Saturday, September 02, 2006

Golfer-in-Chief?

Gov. Bob Ehrlich has inspired some fun YouTube videos. Just as the internet and blogs have helped open up and democratize political discussion, perhaps YouTube is paving the way for the internet to do the same for political advertisements. Here is one YouTube on Maryland's Golfer-in-Chief:



Some teenagers have also made a set of spoof adds mocking the governor's approach to crime and immigration. These fake commercials are more fun than a serious critique. However, the first YouTube nicely highlights how our governor likes to take credit for popular initiatives which he opposed.

The theme about his not working too hard might resonate. After all, this is a man who staked his first term on gambling yet didn't bother to submit a bill on the topic until his first session of the General Assembly was about over. I don't support gambling so I guess I should feel fortunate Ehrlich was was too lazy to make any progress on his central campaign issue despite having more power than any just about any other governor in the nation and strong backing from Democratic Sen. President Mike Miller.

However, it never bothered anyone that Ronald Reagan slept late so O'Malley should probably focus on Ehrlich's inconsistency and trying to take credit for other people's work.