Political Notes

Frank Kratovil voted against (that's right, against) the stimulus bill in the House. You may recall that Krtovil is the freshman Democratic congressman from MD-District 1 whose victory over GOP candidate Andy Harris can in large part be attributed to the endorsement by incumbent Republican Wayne Gilchrest, himself endorsed by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, House Minority leader John Boehner, and former MD Lt. Gov. and now Chairman of the RNC, Michael Steele.

And that's not even the funniest thing. The funniest thing is that had Wayne Gilchrest defeated Andy Harris (thanks again to Gingrich, et. al.), he would have voted FOR the stimulus package.

So Kratovil, a Democrat representing a district of so-called Republicans, takes one issue off the table when he faces his next challenger in 2010. He was able to do so because idiot Republicans across the country worked hard to defeat themselves either by being transparently opportunistic, or just plain liberal. And they were replaced by Democrats, and DNC machines. The Democratic leadership whether in the majority or not coldly calculates which members of the party may vote against the party. And it makes sense that Kratovil would have been given this pass.

But what does Kratovil have to worry about? He's got the entire Libertarian vote and most of the Eastern Shore "Republicans" to see him through the next election!