Another Blogger Bites the Dust

By Marc Korman.

Back in December of 2007, David Lublin asked me if I wanted to start writing for his blog Maryland Politics Watch. I eagerly agreed and for about two and a half years have churned out regular entries. Unfortunately, that time is coming to a close.

Since Lublin invited me aboard shortly after he posted an email I sent called “Why I Voted for Al Carr” until about three months ago (when I started studying for the bar exam) I tried to treat my contributions to MPW as a regular column. I would send an entry to Adam or David by Sunday night each week and if I were going to be late or not get one in, I would let them know.

I tried to write fact-based entries that had a heavy dose of my own opinions, but with support to back them up. Of the approximately 120 entries I wrote, I am most proud of the fact-rich ones like my recent piece on term limits. I am a little less proud of some of the more rumor and insiderish pieces, though they were always the easiest to write and got the best readership.

I never had the vast collection of spies Adam had, but I did have a small band of friends and sources to bounce ideas off of, spot typos, and fact check with. Chief among them is my wife, Rebecca, who would usually proofread before I emailed my entry off.

I am calling it quits because I am about to start a new job and have many competing commitments. As I said, I viewed writing for MPW as a serious responsibility and do not want to continue it in a haphazard way. MPW will still be the first website I check in the morning. Of course, many of my competing commitments are still related to local politics and our community so I will still be involved and hope that each of you who have gotten to know me as a result of MPW will continue to hear from me in those other capacities.

Many of you probably view me as a “blogger” and I have gotten used to assuring friends that what they tell me is off the record. But when I characterize my role it is as a political activist and loyal Democrat. One of the last truly great Republicans, Teddy Roosevelt, said “the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.” I viewed this blog as an extension of my activities, another way to be in the arena of local public policy and politics, but not the sum total of my involvement.

I want to thank David Lublin for inviting me to write and both him and Adam for always posting whatever I sent in. Although they had occasional complaints, especially in the early going, they treated MPW as the open forum it is and always posted without edit. I have especially enjoyed working with Adam on a few back and forth series such as Primaries to Watch. What Adam, David, and many others who write for MPW do is important. They fill a deep void in local political and policy coverage. I hope others will join them in that pursuit.

Thank you for reading.