Red Guy in a Blue State

The dynamics of the minority party in an (effectively) one-party state like Maryland are interesting. On the one hand, one sees plenty of moderate Republicans in MD, both because the entire window of mainstream politics is shifted left, and because honestly, that's the only way they'll be elected. Steele and Ehrlich certainly shift right on the national scene, but in terms of what they proposed and did in Maryland, they were firmly on the party's moderate wing.

At the same time, the very fact that the Maryland Republican Party is, all things considered, pretty tiny, does give outsized influence to the crazies. And so it is we have Dr. Eric Wargotz, Republican candidate for Senate in my home state (he claims he's the "presumptive nominee", but I have no idea how presumptuous that is), who is a loud and proud birther. It's a strange thing.