Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Young Guns of MoCo, Part Two

The wait is over. Let the young guns list begin!

10. Ryan Spiegel, 30
City Council Member, Gaithersburg
7 Votes

Respondent: Ryan was an effective candidate for the House of Delegates who came in a narrow 4th place. He then led the One Montgomery slate and serves on the Gaithersburg City Council. He has a bright future for his passion, warmth, and ability to work with a diverse group of people and interests.

Respondent: Very much the up and comer. Was the only member of his slate to get elected in a contentious city election, but has since been able to get some good work done within the limiting confines of small city council politics.

Respondent: Big aspirations for a career in Annapolis, but may be waiting awhile before getting the opening.

Respondent: Anyone think he's not going to be a legislator in D17 or, if he wants, Mayor of G’Burg?

Respondent: Showed that he could bounce back from a tough loss, is working hard on the City Council. A potential mayor of Gaithersburg after Sid Katz leaves?

Respondent: Ryan is an upcoming leader in Montgomery County. He is well respected as a City Councilmember in Gaithersburg, and is both a strong policymaker and campaigner.

Adam: Gaining some stature in Gaithersburg and beyond. People are wondering what’s next.

7 (tie). Eric Luedtke, 27
Board Member, Montgomery County Education Association
Contributor, Free State Politics and Maryland Politics Watch
9 Votes

Respondent: What can I say? Eric is a natural born leader and proved this at an early age. He has not only been involved in a variety of community and advocacy organizations, but he’s a great teacher-leader and awesome dad and husband. What I like best about Eric is that he doesn’t do all of these things as “resume builders” (there are people out there who do this), but he does them because they are causes in which he truly believes. He is certainly ambitious, but not to the point where he doesn’t listen to and respect those that have led the way. This is why a lot of people like him and believe he is a true leader with the right ideology.

Respondent: School teacher and union geek. Will have good creds for a future state house run.

Respondent: He is smart, young, strategic and will be a force in the county for a long time.

Adam: Civic activist, union leader, political activist, intellectual, and overall good guy. One of the most versatile players in the county. Needs to blog more often!

7 (tie). Ben Moskowitz, 19
Former Student Member, Board of Education
Former Campaign Staffer for Chris Van Hollen, Steve Silverman and Saqib Ali
9 Votes

Respondent: It’s relatively easy to get young people interested in national politics or social issues like gay marriage, but near impossible to make them care about local politics. Ben Moskowitz, however, has been doing just that. As Student Member of the Board of Education, he helped organize a student caucus on the Purple Line last spring. Sure, he worked on Steve Silverman’s ill-fated campaign for County Executive, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? Here’s hoping he decides to come back to MoCo after he graduates from U-Penn in a couple of years.

Respondent: Ben’s been active for decades, it seems, and he’s still in undergraduate school! Elected as the SMOB, he has worked on countless campaigns. He’s serious, articulate and reliable.

Respondent: Wow - this kid is a born politician. He has been working on and helping run campaigns for many years and successfully got himself elected as the Student Member of the Board of Education. With that experience under his belt, plus his internship this summer at the DSCC, he will only become more of a threat to knock off almost anyone (once he graduates from College, that is).

Respondent: Left the county to go to college, but will return with an Ivy League education and more dangerous than ever. If you’re running a campaign, you need this guy with you and not against you.

Respondent: He is a political phenom destined for greatness. 18 or 19 years old but pure genius. Wonderful to work with. Wise beyond his years. An unbelievably aggressive campaigner and a sharp policy eye too.

Respondent: Ben may be away in college, but he’s not that far away. And he intends to remain active in MoCo. At the ripe old age of 19, Ben has already held high-level positions in the campaigns of MoCo luminaries. He may have a little growing up to do before he can run for office himself, but Ben is often referred to by Dem leaders as “the future governor” - and it’s only partially a joke. He commands the time and respect of County Council Members and Congressmen. He is a terrific tactician and tireless worker, but his real expertise is number-crunching. He can sort, manipulate, and micro-target with voter databases like nobody else.

Adam: May have the biggest upside of any name on this list. He is only 19 and has already been a valuable contributor to multiple campaigns. What havoc will this kid be wreaking across MoCo in ten years?

7 (tie). Jason Waskey, 27
State Director, Democratic National Committee/Organizing for America
Former Special Assistant, Office of the Maryland Secretary of State
Former Campaign Director, Maryland for Obama
9 Votes

Respondent: He has been one of the go to guys to actually run campaigns in Maryland and Montgomery for years, including doing great work on the 2006 coordinated. He dealt with the nuts and bolts of Obama’s Maryland operation, getting in on the ground floor in 2007 and staying with it all the way until election night.

Respondent: One of two co-chairs of the County Obama Campaign, Jason is well-connected and can only keep moving up. His recent appointment to the DNC as Maryland’s voice is a great coup for this young leader.

Respondent: Jason Waskey has made quite a name for himself through his leadership on the Obama campaign, standing out among many in Maryland. Few people put in the same kind of time, raised the same kind of money, and worked as hard to get Obama elected than Jason.

Respondent: Statewide Obama role includes Montgomery County - he is a leader to hundreds of Obama activists in the County. Knows more Maryland electeds than most delegates.

Respondent: Jason is a genius when it comes to political ground game strategy, and a tireless worker who puts everything into a task. He deserves most of the credit for the fact that Maryland made more phone calls and door-knocking trips to battleground states for Obama than any other state in the nation on a per capita basis. Look for him to be a Maryland hybrid of Rahm Emmanuel and Karl Rove (in a good way) for many years to come, and he may run for office himself one day.

Adam: The best-connected Young Gun. Few people in Maryland are closer to President Obama. Already a rising player in state politics.

Tomorrow, we’ll reveal Young Guns Six, Five and Four. Be here!