Jim Simpson
Maryland miracle: upstart House candidate Frank Mirabile gives Elijah Cummings a run for his money
By Jim Simpson
Maryland has long been considered one of the bluest of blue states. But with anti-Democrat fever running red hot, that is rapidly changing. There are competitive races everywhere. Thirty-year incumbent House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is facing a stiff challenge from Republican Charles Lollar in Maryland's 5th District. In Maryland's 3rd, veteran Marine fighter pilot, Republican Jim Wilhelm, is challenging legacy Democratic Congressman John Sarbanes, son of longtime Senator Paul Sarbanes and former Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich is giving corrupt, pathologically dishonest Governor Martin O'Malley — the Boy Blunder — a run for his money.
But another race has flown completely under the radar up to now. Conservative businessman Frank Mirabile has mounted a powerful challenge to radical liberal 7th District incumbent, Elijah Cummings. Maryland's 7th encompasses largely rural Howard County, part of suburban Baltimore County and western Baltimore City.
Cummings is black. His constituency is disproportionately black. But that is the only thing they share in common. Like most liberals, Cummings uses his fellow blacks to remain comfortably ensconced in his lucrative, cushy job. And he does nothing, I repeat, nothing to help them.
Enter Frank Mirabile. A hardworking family man who built a successful landscaping business, he is dedicated to returning government to its Constitutional roots and getting it off our backs and out of our pocketbooks. Mirabile has a deep grasp of both economics and the needs of the district, unlike Cummings who uses it like a vending machine.
Frank has also done something Cummings hasn't done in years, if ever. He has walked through the district numerous times. Feedback from residents is stunning:
Coming from a blue collar background, Mirabile has more in common with people in the district than the elitist Cummings. During his walk throughs he has been welcomed with open arms. He offered to set up impromptu rallies within those neighborhoods and many have volunteered their property to host events.
This is a sea change which I don't think Democrats are even aware of. And as I have argued for years, the only reason more African-Americans do not join the Republican Party is that no one asks them to. At a Republican Party Central Committee meeting in Baltimore earlier this year, we were visited by a black man running for Sheriff. He said blacks are dying for change and literally begged the Committee to get Republican candidates to visit the district.
Well, Frank has done just that and the results are stunning. He has made amazing inroads on a shoestring budget, like so many Tea Party candidates this year. Going into the final stretch however, Mirabile needs the kind of advertizing dollars that will put him over the top.
Recall also: Baltimore City is the home state of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Can you imagine what a victory here would mean? Cummings has a large campaign war chest. Do what you can to support Frank in these last critical days.
Cummings is a member of the far left Congressional Black Caucus and part of the crew that fraudulently tagged Tea Partiers as "racists" at the healthcare rally last March. That day, Speaker Pelosi also walked arrogantly through the crowd with her oversized gavel, and passed the healthcare bill against our will so that "you can find out what's in it."
Cummings has comfortably owned his seat for sixteen years, never having to do more than lift the occasional token finger at ribbon-cutting ceremonies and special events. He has literally done nothing for the district.
Traveling through the city, one is stunned by the post-apocalypse look of almost every neighborhood. Most blocks have at least one boarded up building, in many neighborhoods whole areas are boarded and abandoned. Trash and empty lots abound. There are a total of 15,000 abandoned buildings in the city, 10,000 of which are owned by the city itself.
According to FBI crime statistics, Baltimore has the fourth highest murder rate in the country, it is number four in aggravated assault, and fifth in violent crime overall. They don't call it Charm City for nothing.
Maryland floats on federal dollars and you'd think it could manage some inner city improvements. But endless regulatory red tape prevents the revitalization of these areas that can only be circumvented by pay to play politics or public-private "partnerships" of the kind that forced the resignation of Mayor Sheila Dixon last year. Cummings is fine with all that — a poster boy for this entrenched, corrupt, self-serving political culture.
According to the Census Bureau, despite bloated city and state bureaucracies, the Baltimore City black unemployment rate is 13.2 percent, well above the national average, while white and Hispanic unemployment rates are 5.1 and 7.2 percent respectively. A mere 51 percent of the black population is in the labor force, compared with 61 percent for whites and 67 percent for Hispanics.
Inner city blacks in Maryland, as elsewhere, are furious about how their jobs are being stolen by illegal immigrants. You'd think Cummings would take the pulse of his constituents on that subject. Instead he has voted for the illegals on every single relevant piece of legislation before Congress (from OpenCongress.org):
HR 3722 Amendment 1011 To require hospitals to document illegal alien patients and deny service when they can be safely sent home: NO
HR 5441 Amendment 968 To support Minuteman Project and deny Mexican government information regarding their dispositions along the border: NO
HR 6061 Secure Fence Act To build a fence and place surveillance equipment on the Southern border to reduce illegal entry: NO
HR 6095 Immigration Law Enforcement Act To affirm state and local governments' right to enforce immigration laws: NO
HR 6094 Community Protection Act To restore Homeland Security's authority to detain dangerous aliens, to ensure the removal of deportable criminal aliens, and combat alien gang crime. NO
Cummings also flagrantly defies the core beliefs of his constituents: he supports gay marriage. His constituents don't. He supports partial birth abortion. His constituents don't.
Cummings has refused repeated offers to debate, so Frank challenges him on his Facebook page. Following is an exchange that took place Sunday:
He's right. We can do better. Frank Mirabile is a real, conservative choice for Maryland's 7th District who wants to serve the people of that district, not the arm-twisting agenda of remote, globalist progressives. Let's give MD-07 a real choice this year. Help Frank get elected.
Mirabile has the more conservative Howard and Baltimore Counties largely sown up and thus has focused his last efforts on the city. Now he has to double up on his message during these final critical days, and it is up to us to do all we can to help him out.
© Jim Simpson
October 26, 2010
Maryland has long been considered one of the bluest of blue states. But with anti-Democrat fever running red hot, that is rapidly changing. There are competitive races everywhere. Thirty-year incumbent House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is facing a stiff challenge from Republican Charles Lollar in Maryland's 5th District. In Maryland's 3rd, veteran Marine fighter pilot, Republican Jim Wilhelm, is challenging legacy Democratic Congressman John Sarbanes, son of longtime Senator Paul Sarbanes and former Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich is giving corrupt, pathologically dishonest Governor Martin O'Malley — the Boy Blunder — a run for his money.
But another race has flown completely under the radar up to now. Conservative businessman Frank Mirabile has mounted a powerful challenge to radical liberal 7th District incumbent, Elijah Cummings. Maryland's 7th encompasses largely rural Howard County, part of suburban Baltimore County and western Baltimore City.
Cummings is black. His constituency is disproportionately black. But that is the only thing they share in common. Like most liberals, Cummings uses his fellow blacks to remain comfortably ensconced in his lucrative, cushy job. And he does nothing, I repeat, nothing to help them.
Enter Frank Mirabile. A hardworking family man who built a successful landscaping business, he is dedicated to returning government to its Constitutional roots and getting it off our backs and out of our pocketbooks. Mirabile has a deep grasp of both economics and the needs of the district, unlike Cummings who uses it like a vending machine.
Frank has also done something Cummings hasn't done in years, if ever. He has walked through the district numerous times. Feedback from residents is stunning:
- We are tired of the whole racism bit. We aren't buying it. If you have solutions let us hear them. Please!
- We are sick of all the methadone maintenance clinics in our neighborhoods, breeding grounds for crime, drug dealing and filth.
- Our neighborhoods are neglected, run down and dirty.
- Trades are not taught in schools anymore. Why not?
- Illegal immigrants are doing all the "shovel ready" jobs.
- Taxes are too high, even for those on welfare.
- Crime is everywhere.
- We are sick of Cummings — he's a phony!
- Our American Dream is NOT to be on welfare!
Coming from a blue collar background, Mirabile has more in common with people in the district than the elitist Cummings. During his walk throughs he has been welcomed with open arms. He offered to set up impromptu rallies within those neighborhoods and many have volunteered their property to host events.
This is a sea change which I don't think Democrats are even aware of. And as I have argued for years, the only reason more African-Americans do not join the Republican Party is that no one asks them to. At a Republican Party Central Committee meeting in Baltimore earlier this year, we were visited by a black man running for Sheriff. He said blacks are dying for change and literally begged the Committee to get Republican candidates to visit the district.
Well, Frank has done just that and the results are stunning. He has made amazing inroads on a shoestring budget, like so many Tea Party candidates this year. Going into the final stretch however, Mirabile needs the kind of advertizing dollars that will put him over the top.
Recall also: Baltimore City is the home state of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Can you imagine what a victory here would mean? Cummings has a large campaign war chest. Do what you can to support Frank in these last critical days.
Cummings is a member of the far left Congressional Black Caucus and part of the crew that fraudulently tagged Tea Partiers as "racists" at the healthcare rally last March. That day, Speaker Pelosi also walked arrogantly through the crowd with her oversized gavel, and passed the healthcare bill against our will so that "you can find out what's in it."
Cummings has comfortably owned his seat for sixteen years, never having to do more than lift the occasional token finger at ribbon-cutting ceremonies and special events. He has literally done nothing for the district.
Traveling through the city, one is stunned by the post-apocalypse look of almost every neighborhood. Most blocks have at least one boarded up building, in many neighborhoods whole areas are boarded and abandoned. Trash and empty lots abound. There are a total of 15,000 abandoned buildings in the city, 10,000 of which are owned by the city itself.
According to FBI crime statistics, Baltimore has the fourth highest murder rate in the country, it is number four in aggravated assault, and fifth in violent crime overall. They don't call it Charm City for nothing.
Maryland floats on federal dollars and you'd think it could manage some inner city improvements. But endless regulatory red tape prevents the revitalization of these areas that can only be circumvented by pay to play politics or public-private "partnerships" of the kind that forced the resignation of Mayor Sheila Dixon last year. Cummings is fine with all that — a poster boy for this entrenched, corrupt, self-serving political culture.
According to the Census Bureau, despite bloated city and state bureaucracies, the Baltimore City black unemployment rate is 13.2 percent, well above the national average, while white and Hispanic unemployment rates are 5.1 and 7.2 percent respectively. A mere 51 percent of the black population is in the labor force, compared with 61 percent for whites and 67 percent for Hispanics.
Inner city blacks in Maryland, as elsewhere, are furious about how their jobs are being stolen by illegal immigrants. You'd think Cummings would take the pulse of his constituents on that subject. Instead he has voted for the illegals on every single relevant piece of legislation before Congress (from OpenCongress.org):
HR 3722 Amendment 1011 To require hospitals to document illegal alien patients and deny service when they can be safely sent home: NO
HR 5441 Amendment 968 To support Minuteman Project and deny Mexican government information regarding their dispositions along the border: NO
HR 6061 Secure Fence Act To build a fence and place surveillance equipment on the Southern border to reduce illegal entry: NO
HR 6095 Immigration Law Enforcement Act To affirm state and local governments' right to enforce immigration laws: NO
HR 6094 Community Protection Act To restore Homeland Security's authority to detain dangerous aliens, to ensure the removal of deportable criminal aliens, and combat alien gang crime. NO
Cummings also flagrantly defies the core beliefs of his constituents: he supports gay marriage. His constituents don't. He supports partial birth abortion. His constituents don't.
Cummings has refused repeated offers to debate, so Frank challenges him on his Facebook page. Following is an exchange that took place Sunday:
-
Cummings: Too many Marylanders have lost their homes due to foreclosure. Now we are finding that many foreclosures throughout the nation may have been initiated through fraudulent means. I have called on Governor O'Malley and Attorney General Gansler to create a 60-day moratorium on all foreclosures in Maryland, so we can get to the bottom of this. No family should lose their home because of fraud.
Mirabile: So tell me...after 14 years in office, Maryland being under democratic control...Why are Baltimore streets littered with 15,000 abandoned houses? Why are jobs leaving the city? Why cant' you walk down the streets of West Baltimore with your family without feeling safe? Why have we abandoned trades in education?
What has been allowed to go on in the neighborhoods of the proud residents of West Baltimore is a crime!
After years and years of promises of empowerment with only a social services check being delivered, don't you think it's time for you, Congressman, to step down?
How can you say you are for family values when you voted for late term abortions? (Vote tally: Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion bill)
How can you say you are for family values when you voted for transportation of minors across state lines for abortion services without parental notification? (Vote tally: Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act)
Have you told the voters YOU VOTED YES to give yourself a raise in 2009 while millions of Americans lost their jobs?
Have you told the voters YOU VOTED YES for gay marriage?
Congressman Cummings your time has come to re-enter the private sector and learn what it's like to earn a dollar by trust and not by a vote.
I ask you to step down and prove to the constituents of Congressional District 7 you are willing to live by the laws you impose upon us and walk the streets with your family.
One final note: I challenge you to come out of the shadows and debate the issues one on one. No canned questions, just an honest discussion on the problems the families and small businesses of Maryland face. You'll be surprised how many families in the West side of Baltimore want opportunity not a hand out. Let's meet and have this discussion for all to make up their minds.
He's right. We can do better. Frank Mirabile is a real, conservative choice for Maryland's 7th District who wants to serve the people of that district, not the arm-twisting agenda of remote, globalist progressives. Let's give MD-07 a real choice this year. Help Frank get elected.
Mirabile has the more conservative Howard and Baltimore Counties largely sown up and thus has focused his last efforts on the city. Now he has to double up on his message during these final critical days, and it is up to us to do all we can to help him out.
© Jim Simpson
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