Click on map for description.
Posted on 10/14/2006 6:53:35 AM PDT by sitetest
Residents in Western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore say there are many whites among them who will not vote for a black candidate, such as Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, who is running for the U.S. Senate.
"Here in rural parts of the state, race might be an issue. It shouldn't, but it might," Greg Slick, a physical education teacher at North Hagerstown High School, said at a recent Friday night varsity football game. "They are not openly going to say it."
Mr. Slick, 52, a registered Republican who is white, said he will vote for Mr. Steele. But he added that the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is not based in nearby Sharpsburg by accident, despite public outcry every summer over the group's annual rally at Antietam National Battlefield.
"Someone is drawing them here," he said.
David Marshall, 54, a white waterman from Crisfield on the Eastern Shore, said he is sure some of the people he works with will vote against Mr. Steele because of his skin color.
However, he said he and his friends will vote for Mr. Steele, regardless of his race.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
In Illinois if you don't have a statue of Barack Obama in your homee and pray to him instead of Jesus you're racist.
That said I met the man and he's very nice but I don't support him because of his politics not his color.
I think this story smells like something that died last year.
&&&&
I do too. I think it reveals more about the writer than about Maryland voters. Michael Steele has been LT Gov for 4 years. If voters had a problem with him, it would have been trumpeted by the Sun and WaPo in 3 inch high caps.
Thank God somebody here actually *knows* that.....:D
Salamander, I wish I could disagree with you. One of the things that saddens me about my own party is that for the most part it's rabidly pro-development, and it seems they don't want to leave a tree standing or a blade of grass unpaved.
Yes, it's a case of the lesser of two evils. But I'd rather have the lesser than the greater. I'm afraid that someday we're going to see Martin O'Malley in the White House if he isn't stopped now.
Dear Zack Nguyen,
I understand your feelings, but nonetheless, Maryland isn't a northeastern state. It is technically a southern state.
sitetest
I hear you. Grew up on the Eastern Shore, but had some of my Dad's family in Hagerstown. I remember back in the early 60's that going past Frederick was like driving to the Rockies (that's what it felt like as a kid). The amount of growth out there is unbelieveable. It's all gonna end up being a feeder to DC, sadly enough.
I live and work in the "Country" people here are very good, hard working people. They quite probably feel the same way but I'll say this, if you called them racists or challenged them like this article does they'd be out in droves to prove that they aren't like that. I'd like to see 6 or 7 more of these articles before election day.
In W.MD, the Ehrlich signs are being destroyed.
By whom or what, I do not know.
Could be "sudden" weather but they look like they've been smashed or kicked....especially the ones along the interstate.
[The natives are restless]....LOL!
"I would not consider Maryland to be a southern state. "
You really need to research Maryland's civil war history, then.
Because MD was a hotly contested "border state" which intended to secede [prior to the suspension of habeus corpus] you'd be hard put to find another state where the "civil war" is still being subliminally fought as hard, even today.
The "MD Dems" are unlike any others, anywhere.
It's not that they sanctioned slavery [W.MD had virtually no slaves] but the very idea that a president would "arrest" a whole state and garrsion Federal troops to police its citizens is something they have -never- forgotten.
-That- is why MD votes Dem to this day.
It's a -grudge- passed down thorugh the generations against the "Federals".
Only recently have they awoken to the fact the MD Dem politicans are in reality, socialists at best, communists at worst.
FWIW, there's not enough money in the world to pay me to walk into any local beer joint and yell "Hey you buncha Yankees!".
Dear Salamander,
In Maryland, although an individual's property assessment may rise dramatically, for as long as he owns his residential property, the value on which property tax is paid by a homeowner may only rise 10% during each three-year assessment period. That works out to about 3% per year.
Thus, even when real estate is booming, Marylanders enjoy considerable protection against dramatic increases in property taxes.
However, one could easily argue that permitting more development actually moderates market forces, and thus, moderates prices. For many folks, western Maryland is a highly-desirable destination. If development were restricted more than it is, then there would be less supply to meet demand. That usually translates to higher prices.
Ultimately, though, development in Maryland is controlled at the county level. Thus, my county, Anne Arundel, is extremely anti-development, and we see little new housing being developed. Ditto in Montgomery. Next-door neighbor Prince George's County has been considerably more pro-developer than either Anne Arundel or Montgomery, and has seen quite a bit more development in the last few years than either of the other two.
If I were in your shoes, and if I thought that your county is getting too much development, I'd go talk to your county's elected officials.
"He may have 'ran on slots' in some places but in western MD he stumped on a 'pro-gun/hunting' stance."
I don't know what you folks have for newspapers up in that part of Maryland. The coverage - and debate - on slots was close to the saturation level in the Post and the Sun. If your local papers didn't mention the debate, well, then shame on them.
Mr. Ehrlich was quite clear that if elected, he would push for slots at the race tracks in Maryland. He is hardly to be criticized for trying to keep that campaign promise.
sitetest
The promised "business growth", i.e. "jobs" have all gone to the city transplantees, not locals.
It hasn't helped US a damn bit except to force us to lock our doors at night.
Funny how people come here to escape crime yet it seems to follow them.
We simply want to be left alone and OUT of any politician's "grand schemes" designed to make our lives "better".
"Grow" whatever you want east of South Mountain but let the rest of us be.
I thought the same thing too. It's always those "other racists."
"homeowner may only rise 10% during each three-year assessment period."
Oh, really?
Mine just literally -doubled- from what they were last year.
How do I go about getting my refund since I was obviously, illegally over-charged?
"I'd go talk to your county's elected officials."
You mean those pro-developer, tax-mad, money hungry Republican commissioners that I [stupidly] voted for?....LOL!
Yeah.
That'll get me somewhere.
When I saw my new "property value assessment" I nearly fainted.
All I could think was that someone had discovered oil or a gold mine in my pasture and not told me about it.
Our local paper usually has a headline about an escaped Angus heifer or somesuch thing unless there was a car accident or McDonald's hold-up.
" For many folks, western Maryland is a highly-desirable destination"
Yes, it was and we had the foresight to settle here in the late 1700s.
I cannot over-emphasize the wrack and ruin being wrought upon this idyllic place; a haven out of time.
We have drive-by drug shootings in Hagerstown and NY big-time drug dealers moving in.
Hagerstown, proper, is fast becoming a refuge for criminals, save for the poor and elderly who have no means to flee it.
That is "progress", here.
Do I get to referee as I had Md relatives who fought on both sides of the War? Never mind those Pa cousins who got their farm shot up at Gettysburg. :)
LOL!
[only a fool or a lunatic would willingly get in the middle of this *again*].....;D
Yep, let's go find a nice calm Lincoln thread. :)
Okay....you come clean this "pbbbffffft!" & "snort!" mess off'n my laptop screen right *now*......:D
My test is whether they serve you grits for breakfast. N. Virginia is south as far as that test goes. Maryland very much N/S mixed. Out in the country, the accents are like Georgia!
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