Dems 'ought to hammer' this 'far from moderate' GOP candidate: expert

24 March 2024

Although Maryland Republican governor and 2024 GOP Senate candidate Larry Hogan ended his term as the state's leader last year with an approval rate of 70 percent, Politico reports a Washington Post-University of Maryland survey released last week "showed that 55 percent of voters want Democrats in control of the Senate."

However, in an op-ed published by MSNBC Sunday, writer and politics expert Zeeshan Aleem insists with the former governor's entrance into the Senate race last month, "Democrats’ path to retaining the Senate has become significantly more difficult."

The MSNBC Daily writer emphasizes that "even with those caveats" in The Washington Post-University of Maryland poll, "Hogan should not be underestimated." The former Republican leader "turned what would normally be an extremely safe seat for Democrats into a genuine toss-up," he adds.

Aleem writes:

He served two terms as a Republican in one of the most Democratic states in the country, and left office as one of the most popular governors in the state’s history. He has developed a reputation as an independent-minded, moderate Republican willing to work with people across the aisle. Marylanders also supported his response to Covid-19, which involved the swift adoption of safety measures and emergency legislation that, among other things, increased access to health care and reduced barriers to Covid testing. And crucially, Hogan has criticized Trump a great deal publicly and developed a political brand as an anti-Trump Republican through the way his pandemic response contrasted with Trump’s recklessness.

Furthermore, Forbes reports that despite conservative radio show host Mark Levin's criticism of Hogan – calling him a RINO [Republican in name only] — "there is much about Larry Hogan’s record for conservatives to admire and nothing that they would find offensive. In fact, during Larry Hogan’s eight years in the Governor’s mansion in Annapolis, he had numerous conservative policy achievements, which is no small feat in a deep blue state."

Forbes also notes:

Larry Hogan ended his second term as governor with a 70% approval rating, the second highest of any governor at the time. While bipartisan policy achievements appealing to Democrats and independents were key to Hogan’s high approval rating, Hogan also governed in a way that, unlike other blue state Republicans such former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (R), did not alienate conservative voters who comprise a minority of his state’s electorate.

Aleem references Time magazine’s Eric Cortellessa, who recently "pointed out, Hogan’s conservatism has conveniently been masked by the fact that his right-wing vetoes were often overridden by Maryland’s heavily Democratic state legislature."

The MSNBC writer emphasizes, "while Hogan is not a MAGA Republican, he’s far from a moderate — and Democrats ought to hammer him for that."

Aleem's full op-ed is available at this link.

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