Friday, June 22, 2012

Candidates love to show real people giving us reasons to vote for them. Dutch Ruppersberger, the incumbent Congressman from Maryland’s Second Congressional District, is no exception. (Go his campaign website, www.DutchForCongress.com, and see the video in the lower right corner of the home page.)

Congressman Ruppersberger, the five-term incumbent, has done nothing, other than voting his party’s line, to contribute in any meaningful way to the resolution of the critical economic, fiscal and social problems which we need our government to resolve. He has done nothing to deserve re-election and needs to be replaced.

Instead of voting to re-elect Mr. Ruppersberger, primarily because he happens to be a Democrat in a district where a majority of the people shares the same party registration, voters in the Second District should elect Maryland State Senator Nancy Jacobs. Why? Is it because all indications are that she will be significantly more productive in Washington than Congressman Ruppersberger has been? Well, sure. But, to be honest, Congressman Ruppersberger has set the bar so low, being more effective isn’t all that great a challenge. (Just between you and me, the original text I wrote claimed that my late cat, Scooter.. Jeez, I loved that cat. ..could have done more in Congress, but my wife thought it was too flip a comment and made me edit it out.)

The real reason, from Next Contestant’s point of view, is that, to re-elect a non-performing incumbent is to effectively reward his or her lack of effectiveness, which pretty much runs contrary to the reasons we have elections in the first place. No. Maryland’s Second District needs to elect Nancy Jacobs because “Dutch,” as he encourages us to call him, hasn’t earned the right to be re-elected. Second District voters need to send Ms. Jacobs to Washington in his stead, with a fresh mandate to get it right.

We can count on Dutch to show us voters who assure us, “He’s one of us,” as if that were a good enough reason to vote for him. And Senator Jacobs may do he same, although I seriously hope she’ll opt instead to tell voters precisely what she’s going to do for them that Congressman Ruppersberger never did. So, I guess it’s up to Next Contestant to fill in the gap.

What “gap” is that? It’s the heartfelt, honest statements of Second District residents that explain to their fellow District voters why they shouldn’t re-elect their Congressman. What’s missing is the voter testimonials Dutch isn’t going to show you. Okay, are you paying attention? Are you a Second District voter who has a legitimate, election-worthy complaint about Congressman Ruppersberger? Or do you know a voter who meets that description, regardless of his or her party affiliation? Well, you do your duty as citizen, and Next Contestant will do its job to see that word of these voter criticisms of Congressman Ruppersberger gets out.

It’s easy. Just leave a comment to this article. Include your name and the city where you live. (“Verna from Edgewood,” for example). I know, you like anonymity, but giving your name is the standup thing to do, and we don’t want the Ruppersberger campaign claiming we made up your comments.

Com’on. No excuses. If you want Dutch Ruppersberger out, you’re going to have to do more than vote for Nancy Jacobs. You’re going to have to step up and encourage other voters in the Second District to do the same. This is, after all, your election and your government that we’re talking about.

Thank you in advance for your comments. I’ll respond to everyone you. Let’s do this.

-Next Contestant