I rarely write about local issues but this particular one has a resonance beyond the immediate area. By way of background, I live in Maryland’s Sixth Congressional District which is one of the few sane places in that godforsaken socialist republic. Historically, Maryland Six had been a Republican district represented since the time of Augustus Caesar by Roscoe Bartlett.

After the 2010 Census, Maryland Six was gerrymandered to turn it into a Democrat seat by adding a large chunk of reflexively Democrat Montgomery County. I don’t have a problem with that because I do believe elections have consequences and if you can’t take the time to win them then you have no reason to complain when bad things happen to you. Bad things happen a lot to Republicans in Maryland because one of the most incompetent and instinctively fratricidal state Republican parties in the nation is Maryland’s GOP.

This year we have a strong candidate running for Congress in Dan Bongino. I first ran into Dan at the Veterans Day parade in Brunswick, Maryland in 2011 and it was obvious that Dan was a class act and a natural retail politician. Dan won the GOP primary in an overwhelming fashion and is leading an energized and unified movement to take back Maryland Six. He is not a long shot, particularly in what is shaping up to be a wave year. His opponent, John Delaney, is rich, he’s a thorough 1%-er, and clearly doesn’t have any vision for the country beyond voting for Nancy Pelosi for speaker.

Running against an incumbent, even one as unaccomplished as John Delaney, is tough. It is made a lot tougher when the major newspaper in the district refuses to even cover the contest.

That is position Dan Bongino finds himself in.

While the (Hagerstown, MD) Herald-Mail finds newsworthiness in Delaney’s hangnails it has imposed a virtual news blackout on coverage of the Bongino campaign. When one looks at the news coverage Bongino has received since winning the GOP primary versus the non-stop boosterism of Delaney the contrast is stunning:

Dan Bongino

6th Congressional District candidate Bongino stops at gun store near Hagerstown

Thursday, March 20, 2014 8:40 pm

 Bongino Campaigns (This last is a single photo with a caption)

Wednesday, June 25, 2014 9:09 am

John Delaney

Delaney to host panel on women in workforce

Wednesday, August 27, 2014 2:16 am

 Delaney pushes public-private partnership in Washington County visit

Friday, August 22, 2014 9:35 pm

 Delaney visits Boonsboro and Hagerstown

Friday, August 22, 2014 5:55 pm

 State aid is welcome relief for Clear Spring

Monday, August 18, 2014 8:00 pm

 Delaney says Western Maryland overlooked

Saturday, July 26, 2014 8:16 pm

 Delaney asks Md. to reconsider federal funding request for flood relief

Thursday, July 24, 2014 6:15 pm

 Delaney checks out aircraft at Sierra Nevada Corp.

Monday, July 21, 2014 8:04 pm

 Holcim breaks ground on $95 million project in Hagerstown

Monday, July 21, 2014 5:54 pm

While the Holcim article doesn’t mention Delaney in the headline it might as well be a Delaney press release. In addition, the Herald Mail has editorialized in favor of Delaney in:

 O’Malley and others have failed to take big step for Western Maryland

 Monday, August 4, 2014 10:00 pm

 In honor of D-Day, non-veteran, non D-Day veteran, non-Veterans Affairs Committee member (NTTAWWT), Delaney was given the privilege of writing an op-ed on D-Day:

 The anniversary of D-Day is a reminder of local heroism and sacrifice

Thursday, June 5, 2014 6:00 pm

 The op-ed is the usual banal treacle one expects from a Democrat talking about the US military and patriotism except nearly half of the op-ed is devoted to his efforts on the part of veterans, like this gem:

I encourage any veteran who has had problems with the VA to contact my office immediately. We have a number of caseworkers on staff who can assist you and can be your advocate.

This is nothing but garden variety electioneering.

When Bongino’s campaign inquired about their candidate getting the opportunity to run an op-ed, a mere three days before the Delaney op-ed run, they were told by Herald-Mail Executive Editor Jake Wormer that they were allowed a total of 300 words through the primary. The Delaney op-ed is 834 words, nearly three times the length allotted to Bongino and 344 words of this are in fluffing the non-job Delaney has done in DC.

Jake Wormer and the Herald-Mail obviously have a dog in this fight. They are supporting Delaney every way they can. If Dan Bongino were a fringe candidate I wouldn’t complain. But he isn’t. Bongino convincingly won the Republican primary. Above and beyond that, Maryland 6 was a historically Republican district which was gerrymandered to allow a Democrat… from Montgomery County… to win. One can understand that the Democrats at the Herald-Mail are trying to hamstring Bongino’s campaign by ignoring it if they are simply an arm of the Democrat party. But they are cheating their readers. Bongino and Delaney represent diametrically opposed personal narratives and visions for Western Maryland and America. They should be given equal coverage on the news pages and the editorial support relegated to where it belongs: the Herald-Mail editorial page which no one reads.