Or should it be, who’s afraid of Craig Giangrande for State Senate in District 3?
Edward
Albee was an American playwright who wrote the 1960’s hit Broadway play, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” The title was a play on a 1930’s Disney song, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” But to a deeper degree, the core of the story that Albee wrote was to challenge the audience to find the difference between reality and illusion.
Speaking of reality, I took some time off last week to pursue one of my favorite ways to escape that sometimes nasty nemesis by white water rafting down a river through one of the West’s great and desolate canyons…but that story is for another post, as my friend Farrell often says, “I shall not digress!”
Upon my return, just this past Monday, after being completely disconnected from the reality of politics (that phrase has got to be oxymoronic!), I sifted through my mail to find two very colorful 2-sided political mailers sent to my wife (a registered Republican) attempting to chastise District 3 Senate candidate Billy Shreve for being too conservative as a Trump supporter who wants to roll “back the Obama legacy.” Unless it’s reverse psychology, at best, the two 8½ by 11-inch postcards conveyed a very confusing message. Granted, President Trump is by far not the most popular of recent White House residents, but I had to ask myself Who would send this out, and What are they trying to say to Republican voters?
Reality or Illusion?
After checking the fine print, The Who was revealed: “By Authority Maryland Democratic Senate Caucus Committee…” We’ll just refer to them as the BAMDSCC!
Okay, so … in my opinion, a pitiful attempt at an illusion, which reveals the reality of The What.
It seems that the BAMDSCC “over there” in Annapolis is trying to tell the Republican voters of District 3 that Shreve is the one they should cast their primary ballot for on June 26th…Why? Maybe because their polling says that his opponent will be a tougher fight for victor in the Democratic primary — very likely well-rooted Ron Young versus one of the two Jennifers (Dougherty and Brannan) who each seek to unseat him.
So, who are the 2 Republicans on the primary ballot for the District 3 Senate seat now held by Young?
Billy Shreve — longtime resident and local real estate agent, who was elected as a Frederick County Commissioner and currently serves as a member of the County Counsel. During those two terms, Shreve’s confident yet edgy manner of comporting himself along with his sharp conservative positions have earned him some strong allies but have incensed many within the Gardner Administration and more than a handful within his own party. As of his last campaign report filing of June 10, 2018, Shreve showed a balance of $6,085 in his campaign account.
Craig Giangrande has been a resident of Frederick County since 1991. Once a New Jersey police officer, he and his family are owners of the local Burger King franchises. This is his first run for political office. He claims to be an independent thinking conservative who is frustrated with the partisanship in Annapolis and feels he can put his good judgement, reliability and hard work ethic to good use for the citizens of District 3. Together with a personal loan to his campaign, as of May 15, 2018, he held a balance of over $101,000 in his account.
While Giangrande seems to be making headway in a steady campaign with support from State Senator Michael Hough and Governor Hogan, Shreve told me that he is the only Republican who polls better in a one on one against Young … if so, somebody’s polling data is wrong!
But with such an unusual move by the well-funded BAMDSCC, it seems that they want to create the illusion that Billy Shreve is the one that Democrats should fear. In reality, though, bets are that Giangrande is the Big Bad Wolf that the political bosses and Ron Young truly fear.
It is the primary, and every voter should take the responsibility to do his/her own research to select the candidate on the ballot who best represents his/her views. No need to have the other party tell you who to vote for!