I am now getting ready to undertake the actual work I intend to do with this blog—to find out where all the 2014 Maryland gubernatorial candidates stand on the good governance issues of my concern. The natural first step in this process was to go to the candidates’ websites to find out if they have articulated their positions on these issues.

I started with the two declared candidates on the Democratic side, Anthony Brown and Heather Mizeur. What I found on the two candidates’ websites was nothing short of stunning.

I did not find anything on the websites about the two Democratic candidates’ positions on slates, “sample ballots” or redistricting. But honestly, I did not expect to find anything on these specific topics. What completely caught me by surprise was the total lack of information about the candidates’ platforms on the websites—on any issues. Go check it out if you don’t believe me: http://anthonybrown.com/ and http://www.heathermizeur.com/.

When you go to Brown’s website, you will find out about all the wonderful endorsements he has received. When you go to the Mizeur site, you will see that she is attending tons of events all over the place. But no “issues” or “platform” section on either site explaining where the candidate actually stands on issues of concern to Maryland voters. Is this really what our politics has become? It’s not like Brown and Mizeur just entered the race a few days ago, or that they are complete newbies to politics.

On this blog, I intend to stay focused on the good governance issues I care about. But I could not let this observation go without mentioning it. This makes me embarrassed to be a Democrat.