Will Economic Populism Work In Western Maryland? Meet Andrew Duck

Maryland's 6th congressional district used to be Republican territory. Maryland Democrats are as prone towards partisan gerrymandering as the GOP sleaze bags in North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania. In 2011, the 6th got a big chunk of blue Montgomery County and suddenly the 6th was less like West Virginia and more like the DC suburbs. The following year crooked multimillionaire Democrat, John Delaney, ousted longtime moderate GOP incumbent, Roscoe Bartlett. Obama won the district by over 10 points both times he ran and even Hillary managed to beat Trump in the district, 55.3% to 40.2%. Delaney has been one of the most overtly anti-progressive Democrats in Congress. One of his Democratic colleagues once told me, after reading a Delaney OpEd in favor of chained CPI, that Delaney "is my poster child for what's wrong with the Democratic Party. Recruiting clueless, rich people who have no real values is almost always a failure."

Good news: the reactionary avatar of greed and selfishness is probably leaving Congress. He wants to run for governor, where he would be unlikely to beat either progressive hero Benjamin Jealous or moderate GOP incumbent Larry Hogan. But even if Delaney backs out of running for governor, he already has 3 primary challengers-- Aruna Miller, state House Majority Leader Bill Frick and local activist Andrew Duck-- with 2 more prepared to jump in: state Senator Roger Manno and multimillionaire beer distributor David Trone, a right-of-center, self-absorbed mini-Trump who just got crushed after spending more of his own money than any other candidate running for a House seat-- $13,414,225-- in history. Trone's mansion, of course, is nowhere near the district.

Andrew Duck, who was a Bernie activist in 2016 served in the U.S. Army (with multiple tours of duty in Bosnia and Iraq) for 20 years after enlisting as a teenager. For the past four years, he's been working as the director of operations for a green energy start-up company and has studied economics at the graduate level. He makes a good case for himself as the polar opposite of New Dem John Delaney; Duck is an economic progressive. I asked him to introduce himself to DWT readers.


Guest Post
-by Andrew Duck

Years have passed since the economic collapse of 2008, but our economy remains mired down with slow growth, stagnant wages, and increasing inequality. While parts of our country are improving, our economic recovery continues to be uneven.  While the stock market is at a record high, workers are earning less now, adjusted for inflation, than before the recession. It feels like the system is rigged against working people. That is because the system is rigged against working people.

We need progressive economic policies that will put us back on a path to growth that benefits working people. Increasing the minimum wage is a first step toward addressing wage stagnation and inequality, so we need to support the Fight for $15. Health care costs continue to rise, and we need to move to the only health care system that works, a single payer system like MEDICARE for All. The current incumbent does not support these policies.

We will also have to address the systemic issues which have rigged the system against working families to advantage the top one percent. We need to address our tax policies, which allow millionaires like Mitt Romney to pay a lower tax rate than almost anyone in the country. We will also need to address the rigged financial system by strengthening and enforcing the Dodd-Frank Act. Congressman Delaney has voted multiple times to weaken the Dodd-Frank Act.(H.R.992 2013, H.R. 83 2014) This is movement in the wrong direction. We should be passing a new Glass-Stegall Act, not rolling back the progress we have made.

But we have not made as much progress as we should have. Dodd-Frank has not been fully implemented, with 20% of the rules not proposed as of 2016. The banking system has stabilized, but that stability masks the underlying weaknesses that continue to exist. We need to take action now if we want to ensure we do not have another collapse like the one we saw in 2008.

We need to start with breaking up the big banks. Any bank which is “too big to fail” is too big to continue to exist. When we have a system where if a bank takes risks, they get a “heads the bank wins, tails the taxpayer loses” deal, it is inevitable that we will have another economic collapse. All of the incentive is for the bank to assume more and more risk, because they get all the gain and none of the loss. Eventually, the banks will assume so much risk that they will collapse. But because they know they are “too big to fail” they know they will be bailed out, and not take the loss themselves.

We also need to address the mechanics of our financial markets. We need to ensure that we can identify and prevent “front-running” of trades. The big financial companies have built a system where their transactions will be processed before the small investor’s, rigging the game. We need more vigorous enforcement to address this issue.

High Frequency Trading has also added volatility to the market, resulting in wide swings in market value. These swings are not a normal response to supply and demand. The machines doing the trading not only shave some value off of the transaction of regular small investors, they also push the market to extremes rapidly, because they can make even more money both on the way up and the way down. A small tax per transaction would make this technique less profitable, and reduce the volatility that we are seeing today.

The best way to make these fundamental reforms would be to pass a new Glass-Steagall Act. This would force a bank to do banking, and not run a hedge fund. If you want to be a hedge fund, you can be, but you cannot be a bank, with federal insurance, at the same time. While Dodd-Frank has provisions which could be used to break up a large bank, the process is cumbersome and requires extensive review and approval by the Federal Reserve. A new Glass-Steagall Act would go further and mandate the breaking up of the big banks. To do this, we will need some new people in Congress.

I am running for Congress in Maryland’s Sixth District, to take the seat now held by Congressman Delaney. But Congressman Delaney, who does not even live in MD-06, is exploring other options, and may not run for re-election. Also looking at running for MD-06 is another multi-millionaire, David Trone, owner of a large wine and beer distributor. David Trone also does not live in MD-06, but having spent $14 Million to lose in his district, he now has his eyes set on the district I live in. We cannot have millionaires treat our government like their play-thing.

We need representatives in Congress who will fight for the economic policies that will work to bring jobs and wage growth back to the working people of this country. I spent 20 years fighting for this country around the world. I am ready to fight just as hard here at home to get a government that will serve the people, not just the top one percent.

Trump Declares War-- On Transgender Men And Women Serving In The U.S. Armed Forces

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the above early morning Trumpanzee Adderall-fueled tweet storm was the first time officials in the Pentagon heard of the Regime's bigoted-- and probably unconstitutional--  transgender service ban. Philip Bump, immediately writing for the Washington Post, reminded his readers that Trump’s argument against transgender soldiers echoes one used against gays, women and blacks

The question of costs-- presumably referring to procedures like gender reassignment surgery-- was addressed in a Rand report that estimated a 0.04- to 0.13-percent increase in military health-care expenditures should transgender people be allowed to serve. Trump has proposed a 10 percent bump in overall military spending, which could certainly absorb that increase.

That latter point, though, the “disruption” that integration of transgender troops would spur? That is an argument we’ve heard before. When gay Americans sought the right to serve in the military, that was a central argument against the change. When women sought combat roles, a central argument. When blacks were integrated into the military? Warnings about disruption.

In 1948, President Harry Truman moved toward fully integrating black Americans into the military. At the time, members of his own party spoke out against the plan. The Washington Post reported on the objections in June of that year.

Former Tennessee U.S. senator Tom Stewart proposed “allowing men in the services to choose whether or not they would serve in mixed units” to avoid offending the sensibilities of those determined to maintain segregation. U.S. Sen. Lister Hill of Alabama argued that integration would “seriously impair the morale of the Army at a time when our armed forces should be at their strongest and most efficient.” He called Truman’s move “unfortunate.”

Andrew Duck is primarying right-wing Maryland Democrat John Delaney. He served over 2 decades in the U.S. Army, 4 tours of duty in Bosnia and Iraq. He told us last night that "Trump’s tweet banning transgender personnel from service is wrong, both morally and militarily. Our Army needs to recruit and retain Soldiers who can shoot, move and communicate. It damages our military to reject high quality personnel solely because of their gender identity. Many of these Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines have been serving their country honorably, risking their lives for our Nation. Denying them the right to serve is just wrong." Wherever there is fear and ignorance, bigotry never seems to die... but today it's very much thriving inside the White House and throughout our government's executive branch. As far as I know, no members of the Trump Regime have resigned over this yet. Anger, though, exploded on social media where Trump announced his "policy."

Ted Lieu was an active duty Air Force officer and still serves as an Air Force Reserve Colonel today. He immediately communicated with his Los Angeles constituents about what's wrong with Trump's decision: "The President's exclusion of Americans who happen to be transgender from serving in the military is not based on facts, it is based on naked bigotry. I know because I served on active duty. The military doesn't care what your sexual orientation or identity is, or who you love. It cares about whether you can shoot straight and complete the mission. The President's discriminatory decision harms our military readiness for our volunteer-based military. Thousands of Transgender Americans are already in the military. Why? Because they are qualified, patriotic and willing to die for their country. There is zero evidence a Transgender sniper would be any less qualified than a gay sniper or a straight sniper. Today is a sad day for America."

New Hampshire progressive Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter ousted a Republican incumbent last year despite her district going for Trump over Hillary. She's not afraid of him and, a member of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Personnel, she was a leader in the successful 2009 effort to overturn the bigoted Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and still prioritizes fighting for fairness for all American military personnel. Her response to Trump's tweet storm didn't pull any punches: "This morning’s tweets from the President are a disgraceful slap in the face to the thousands of transgender troops who are actively serving our country, and to all transgender Americans who aspire to serve. These troops are patriots who deserve to be appreciated for their service, not used as political props by their Commander in Chief. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I will fight to prevent President Trump’s ugly rhetoric against our troops from becoming reality, and to make sure these troops know that Americans appreciate their service and sacrifice." BOOM!

Vote Vets, the most active political action committee run by military veterans was out with a letter to their members immediately:

Sixty-nine years ago today, President Harry Truman issued an executive order desegregating the military, declaring "equal treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services." With the same stroke of a pen, he established the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services.

This morning, on the anniversary of that historic step toward equality, our current president, Donald Trump, did the unthinkable: placed a ban on transgender Americans from serving "in any capacity in the U.S. Military."

Here is the truth: right now, there are up to 7,000 openly transgender service members on active duty, with thousands more in the reserves-- all of whom wake up having served with more distinction than Donald Trump could ever dream of. When Trump had the chance to serve, he received multiple deferments because of a "foot thing." He said that avoiding STDs was his own personal Vietnam.

Veterans, military family members, and civilian supporters have an important voice in this fight. Let's make it heard right now.

...This decision by the president puts our national security at risk. There are active units who depend on these decorated service members. But as much as that matters, imagine how it would feel this morning to be a trans service member who volunteered to defender their nation, only to be told that their service wasn't good enough... and to be told that by a man who never had the courage himself to serve.

Kristin Beck, a transgendered woman and former 20 year Navy Seal-- who I'd give odds could knock Trump cold with one hand tied behind her back-- once ran for Congress against corrupt Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer. Yesterday she was challenging someone else. "Let's meet face to face and you tell me I'm not worthy," she suggested to Señor Trumpanzee, the serial draft-dodger and gross pervert. "Being transgender doesn't affect anyone else. We are liberty's light. If you can't defend that for everyone that's an American citizen, that's not right. Transgender doesn't matter. Do your service." Beck, a decorated former member of the elite Team 6, signed up for over a dozen tours of duty and served in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Iraq, while Trump claimed his version of military serve was an epic decade-long battle against syphilis, gonorrhea, genital herpes and all the other STDs he was spreading around New York in the 1970s.

Did you know that Blue America has an ActBlue page dedicated to progressive military veterans running for Congress? You can access it by tapping on the thermometer on the right. We reached out to the vets running for House seats this year in California, Kansas and Wisconsin, an all-star cast we are very proud to be supporting in their races against Darrell Issa, Ron Estes and Paul Ryan. Doug Applegate, a former Marine colonel: "As unusual, President Trump went on a twitter tirade this morning. If you don't use twitter you will be sure to see the tweets on the news. The difference about these bunch of tweets compared to those of recent times is that he attacked U.S. military personnel instead of mainstream media or the left. Today, our draft-dodging President banned the transgender community from serving in the US military. This is discriminatory, stupid, and an absolute disgrace. This makes our country weaker and dismantles some of the progress we have made within the LGBTQ community over the last 8 years. We will continue to fight for our trans brothers and sisters, and I thank you for your bravery and service to our country, one thing our President could never find the courage to do."

Randy Bryce is the progressive iron worker campaigning for the southeast Wisconsin congressional seat held by Paul Ryan. Unlike Ryan and unlike Trump, Bryce is a U.S. Army veteran who seems offended that Trump chose to use transgender service members as a political diversion. "As a veteran, I am offended by the President's insulting actions. He knows nothing about the military or what it means to serve. It's time Donald Trump start focussing on things he does know about-- if that includes anything other than golf and twitter rants-- rather than trying desperately to tear us apart. What makes us different is what makes us special. I was honored to serve in our Military along side some of the most diverse, interesting, hard working people I had ever come across. Donald Trump makes us less safe by today's actions, and he should be ashamed of himself."

Jim Thompson is the Blue America-backed progressive running for the Wichita-based 4th district congressional seat in Kansas-- and a U.S. Army veteran. He was tweeting up his own storm today... and then sent us this:

Wow. In yet another erratic early morning tweet, our draft-dodging President attacked the United States military and the brave men and women that stood up to defend their country. This morning, the President unilaterally decided he would no longer allow transgender servicemen and servicewomen to join or serve in our military. The reason for this sudden announcement remains officially unspoken; however, I think it’s blatantly obvious that, once again, President Trump is trying to distract from his terrible healthcare policies. After attacking Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska for voting against the Trumpcare bill, the President then proceeded to make his indefensible Twitter proclamation. He stated the following:

“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.

“Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.”

No, thank you Mr. President. Thank you for once again showing us your true colors as a bully with no guiding moral compass. You’ve shown you will attack anyone who falls in your sights in order to distract from your complete lack of legislative accomplishments. We know for a fact President Trump did not consult with the Pentagon, because they stated they never spoke with anyone at the White House about this sudden policy change.

I served in the United States Army Infantry with the understanding the Commander in Chief protected and defended the Constitution of the United States, just like I did. I always felt safe in the knowledge that Presidents Bush and Clinton kept the military’s best interests in mind. I no longer possess this same confidence in our current President given these statements-- and many others-- he issued both on the campaign trail and since his inauguration.

President Trump lacks any idea of what it means to serve anyone other than himself. He used his family's power, money and position to obtain five-- yes, five-- draft deferments during the Vietnam War. This allowed him to avoid serving in the military while others fought and died answering their country's call.

Ultimately, the test for military service is whether or not a person can do the job required of him or her. I side with Sen. John McCain on this issue. Lest we forget, President Trump attacked the Senator on the campaign trail for being a prisoner of war. Sen. McCain’s office released a statement today in response to the President’s tweets that reads as follows:

“The President’s tweet this morning regarding transgender Americans in the military is yet another example of why major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter.

“The statement was unclear. The Department of Defense already decided to allow currently-serving transgender individuals to stay in the military, and many are serving honorably today. Any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should be allowed to continue serving. There is no reason to force service members who are able to fight, train, and deploy to leave the military-- regardless of their gender identity. We should all be guided by the principle that any American who wants to serve our country and is able to meet the standards should have the opportunity to do so-- and should be treated as the patriots they are…” 

Sen. McCain’s words ring true. I cannot understand how the President can justify a policy that saps needed talent from our military based solely on a person’s gender identity. These men and women wrote blank checks to the United States military just like every other person serving. If someone is willing to step up and fight to protect American values and they possess the courage, bravery, and skills necessary to complete the mission, then nothing should stand in the way of them serving their country. Period.

Trump proves time and again that he wants the Presidency to serve his interests those of the rich elite first. This attack on transgender service-members is disgusting, indefensible, and just one more drop in the flood of bullying and bigotry emanating from the White House. He continues to create problems rather than solve them. I’ve grown sick and tired of it and I’m sure you have too. Please, join us in this fight and help us protect the rights of every American-- especially members of our military.

Ms. Foundation president Teresa Younger eloquently voiced the Martin Niemöller sentiments that all decent Americans are thinking today: "We cannot forget that many of the freedoms we hold dear as Americans can be stolen away in a moment by any president. Trump's cowardly decision to reinforce state-sponsored discrimination against transgender Americans is an affront to our country’s values and a tremendous blow to LGBTQ equality. We will not stand idly by as Trump rolls back our rights-- first for our Muslim sisters and brothers, now for our LGBTQ family. One can only wonder-- who will be next? The only American thing to do now is to lock arms against this takeover and systematic dismantling of our democracy and let the administration know that we won’t go back."

Maryland's Increasingly Messy Democratic Party Politics-- Delaney, Trone And... "The Stud Of The Statehouse"

Bernie with Ben Jealous-- the best news in this post about Maryland politics

Maryland Congressman John Delaney is barely a Democrat. Or, to be fair, he's the archetype member of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. A conservative multimillionaire serving the interests of the very rich, he's passionately anti-progressive and that's very much reflected in his atrocious voting record. ProgressivePunch rates him an "F" and this cycle Delaney's crucial vote score is an abysmal 45.83, not just the lowest of any Maryland Democrat, but way down at the bottom of the barrel among all House Democrats, tied, for example, with right-wing Blue Dogs Lou Correa and Cheri Bustos. The Five Thirty Eight new project that measures congressmembers' adherence to the Trump agenda shows him voting with Trump 19.4% of the time. (Hillary beat Trump in Delaney's district 55.3-40.2%.) Delaney is expected to announce that he's running for governor of Maryland later this month. The good news is that he'll be gone from Congress-- and likely to lose the gubernatorial bid.

First off, Marylanders are pretty happy with their Republican governor, Larry Hogan, who has one of the highest approval ratings of any governor in America. But before Delaney can even deal with Hogan, he has to face a crowded primary field, a field that includes former NAACP head Ben Jealous, who is rallying progressives and who was just endorsed by Bernie Sanders and by Our Revolution. Others in-- or likely to get into-- the race include Prince George's County Exec Rushern Baker, Baltimore Count Exec Kevin Kamenetz, former state Attorney General Douglas Gansler, tech entrepreneur Alec Rosss, attorney Jim Shea and state Senator Richard Madaleno.

As for Delaney's seat, Andrew Duck, an Iraq War vet and anti-Choice political "centrist" who ran for this seat in 2006, 2008 and 2010, Aruna Miller and state House Majority Leader (and stud of the statehouse) Bill Frick have already pulled papers and are soliciting campaign contributions. Although he hasn't officially declared yet, state Senator Roger Manno, is also running for Delaney seat. But the funniest candidate planning to run is another worthless right-of-center Democrat, multimillionaire beer distributor David Trone who recently made a fool of himself running for the MD-08 seat. Trone has the distinction of having spent more of his own money than any other candidate running for a House seat-- $13,414,225-- in history... only to lose the primary to progressive champion Jamie Raskin. Trone's millions bought him 27.1% of the primary vote, 35,400 votes or around $380 per vote. Maybe Trone thinks the more conservative 6th district will be a better match for his rich people agenda, but he also seems to think if he just spends a little more money... Yep he's already been bragging to the media that he's willing to spend a million and a half more of his fortune in MD-06-- $15 million-- than he wasted in MD-08. Trone has a long history of arrests and criminal behavior involved with building his beer and wine empire and I can't think of a better way the the Democrats to further tarnish their brand than by embracing someone like David Trone as a congressional candidate. On the other hand, Trone has written many hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks to the Democratic Party and has regularly contributed large sums to sleazy-- and influential-- Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen. He could be a role model for the Orange County lottery winner, who is currently working hard to buy endorsements from easily-bribed Democratic elected officials.

Still, the idea of getting Delaney out of Congress, will be worth every cent of David Trone's $15,000,000 in wasted self-funding. As for Ben Jealous... well, this is what Our Revolution president Nina Turner had to say in herr endorsement statement this morning:

Maryland deserves a leader who understands that social, racial, economic, and environmental justice are essential to building a better future for the next generation. It is imperative that we elect a bold, progressive governor who will fight on behalf of middle and working class families. Ben Jealous has spent his career fighting on behalf of communities who don’t have a seat at a table by working to strengthen voting rights and raise the minimum wage, advocating for an end to mass incarceration and the death penalty, and fighting to ensure health care as a human right. Ben has proven that he’s ready to roll up his sleeves and get to work for the people of Maryland.

Ben Jealous has been a dedicated civil rights leader since college, where he served local NAACP chapters in New York and Mississippi. After writing for and directing a variety of historically black newspapers, he went on to become the president and CEO of the NAACP from 2008 to 2012 where he was credited for reviving the organization by developing strong coalitions, implementing extensive voter mobilization efforts, and working tirelessly as a human rights advocate. In 2014, he became a senior partner at Kapor Capital, a firm that works to fuel progressive change through the tech industry. Jealous was one of the founding Our Revolution Board Members and an active surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.

Now is the time to elect unapologetic progressive voices across the country. Our Revolution is proud to support Ben Jealous in his run for governor.

MORE REPUBLICAN WOES... IN OHIO AND MARYLAND

A couple weeks ago we mentioned in passing that the Ohio Republican Party was being traumatized by a death match between a garden variety mainstream conservative (Bob Latta) and a drooling neo-Nazi Club For Growth maniac (Steve Buehrer) seeking to replace the recently deceased Congressman Paul Gillmor in northwest Ohio. Turns out the rubber stamp Latta beat the Club For Growth kook in a down to the wire vicious, party-splitting grudge match and he will now face a Democratic Party firmly united behind Robin Weirauch (December 11). Weirauch ran against Gillmor in 2004 and won just 33% of the vote. Last year, however, she made huge headway and wound up with 43% of the vote. It's still a long shot but not out of reach, especially not if Bush's popularity even in rural parts of Ohio like the 5th CD continues to plummet.

Today's Congressional Quarterly reports that "with all precincts reporting, Latta had 43.7 percent of the vote to 40.1 percent for Buehrer... The Latta-Buehrer race was an often unruly affair in which each candidate accused the other of lying about his opponent’s legislative record and stances on taxes and social issues." Basically they were arguing over which was more of an extremist lunatic, each trying to lay claim to that distinction. After having loudly abandoned the electoral center and having inflicted ghastly political wounds on each other, Democrats are hopeful that Weirauch could pull off an upset in this lilly white, deeply red district that gave Bush a 61% win in 2004.

Around the same time we first started looking into the crazy contest between the 2 mudslinging Ohio Republicans, we also took a look at the bizarre situation in Maryland's 6th CD, where far right rubber stamp Roscoe Bartlett has so confounded moderate voters in his district by voting as though he lived in some kind of Texas backwater that he has made himself vulnerable to a challenge from progressive Democrat Andrew Duck. An excellent diary at Daily Kos today quantifies exactly what I was saying. Bartlett's job approval ratings are now in Bush territory, quite fitting when you see how he has voted over the last 7 years. And although MD-06 is even "redder" than OH-05, a poll shows that if the election were held today, Bartlett would be out hunting for honest work tomorrow.

ROSCOE BARTLETT (R-MD) WILLING TO COMMIT CAREER SUICIDE FOR THE PRINCIPLE OF KEEPING POOR CHILDREN WITHOUT HEALTH CARE

Roscoe with his mentors, Snidely & The Hammer

Maryland is a very blue state. There are 2 Democratic senators, a Democratic governor, and overwhelming Democratic majorities in both houses of the state legislature. Last year Ben Cardin was elected to the Senate with 54% of the vote and Martin O'Malley bested the incumbent wingnut with 53% of the vote. Bush only managed 40% in 2000 and 43% in 2004. Of the 8 congressional seats, the Democrats hold 6 and the Republicans hold 2. There were no close races last year. The closest call for a Democrat was a 65% win for an open seat by John Sarbanes. The closest any Democratic incumbent came to losing his seat-- the only one with less than a 70% victory-- was when moderate Cockeysville Democrat, "Dutch" Ruppersberger managed 65%. If there is a seat likely to change hands in Maryland, it's Roscoe Bartlett's in the sixth district (the entire north and west of the state), which is the most solidly Republican part of Maryland, even more so than the Eastern Shore (MD-01). The Eastern Shore is represented by quasi-moderate Wayne Gilchrest who is being challenged from the extreme right of his own party in a primary. Bartlett already is the extreme right so he has no worries-- in a primary.

But last year progressive Iraq War vet Andrew Duck started building a nice base for himself and he plans to run against Batlett again. Today's NY Times presents MD-06 as a micocosm of the debate on S-CHIP. It's a debate that Bartlett is losing and one that could augur poorly for his chances at political survival.

Gilchrest and all the Democrats voted for the popular S-CHIP bill. Bartlett stands out as "the only member of the Maryland delegation to vote against the bill, and he is coming under intense pressure to switch sides as the House moves toward a vote next week on whether to override President Bush’s veto of the legislation."

“Roscoe just looks mean and petty,” said Amy-Catherine McEwan, a manager at the Frederick County Humane Society. “He looks like Snidely Whiplash, the cartoon villain, taking medicine away from little kids.”

And although there are people in the district who have been brainwashed by years of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly, even many Republicans think Bartlett is wrong on this. “'It’s a good program,' said Edward Wrzesinski Jr., a Republican who manages Frederick Primary Care Associates, a group practice with 24 doctors and eight offices. 'It’s benefiting children.'”

Bartlett says he doesn't care about the criticism he's getting. His voting record paints a picture of a complete and utter rubber stamp hack-- a straight down the line right-wing throwback. He may have to start caring. Editorials from newspapers big and small, and letters to the editors are solidly against him-- and loudly so. Duck is using the issue effectively and other Maryland politicians have chimed in, reminding voters than Bartlett could be the difference between overriding and sustaining Bush's veto.

The Rev. Barbara Kershner Daniel, senior pastor at the Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ here, is among those trying to persuade Mr. Bartlett to change his vote.

“We are making more and more decisions based on fear and not on logic,” Ms. Kershner Daniel said. “We make decisions about immigration and the war based on fear. People voted against the children’s health bill because they were fearful of what the implications might be, instead of looking at the benefits to families and the whole nation. I refuse to live in fear.”

Mr. Bartlett won re-election last year with 59 percent of the vote, down from 67 percent in 2004.

Jennifer P. Dougherty, a real estate agent and restaurateur, said the issue of health care for children could galvanize independents and other swing voters.

“The war does not divide Roscoe from this district,” said Ms. Dougherty, a Democrat who was the mayor of Frederick from 2002 to 2006. “But S-chip is a Main Street issue. It affects family after family — our family health, our family’s pocketbook, and our grandchildren. All politics is local, and this is a local issue.”