Dan Cox

Wes Moore, the Democratic Party's candidate for Maryland governor, wants everyone to know how great he is — and humble, too. Moore is a bestselling author, a former television host, a US Army veteran and has founded or led multiple nonprofit organizations. Cockburn admits it's a stellar résumé for anyone seeking public office — and in heavily blue Maryland, Moore is outraising his Republican opponent Dan Cox ten to one. Unfortunately, it seems Moore's accolades might have gone to his head. In a Friday tweet, Moore bragged about being the first black Rhodes Scholar to graduate from Johns Hopkins University — but insisted he only brings it up because other people ask him about it.

You know the old expression “too clever by half?” It’s not a compliment. And though I am loathe to describe Democratic strategists as “clever,” I grudgingly acknowledge that they exhibit a certain low cunning that, on occasion, can be effective. We saw it on full display early on in the 2016 presidential election campaign when clever Dems were falling all over themselves to support the ridiculous candidate Donald Trump. He could never win, of course, but the ploy was good for a laugh and would hurt whatever serious candidates were running against Hillary. To almost everyone’s surprise, things didn’t work out quite as expected that time. But old habits are hard to break.

Maryland state delegate Dan Cox, who was endorsed by former president Donald Trump, handily won the state's Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday. Cox's opponent was Kelly Shulz, the former Maryland commerce secretary who had the backing of her old boss, Governor Larry Hogan. Cox's victory confirms that despite Hogan's overall popularity — he has one of the highest gubernatorial approval ratings in the country — Republicans are no longer impressed by him. In fact, Hogan now polls better among Democrats than members of his own party. Why? Because for conservatives in Maryland, Hogan's two terms as governor were largely a betrayal.