For Oct. 17, 2022
What’s MDP saying this week? We continue to hit the GOP from different angles every day, while simultaneously lifting our party and our ticket.
First, a quick reminder that political campaigns can be the target of some shady activity from the outside so if you’re part of the coordinated campaign and you get any questions regarding attacks on any of our candidates, you direct them to me or Saif, and we’ll handle it or we’ll work with the individual campaign to handle it. If you get an odd request from someone outside of the team or someone claiming to be the press, and it doesn’t feel right, direct them to me or Saif.
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We’re no longer months away from Election Day, we’re just weeks away. And we haven’t taken a single day for granted or slowed down a bit. Our party from top to bottom is sprinting through the finish line. These last few weeks and months have felt great – especially that dominant debate performance this week – but we want November 8th, 9th, and every day after that to feel even greater. We don’t want to just win. We want a landslide. We want a mandate. And we’re going to have it.
There’s a clear choice on the ballot between ignorance on one side and joy on the other. Hate and divisiveness on one side, character and unity on the other. Wes and Aruna – and our whole ticket – carry our hopes on their shoulders. They’re doing their part, now we must do ours and lift them as strongly as we can.
Take a second to imagine with me. We wake up November 9th with Wes, Aruna, Brooke and Anthony leading our state. History right before our eyes. That’s the dream, isn’t it?
We must work for that. We feel tired, but this isn’t the time to slow down. Just keep pushing. Whatever you have left in the tank, use it now. Because the alternative to that dream is the possibility of a group of extreme MAGA Republicans, radical alt-right conspiracy theorists and Confederate sympathizers leading our state with a QAnon flag hanging from the Governor’s Mansion. That’s the nightmare.
So we must work to make sure that we get Democrats elected up and down the ballot. The other side doesn’t slow down. Their new party leader made it quite clear on that debate stage this week how he feels about women’s rights, reproductive freedoms, and democracy itself. They’re dangerous, they work from the shadows, and they don’t rest. And neither will we.
Our messaging is clear and concise. Our organization from top to bottom is talented, hard-working and energetic. Our volunteers are knocking thousands of doors each week. They’re in every corner of Maryland right now as I write this making sure we get the votes we need.
Let’s work this week.
What happened last week?
We held a press conference last week at our HQ in Annapolis calling out Dan Cox and his awful thoughts on womens rights, specifically reproductive rights.
The Maryland Republican Party is reeling. They unsuccessfully attempted to hold a ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Arnold. Yes, that’s the same name as the deadly events in Charlottesville, which goes to show exactly what the MD GOP idolizes and hopes to be. Once word got out, almost all of the GOP elected officials who were scheduled to attend (including Dan Cox) ran away from the event, and it came out afterward that they had never even booked the restaurant that they were advertising as their location. GOP in disarray.
Simply put, our next governor dominated the debate stage last week. It will be the only debate between the two gubernatorial candidates and he made us proud. And then he celebrated his birthday with his family, volunteers, supporters, and Dems from across the state at Camden Yards.
On the campaign trail:
Our outstanding comms advisor, Ernest Bailey, has put together a weekly talking points doc on our gubernatorial opponent – Dan Cox. A few key ones are below:
Today, Wes Moore is officially launching his bus tour, campaigning in Frederick and Hagerstown while his opponent hops on a plane to fundraise with Trump at Mar-A-Lago.
- On the trail, Wes Moore was all over – from the Pigtown Festival in Baltimore to a crab feast in Pocomoke City, Wes continues to meet Marylanders in their communities
- Wes Moore continues to make his case to voters across all media. This week, he launched a new ad, What They’re Made Of. The ad highlights Wes’ patriotism and military service and is even running on Fox News. From the beginning of his campaign, Wes Moore has been committed to reaching as many voters as possible, no matter their party ID.
- Cox skipped out on a forum attended by over a thousand faith and community leaders to instead hop on a flight to Palm Beach in order to cozy up to Donald Trump at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser, where tickets are nearly $2,000 and they are charging bundlers $25,000 for a photo of him and Trump.
- Cox says he and Trump talk “regularly” about his campaign and Trump has “promised to carry [him] through the finish line.” Cox’s history demonstrates he will always put the MAGA agenda first, from promoting 2020 election conspiracy theories to working aiding Trump’s legal effort to overturn the election to his threat to use Maryland’s national guard and the state police to protect Trump
Also:
- Wes Moore received the Baltimore Sun’s endorsement
- And, Politico also said that Wes Moore is ‘on the brink of history’
- Our next comptroller – Brooke Lierman – put out a great new ad this week highlighting the fact that Brooke will be an independent voice for Marylanders and will look out for their values and tax dollars
- Heather Mizeur’s campaign announced they’re hosting an Election Night Watch Party on Kent Island
What do we say to voters who think we have this election in the bag (This was included last week but is still relevant): Voters might see poll numbers or they might hear how we’re a blue state and assume this election is wrapped up. That kind of indifference won’t work and we don’t want that kind of complacency. The recent poll numbers are reflecting the Democratic momentum of our candidates and the campaign. Good news for us, but we have to remind them that polls have been wrong before, specifically in this same race in 2014 and 2018. We need to continue to build on this momentum and give a decisive victory to our whole ticket. The only poll that matters is Nov. 8. Additionally, we remind voters that reproductive freedom is on the ballot. Safety and equity are on the ballot. Economic and educational advances are on the ballot. A Maryland led by Dan Cox with a QAnon flag hanging outside the Governor’s Mansion is the biggest threat to democracy our state has seen. We’ve also seen how slim majorities in Congress lead to gridlock and we can’t afford that in Maryland if we want Governor Moore and our ticket to have a chance to make real change. This new era will need a supermajority in the General Assembly and as many Democrats in office as possible.
PODCAST
We have Heather Mizeur, Jessica Fitzwater and Jacob Day coming on the podcast this week, then Wes Moore next week! Tune in!