Western Md. House seat held by GOP for 20 years is seen by Democrats as within their reach

[WI_DEM]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/western-md-house-seat-held-by-gop-for-20-years-is-seen-by-democrats-as-within-their-reach/2012/03/28/gIQAbzOhgS_story.html

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — If U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett feels a threat to his re-election, he doesn’t show it. Addressing a breakfast crowd at a Republican primary debate in Hagerstown, the 85-year-old conservative from Frederick County calmly ticks off the same objectives — lower taxes, less regulation, smaller government — that he’s espoused since he first claimed Maryland’s 6th District for the GOP in 1992.

Yet some listeners say they’re hungry for a fresh message to counter the district’s strongest Democratic offensive in 20 years. Redistricting added a big chunk of Democrat-heavy Montgomery County to what had been a Republican stronghold. The change made the seat competitive and led Bartlett to consider retiring rather than face bulked-up Democratic opposition. As a result, registered Republicans and re-energized Democrats both have large fields of candidates from which to choose their parties’ nominees Tuesday

[hootinholler]

1. Thanks for posting that! n/t