(My latest for WYPR, linked here. TL)
BEL AIR, MD (wypr) – Last week, on a sunny day outside the Harford County Circuit Courthouse in Bel Air, Brian Murphy is tried to whip a crowd of Tea Partiers into a frenzy, not a difficult task with this enthusiastic crowd. But the newcomer’s stump speech was unrefined and he wasn’t getting the jazzed reaction many other speakers get at the rally of about 200 supporters.
Murphy is running for governor, first against former Gov. Robert Ehrlich in a Republican primary in September. Then, if he is successful, he would likely face Gov. Martin O’Malley
Talking just a few feet from the pickup truck-turned-dais at the Tea Party party, Murphy was insistent he can take the governor’s office for the Republicans.
“This is for real. I feel like people, when they meet me, they say This is for real.’ I’m not here to make a point. I’m not here to protest, I’m here to win. And when I win, I’m going to fix this government’s budget, God as my witness.”
