Maryland, My Maryland

The Unsinkable Mollie Hemingway at Da Fed explains How Larry Hogan Can Recover From His Show Trial Campaign Flub

Larry Hogan does not have the easiest path to serving in the U.S. Senate. He shouldn’t make it any harder than necessary.

That’s unfortunately what the former Maryland governor did when he made an unforced error last week, saying Americans should “respect” the results of the unprecedented Democrat show trial in New York targeting the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
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Maryland is overwhelmingly Democrat. Hogan won the Republican primary last month despite his liberal views at odds with many Maryland Republicans. If he is to have a shot at winning, he has to keep the support of those Republicans, only about a third of the state, and gain enough support from independents and some Democrats to put him over the top against Democrat opponent Angela Alsobrooks.

To that end, he’s been broadcasting his independence. “I want to say this up front: In the Senate, Republicans can’t count on my vote,” Hogan said in a 30-second TV ad he released last week. He added that neither could Democrats. He said he’d make his decisions based on what’s best for the state.

Hogan has never made any secret of his hatred for Trump. It’s Hogan’s outspoken opposition to the Republican leader that has garnered him so much airtime on corporate media. He in no way needs to set that aside to do the right thing in terms of principled opposition to lawfare and coalition-building political savvy.

The Republican Party tent is big enough to include people even with Hogan’s anti-Trumpist views. It is almost certainly not big enough, however, to include people who support show trials. Every single person who might be willing to vote for Hogan knows Trump’s conviction by the New York City prosecutor, judge, and jury is completely political.

Every single person who might be part of the Hogan coalition also understands that rule of law and equal justice under the law are absolute bedrocks and foundational tenets of American culture. Hogan will lose if he tells voters he tolerates unequal justice under the law. Hogan should not play games or be cute on this issue.

Honestly, I don't know how his position on the Trump trial will play out in Maryland. My own region, the southern suburbs are generally weakly Republican, and likely pro-Hogan. His battle will be in the Baltimore Washington corridor, which is deep indigo. Do enough of them care about due process for Donald Trump? I'm not certain.