Voters

Somebody needs to break the news to the Republican candidates looking to unseat President Barack Obama that the conservative tide that swept the nation in 2010 has receded. Denying public employees the right to bargain collectively and calling for strict limits on the reproductive rights of women won't necessarily play well in 2012. At least it didn't on Tuesday, when voters in several telltale states went to the polls for local elections. Most encouraging for Democrats was the overwhelming defeat of Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich's law limiting the collective bargaining rights of some 350,000 government workers.

Howard County residents have tried four times in the past nine years to challenge local government decisions on taxes and land use by referendum and failed each time to get the questions on the ballot. They've been rebuffed by opinions of the county's law department and by the courts, getting hung up on legal technicalities and the details of how signatures are validated. As difficult as it is to put a question on the local ballot, the bar would rise a bit higher if voters on Election Day approve one particular county charter revision, one of five changes proposed this year.

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis blew up Dustin Keller in Week 1 as if the Jets tight end was another puny planet in the path of his rocket-powered raven ride through outer space. Lewis' huge hit stood the test of time, as voters on ESPN's SportsNation recently voted it as the best hit of the 2010 NFL season. Lewis' hit on Keller received more than 55 percent of the 2,754 votes. Raiders linebacker Rolando McClain's takedown of Rams wide receiver Danny Amendola was a distant second, and Bears wideout Earl Bennett laying out a punter was third.

Howard County voters should have the final say on how Board of Education members are selected, not a commission appointed by the county executive. During his first term in office, the county executive had a chance to appoint a minority member to the board but instead chose the person with highest total votes among the candidates who were not elected. Yet now he claims to be concerned about diversity on the board. Bottom line, the voters of Howard County need to have the final say as to whether to keep the current system of electing school board members or to accept the recommendations of the commission.

Voters in Maryland will get a chance in this year's election to launch a process to revise the state constitution, but experts predict the measure will be a hard sell. Every 20 years, state lawmakers are required to pass legislation placing a constitutional convention question on the ballot. Still, just one has been called in the state since 1867. Such "mandatory" calls tend to pass only when there are "galvanizing issues" that mobilize voters, said Daniel A. Friedman, an assistant attorney general who is counsel to the Maryland General Assembly and author of "The Maryland State Constitution: A Reference Guide.

The two sides in Maryland's fight over same-sex marriage agree on this: It won't be over until November. With the state Senate's approval Thursday night of the governor's bill to legalize civil marriage for same-sex couples, opponents are expected to mobilize quickly to gather the signatures to petition the legislation to referendum. State elections officials say they are already getting calls seeking information on how to start the process. Even the bill's staunchest supporters expect its opponents to easily gather the 55,736 signatures necessary to put the question on the November ballot.

Republican pundits and voters alike are scratching their heads trying to figure out why their candidate lost ("For GOP, was it the message or messengers?" Nov. 12). We're hearing a lot about how America just isn't white enough any more, or how the country has lost its way. A lot of Republicans are saying their candidate was just too stiff and unappealing. And a large number are wondering if the Republican Party simply had the wrong message. After decades of being able to distract the attention of middle-class voters by saying "look over here, it's about guns," or "look over here, its about Jesus" - or more recently, "look over here, its about immigration" - it seems a majority of voters have stopped falling for the same old tricks.

In his July 12 letter, "In 2012, Americans should vote with their heads, not just their hearts," William W. McCollum offered sage advice: Voters should select a president by using their heads. In disagreeing with the letter writer, however, I believe that by using their heads, voters should support President Obama. Mr. McCollum argues that the president failed to deliver on his promises, especially when the Democrats had so-called control of the legislative branch as well as the White House during his first two years.

Maryland enters uncharted political territory this fall as voters for the first time in decades face four major ballot questions. An onslaught of costly advertising is likely as competing interests from all over the country try to sway the state's electorate. Ballot questions aren't subject to fundraising limits, so the money spent on at least two of the campaigns — on laws legalizing same-sex marriage and expanding gambling in the state — will likely be in the millions. Two other questions, on access to higher education for some illegal immigrants and the fairness of the new congressional map, ignite deep passions likely to inspire old fashioned face-to-face politicking.

The person who perhaps could be helped or hurt most if the National Baseball Hall of Fame offered specific instruction to its voters on whether candidates with a history of using performance-enhancing drugs should be enshrined has his own opinion as to what should happen. Leave it up to the qualifying members of the Baseball Writers Association of America to make their own decision, former Orioles great Rafael Palmeiro says. The Hall of Fame doesn't need to offer any advice beyond what it already suggests about character and integrity, he believes.