Don Cazayoux

Despite his large reserve (for a freshman) in cash on hand, the campaign committee of John Sarbanes made few transfers to Democratic lawmakers around the country.

Chicago humorist Finley Peter Dunne coined the phrase “Politics ain’t beanbag” long ago. But, sometimes in politics no matter what you throw, beanbags in the dirt are all you get.

We don’t know what type of nasty Karl Rove/Newt Gingrich campaign to expect from our local GOP candidates this year. It’s possible they’ll change course. It’s possible they’ll grow up. It’s possible a wacky out-of-state third party will choose not to spend $500,000 or more in October. It’s possible they won’t have the money to do what they want.

But if it’s true that past performance is the best predictor of future behavior, we can expect the worst.

Through his personal campaign committee and his leadership fund, AmeriPAC, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer gave out $169,000 to fellow members’ committees in the first quarter of this year alone.