Ice Cream. Tested. Conclusion: Evil.

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I’m going to try this right now, and then I can give it up for Lent. — John

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ben & Jerry's ice cream

Ben & Jerry’s releases four ice cream flavors with gooey ‘Core’. The four new flavors are:

  • Hazed & Confused: chocolate and hazelnut ice creams with fudge chips and a hazelnut fudge core
  • *That’s My Jam: raspberry and chocolate ice creams with fudge chips and a raspberry core
  • Peanut Butter Fudge: chocolate and peanut butter ice creams with mini peanut butter cups and a peanut butter fudge core
  • Salted Caramel: sweet cream ice cream with blonde brownies and a salty caramel core

Source: NY Daily News

* DK favorite. Thank you Rachel. Exactly what I needed.

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Robin Ficker vs. Brian Feldman in Montgomery District 15

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Robin Ficker

Robin Ficker

Sen. Brian Feldman

Sen. Brian Feldman

Republican Robin Ficker filed Friday, Feb. 21, to run for State Senate in Montgomery County District 15, setting up a General Election contest with recently appointed Democratic Sen. Brian Feldman. And Ficker’s son, Flynn Ficker, filed the same day to run for House of Delegates.

District 15 now has a full slate of Democrats and a full slate of Republicans for the district’s State Senate seat and three House of Delegates seats. It may be the only one of Montgomery’s eight General Assembly districts to have full inter-party competition in November. Both Ficker and Feldman will cakewalk to their respective party’s nominations for Senate without a contested primary in June, unless additional candidates file before the Tuesday, Feb. 25, 9 p.m. deadline.

Robin Ficker, 70, is a well-known name with an unusual history in Montgomery County politics. He’s been a perennial candidate and he’s been active in bringing controversial issues directly to county voters via initiative questions on the ballot. He once served a single term in the House of Delegates. Running for Senate on a slate with his son running for delegate is an example of Robin Ficker’s knack for publicity.

District 15 is Montgomery’s largest district by geography, stretching from Cabin John Regional Park and Democracy Boulevard in the south, covering all the affluent neighborhoods west of Rockville and Gaithersburg to the Potomac River, and including vast rural acreage in the northwest part of MoCo, north to the Frederick County line. It’s a majority Democratic district, but with more Republican and independent-minded voters, and more high-income voters, than other parts of Montgomery County. It’s the one legislative district in the county that could be competitive in a General Election when Republicans run a full slate with funding to back it up.

In 2010, Republicans also fielded a full slate in District 15, with one open delegate seat at stake. Democrats won all the seats, with Sen. Rob Garagiola beating his Republican opponent by a nearly 2-1 margin. The Democratic delegates did not run quite as strongly. The third-place Democratic delegate candidate in 2010 polled more than 17,000 votes to 13,000 for the fourth-place Republican.

Sen. Garagiola had more name recognition in 2010, and higher standing in Annapolis, than Sen. Feldman has now, and Republicans didn’t have anyone with the ability to generate attention like Robin Ficker. It will be interesting to see if he has mellowed with age.

There are no open seats in the district in 2014. The Democrats are running a full slate of  “incumbents,” but as a group, they are not long-entrenched. Nonetheless, the Democrats are well-known, well-organized, and professional. By comparison, the Republican group looks like lightweights with novelty appeal.

Brian Feldman, 53, was selected from a number of other names by the MoCo Democratic Central Committee and appointed to the Senate in Sept. 2013. However, he had been elected three times previously to represent District 15 in the House of Delegates, in 2002, 2006, and 2010. He was promoted from House to Senate to fill the seat of Sen. Rob Garagiola. The Democratic Central Committee was aware of the upcoming 2014 election, and no doubt selected Feldman as the candidate best able to hold the Senate seat in case of Republican opposition.

Following Feldman’s move to Senate, the Democratic Central Committee selected David Fraser-Hidalgo to fill Feldman’s seat in the House of Delegates in October 2013. Fraser-Hidalgo had not previously held public office, but had been active for more than a decade in county civic affairs and the business community.

The other two House of Delegates incumbents in District 15 are Democrats Kathleen Dumais, an attorney, first elected to the House in 2002; and Aruna Miller, an engineer, elected in 2010 and presently completing her first term. The fourth Democratic candidate for delegate, forcing a Democratic primary, is Bennett Rushkoff.

The three Republican candidates for delegate are Ed Edmundson, Flynn Ficker, and Christine Thron. Democrat Ali Saquib, a Democrat and former delegate, had filed to run but has withdrawn his candidacy.

Feldman had nearly $113,000 in his campaign account as of the latest report in January. Robin Ficker filed an affidavit that he’s raised and spent less than $1,000. It’s a long time from February to November. Who knows how much or how little financial support this Republican slate will attract?

Advantage, Democrats, of course. But the Democratic Party will take nothing for granted in District 15. The sixth year of President Obama’s presidency will be a dangerous time for Democrats in District 15.  Robin Ficker adds a wild-card element to the contest.

Sen. Feldman’s web site is BrianJFeldman.com, and Ficker and son have a joint site, Fickersfor15.com

— John Hayden

Authority And Leadership

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“Don’t give authority to those hungry for authority. Give authority to those hungry to serve.”

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Too Many Lawyers In Politics, Not Enough Ordinary Folks

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David Lublin calls Montgomery County’s District 16 a “chock full o’lawyers” district, in his blog post, “D16 Not So Competitive After All.”  (District 16 borders the D.C. line from Bethesda to the Potomac River.)

How true! Attorneys are over-represented in politics throughout America, and even more so in Montgomery County.

Montgomery County also has the odd distinction of electing more political officials with Capitol Hill staff experience on their resumes than anyplace else on Earth. In addition, we have “local officials” here with experience in some of the many union national headquarters located in D.C., and others with backgrounds in the many business special-interest groups headquartered here.

Most of these folks have one foot rooted in their home town far away, and one foot rooted in national politics in D.C. Many have law degrees. Naturally. By coincidence, they happen to reside and vote in Montgomery County. They make local politics in Montgomery County unique. Sometimes they overwhelm MoCo politics and make it crazy.

More on this odd mix of pols at a later date.

— John Hayden

If you’d like to see a superb blog about Maryland politics, which David Lublin has developed in just a few weeks, check out theseventhstate.com.

Candidates Needed To Save Democracy In America, Apply Now

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Every state in America will hold congressional elections in 2014, and most will also have gubernatorial, legislative and local elections. A deadline for candidates is approaching in all the states, just as it is where I live, in Maryland. But you never hear about it.

Why beat the drum for candidates? Two reasons. First, it’s important. Americans have gotten in the habit of holding our politicians in extreme low regard. The reputation of government and politics is tarnished by corruption and inefficiency. The understandable reaction is disappointment and apathy. Some citizens at the extremes view government with fear and loathing.

The way we choose our leaders is called democracy, and democracy is withering away while we fiddle. What do you need for a functioning democracy? Two things. Voters, obviously. And candidates. What good are voters without candidates? And you must have more than one candidate. When you have one candidate or one party, that’s not democracy. Isn’t it obvious that we need more and better candidates?

Conspiracy Of Silence

I said two reasons, didn’t I? The second reason I’m talking about candidacy on this blog is, you never hear about it anyplace else, do you?

You’ll see reminders about registering to vote at your library or the MVA. You’ll probably have opportunities to register to vote at your house of worship and your high school.

But how often to you see anything about the process of becoming a candidate, or the filing deadline? Not in the mainstream media.

It’s almost a conspiracy of silence by the media.

Political organizations are worse. Most individual politicians hate competition. It’s so easy to skate by if you’re the only candidate. But my, how it complicates things when you have an opponent, or two or three opponents!

Political leaders, party organizations, and even special-interest groups often actively discourage candidates. If the party or the special interest has a malleable office holder, they don’t want to rock the boat. They want to see their guy or gal cruise to reelection, time after time.

Not in Montgomery County, the land of “good government?” Please don’t be naive. The late Sen. Margaret Schweinhaut once recalled that in the bad old days (read 1940s and 1950s) anyone wanting to run for office in Montgomery County had to receive permission from the Lee organization. (Schweinhaut served in the House of Delegates, 1955-1961, and in the State Senate, 1961-1990.)

In modern times, it’s more likely for a candidate to need the equivalent of permission from fund-raisers and special-interest groups. Also in modern days, it’s not uncommon for an ambitious member of the House of Delegates or School Board to be counseled (to put it gently) by party elders to wait until it’s their time before running for a higher office.

Don’t Be Normal

It never occurs to most normal, ordinary people, that they could hold public office, be a public servant. (That’s why normal people are normal.) OK, you’ll never be president, or even governor. But you’d be surprised how lowly and ordinary a state legislator or county council member can be.

I think many ordinary citizens would be shocked to know that there are no special requirements to run for the General Assembly. If you’re a U.S. citizen and 21 years of age,* you qualify. That’s it. No experience required. You don’t have to be a college graduate. It helps to have a thick skin and tolerance for rejection.

I can hear readers thinking: “If it’s so important to have more candidates, why doesn’t the SOB do it himself?”

Been there. Done that. Twice.

And in unfriendly red Republican territory, in other parts of Maryland. Now that I’ve retired and consolidated back here in my home county, it’s ironic that I can’t participate as a candidate. Too bad. I might at least get a few relatives and people I went to school with to vote for me.

Truth is, there are good reasons why I can’t run for office this year. I wish I could, but I can’t. All I can do is write about it.

But YOU might be a person who could run. Win or lose, you’d be performing a service for Democracy. The deadline in Maryland is Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014. Find out more at the Maryland Board of Elections.

— John Hayden

(*Slightly higher age requirements for some higher offices.)

Most Montgomery County Districts Still Need Political Candidates

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Maryland State flag

John Hayden photo

The Feb. 25 deadline for candidates to file to run in Maryland’s 2014 state and county elections is near, and the candidate list in Montgomery County is looking pretty thin.

As of Feb. 17, only two of Montgomery County’s eight State Senate seats will be contested. The other six Senate candidates in MoCo will get a free ride.

The two districts with contested Democratic primaries for Senate, as of Feb. 17 are:

  • District 17 (Gaithersburg and Rockville) Del. Luiz Simmons vs. former Del. Cheryl Kagan.
  • District 18 (Silver Spring, Kensington, Wheaton, Chevy Chase, Garrett Park) Sen. Richard Madaleno vs. Dana Beyer.

Six of MoCo’s Senate candidates will run unopposed in the Democratic Primary. Even worse, it looks like all eight Democratic candidates after the primary will be able to take the summer and fall off. Not a single Republican has filed to run for Senate in MoCo. It’s not as if we have no Republicans living in MoCo, but the Republican Party has few candidates who wish to sign up to be sacrificial lambs. The Republican Central Committee may yet twist some arms to field a few more candidates.

Few Candidates Means No Choice For Voters

The lack of opponents in both primary and general elections for State Senate is not unusual anywhere in Maryland, but it’s not good for the candidates, voters, or democracy. Competition would make all the candidates sharper and more forthcoming on the issues. Given a selection of candidates, rather than just one, voters might over time improve the overall quality of the General Assembly.

The two main reasons for the dearth of Senate candidates: gerrymandering and money. Most of Maryland’s legislative districts are drawn so that one or the other party has a clear edge. It takes a brave candidate to run against heavy odds. Did we say money? It can take $250,000 to $1 million to fund a quality campaign in a contested Senate race in Maryland, whether it’s a primary or a general. Raising that amount of money is daunting for anybody, and nearly impossible for any new or unknown candidate. Of course for incumbents who run unopposed, campaign expenses are not much of a problem.

You don’t need quite so much money to run for House of Delegates, so we sometimes have the luxury of choosing from as many as eight or 10 primary candidates for three delegate seats in a district. In the few districts where both Democrats and Republicans can expect some reasonable prospect of winning, the general election often has three Democrats and three Republicans facing off.

Delegate Races Generate More Interest

As it stands now, there’s plenty of room in Montgomery County for additional delegate candidates in some districts.

The two districts with contested Democratic primaries for Senate also have good competition for the delegate seats. District 17 has six Democrats and one Republican candidates for delegate. District 18 has seven Democrats but no Republicans.

Districts 14 and 15 have a minimum level of competition, four Democrats and one Republican in each district. District 16 has five Democrats and one Republican running. District 20 has the largest field, nine Democrats and one Green candidate. No Republicans.

Districts 19 and District 39 are candidate poor. YOU, reading this at home right now, could provide a public service by running for delegate. District 19,  overwhelmingly Democratic, has only four Democrats running in the delegate primary so far, and none of them are incumbents. Think of it. Three wide open seats and no incumbents! It’s a rare opportunity for newcomers. But I can understand why no Republicans want to run in 19. (Two incumbent delegates have not filed.)

District 39 is the district most in need of candidates. Only three incumbent Democrats running unopposed for delegate, and one Republican. District 39 is north and east of Gaithersburg, that is, Germantown and Montgomery Village.

District 39 doesn’t have the long history of Democratic activism that you find in the southern part of MoCo, Districts 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. Unlike Gaithersburg, Rockville, Chevy Chase and Takoma Park, Germantown has no municipal government and is the most recently developed part of the county. With no local officials and few candidates for legislature, there’s not much reason for the newer residents in Germantown to become active in community or politics.

MoCo County Council

I’ve saved the worst news for last. Put your fingers on the wrist of the County Council race, and you can hardly feel a pulse. As of Feb. 17, we have only one Democratic candidate filed to run in each of the county’s five council districts. Not an indication of a healthy democracy. We’re still waiting for at least one more shoe to drop in Council District 3. No Republicans in any of the five districts.

For the four at-large County Council seats, we have exactly three Democratic candidates. They are incumbents Nancy Floreen and George Levanthal, and newcomer Vivian Malloy. Also, there’s one Republican and one Green bidding for the at-large seats. We can certainly expect at least two or three more Democrats for the at-large seats. Several incumbents have yet to file.

Also Doug Duncan has still not filed officially to run for MoCo County Executive.

For information about how to become a candidate (it’s cheap and easy to sign up, costly and difficult to win) look at the Maryland Election Board web site. You can also find information on voter registration and results of previous elections.

To see a map of Montgomery County legislative districts click here: Montgomery_County dist map

— John Hayden

Amazon, Books, And Publishing, Read All About It

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If you love books, please do not read “CHEAP WORDS: Amazon is good for customers. But is it good for books?”

books headerDon’t read it, because it will break your heart. If you love economic competition or American culture, the article about Amazon.com will also break your heart. If you’re an aspiring author, writing your e-book to sell via Kindle, Nook, or Apple, you probably have a conflicted love-hate relationship with Amazon.

For the fearless reader, the scary, in-depth report by George Packer about Amazon.com may be found in the Feb. 17, 2014, issue of The New Yorker, filed under “Reporter At Large.” Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

On the positive side, if you own stock in Amazon, Mr. Packer’s comprehensive report might make you fall in love all over again:

“The combination of ceaseless innovation and low-wage drudgery makes Amazon the epitome of a successful New Economy company.”

You could credit Amazon with creating jobs. But in the not-too-distant future, most of those warehouse picking and shipping workers will likely be replaced by robots. And whether we believe it or not, in the long run Amazon just might deliver books, and other merchandise, by drone. (Books are now a small part of the company’s business. Amazon is a digital general store, selling nearly everything under the sun.)

Wikicommons photo

Wikicommons photo

I’m not going to give away the whole Amazon love-hate story, which is too long for most of us to read on a computer screen. I printed it out, and it came to 25 letter-sized pages. It’s a must-read for everyone who’s interested in books and/or the publishing industry, so long as you can handle the heartbreak. I’ll give you a taste of Mr. Packer’s judgement:

“Lately, digital titles have leveled off at about thirty per cent of book sales. Whatever the temporary fluctuations in publishers’ profits, the long-term outlook is discouraging. This is partly because Americans don’t read as many books as they used to — they are too busy doing other things with their devices — but also because of the relentless downward pressure on prices that Amazon enforces. The digital market is awash with millions of barely edited titles, most of it dreck, while readers are being conditioned to think that books are worth as little as a sandwich.”

And now I’ll localize the story a bit, which is an editor’s oldest trick on a slow news day. Here in the metro Washington, D.C. area, the newspaper many of us rely on for our news, The Washington Post, has been purchased by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Will the sale lead to the newspaper’s salvation or its continued demise?

— John Hayden

Political Ambition: Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen

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How unseemly is it that any politician would entertain the notion of abandoning a seat in Congress after only one year of service to run for governor of Maryland? Hopefully, Rep. John Delaney has put that bad idea to rest. Two of the three Democratic candidates for governor are from Montgomery County as it is, and another Montgomery entrant would do nothing but fragment the county’s vote.

But you never know for sure what’s in someone’s mind until the candidate filing deadline, which is Feb. 25.  Continue reading →

You Know This Winter Is Getting Old

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JUXTAPOSITION:   The East Coast is taking a snow day on Thursday. Also, baseball pitchers and catchers are reporting for Spring training in Florida and Arizona, unless their flight is cancelled.

Parts of the South were sheathed in ice on Wednesday. By the weekend, all the ice in Georgia will melt to water.

Schoolchildren enjoy a season of days off and sleeping in. Many schools will make up the lost time in June.

I hope the school buildings have heat to get through the rest of February and March — and air conditioning to get through June. — John

Montgomery County, MD, Candidates Needed As Filing Deadline Looms

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(My apologies to District 39 for leaving them out of my original report. Thanks to Cheryl Kagan for calling that to my attention. It’s particularly embarrassing to me because I made the same error on my other blog several years ago, leaving out a MoCo legislative district. Sen. Madaleno caught it that time. I have to keep reminding myself that we had a district added due to population growth somewhere along the line. Was it after the 1990 Census or the 2000 Census? Also, it wasn’t so long ago (in dog years) that District 14 was mostly in Howard County. When I was a precinct chairman in prehistoric times, MoCo had six legislative districts, and The City was still the legislative powerhouse.)

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MARYLAND STATE AND COUNTY ELECTIONS are approaching fast, with some offices still lacking for candidates. Let’s take a snapshot of democracy in one Maryland county a scant five months ahead of the June 2014 primary.

As I write this, we have 11 working days left for candidates to file for office, and lots of offices to choose from. The deadline is Wednesday, February 25, at 9 p.m.

Where are the candidates?

In Montgomery County, we’re governed by a nine-member County Council. At the close of business Friday, we had exactly six candidates filed to run for nine Council seats. We’ll take a closer at the County Council situation in a minute. Continue reading →