving, convenient predictions. We will not know what will happen until the polls close on Election Day.
I’d like to think that if Governor Hogan were reading this article, he would agree with his logic, but so what? Good man or not, he’s in it to win. He’s not going to “do a Joe Biden” and supposedly get out for the good of his country. Ms. Alsobrooks, if you’re reading this, I’d like to suggest that you raise the point of this editorial in every one of your commercials and speeches.
Despite my respect for Governor Hogan, I will be voting for Ms. Alsobrooks. I urge you to do the same, even if she is not your first choice to replace Ben Cardin. The Supreme Court? Republican majority control of committee assignments? Major legislation? There is too much at stake to do otherwise.
Les Cohen is a longtime Marylander who grew up in Annapolis. For a living, he writes and edits materials for business and policy clients from his base in Columbia, Maryland. He holds a PhD in urban and regional economics. Leave a comment or email him at [email protected].
