Journal Endorses Brian Murphy for Maryland Governor

by JC Leahy, editor
MA Accounting
RN, BSN, ACLS
Sigma Theta Tau's "100 Most Extraordinary Nurses Award"

Voters in this Tuesday's Maryland Republican primary election have 2 choices for governor: Bob Ehrlich and Brian Murphy.

 Bob Ehrlich is a Republican establishment career politician who served as Maryland governor from 2003 to 2007. During the 2002 gubernatorial election, he mailed out voters guides that, according to critics, strongly implied that he was, himself, a Democrat and that certain Democratic politicians had endorsed him, when they had not. His election campaign featured bringing in busloads of homeless people from Philadelphia to wear his T-shirts and pass out election literature door-to-door as if they were from Maryland. He championed the cause of "fiscal responsibility" and advocated balancing the Maryland budget with gambling revenues. He ended the policy of making criminals sentenced to life terms actually serve life terms. By the time of his 2006 reelection campaign, he was sufficiently unpopular to achieve the distinction of becoming the only incumbent governor that year to be defeated for reelection. Now, he wants a chance to do it all again.

Brian Murphy is not a career politician. He has an undergraduate degree in Economics and an MBA in Finance. He claims to be a fan of such writers as Friedman, de Tocqueville, and Hayek. He has apparently had a successful business career with a credible smattering of public-service involvement. His platform indicates an understanding of important current issues. It includes:

• Job creation by making Maryland competitive -- Depending on the poll, Maryland now ranks 45th to 50th in terms of overall business attractiveness.
• Health care that allows patients to make sensitive cost decisions and allows them direct access to their doctors. The way he phrases his health care position indicates an uncommon level of understanding, in the estimation of JAITODAY.COM.
• Educational policy that promotes efficient schools and educational opportunity for all Maryland students.
• Energy policy that encourages development and use of energy sources as closer to Maryland than the Middle East.
• Environmental policy that preserves the Chesapeake Bay

Nominating Bob Ehrlich to succeed Martin O'Malley would be like nominating George Bush to replace Barack Obama -- not a smart move and not beneficial for the people of Maryland. Brian Murphy is new. He is credible. Maryland needs a new and credible change from the "same-old" career politicians. Brian Murphy looks like the best choice for Maryland, and JAITODAY.COM endorses him.

 Get a yard sign. Get involved. VOTE!! Here is a link to his campaign: