An Attempt at an Objective View of the 2016 Primary Election in the U.S., Maryland, District 8

In 16 days we'll know the results in the Maryland primary election. I thought I would try to write an objective analysis of the races here, as I see them.

In the Democratic presidential race, Hillary Clinton is one of the most well-prepared candidates in history. That doesn't always mean that's the best person to be president (example, Andrew Johnson) but it is definitely an important consideration. Ms. Clinton's policies are definitely in line with traditional Democratic principles and in my opinion she would probably be as excellent a president as Barack Obama has been.

Sen. Bernie Sanders has performed a good service by bringing up one of the most important issues of our time, the unfairness of the difference between the richest Americans who seem to have been very greedy the last few decades and the vast majority of Americans who have found it much more difficult to live well the last few decades. On the other hand, he doesn't have nearly foreign policy experience of Hillary Clinton.

In the race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator from Maryland, Congressman Chris Van Hollen has done everything an excellent Congressman could and should. He is a leading member of the leadership of the House of Representatives as the leading Democrat on the Budget Committee, he has a masterful command of all aspects of Congress, and his constituent service is fabulous.

On all these indices, unfortunately Cong. Donna Edwards fails. She has been judged by independent groups as one of the least effective members of Congress, her staff provides very poor constituent service, and for those who are interested in U.S. support of Israel, she has a very poor score on that issue.

In the District 8 Democratic race we have so many good candidates it is difficult to choose.

State Sen. Jamie Raskin is considered by all to be brilliant and a very effective legislator. He has tons of energy and a great record of accomplishment on many policies that are very important to the voters in the 8th Congressional district. He would undoubtedly be an excellent Congressman.

State Del. Kumar Barve has just as good a record for his legislative service. He served for many years as a great Majority Leader of the House of Delegates and by all accounts did a great job. He would also undoubtedly be an excellent Congressman. 

Kathleen Matthews is a very smart woman with a very interesting record, and she is right that being a legislator should not be the only road to Congress. However, she has not done much in the 8th Congressional district in the past.

Del. Ana Sol Guttierez is a pathfinder as the first Latina in many ways. She has done very good work as a legislator and probably would also be a very good Congressperson.

David Trone is surprisingly good when you talk with him, although he has never held any elective or appointive political office. It cannot be denied that he created an amazingly good business, but many question is that is enough and if anyone should in effect be able to buy an election to Congress.

Will Jawando and Joel Rubin are the kind of people you like the minute you meet them. Both have been involved with famous politicians and will probably be very good politicians themselves in the future.

David Anderson is a nice guy who has very different views from all the other candidates, being much more centrist. If you think the Democratic party has become too leftist, he's the one for you.

In the race for MoCo Board of Education At Large, there are five candidates.

If you like what the Board of Ed has done in the past, your candidate is Phil Kauffman.

If you want significant change in the way $2.4 billion of your tax dollars are spent on our schools, one of the best selections could be Jeanette Dixon. She is the only candidate I have heard say she supports zero-based budgeting and a much stricter look at how the huge amount of money given to the MoCo school system is spent.

Another good candidate is Sebastian Johnson. He was a student member of the Bd of Ed in the past, he is young and enthusiastic, and he seems to be very bright. I'll be interested in hearing more about his views on how the Bd of Ed handles its money.