The Parrot Post just did what Barry O’Connell’s Maryland Wire piece refused to do: it ran the actual election data instead of the registration fantasy.
• Barry says: "PG is a unified bloc of 453k!"
• The Parrot Post says: "530k people didn't even bother to vote for County Executive."
Barry built his entire thesis on 453,000 registered Democrats. The Parrot Post just proved that in the 2025 Special General Election, only 90,277 total cards were cast out of 620,430 eligible voters—a stunning 14.55% turnout.
That means 530,153 people sat on their hands.
Let’s use The Parrot Post’s data to completely dismantle Barry’s argument—
The Corrected Math (Barry vs. Reality)
Metric Barry's Thesis (The Maryland Wire) The Parrot Post's Reality
The Base 453,000 registered Democrats 620,430 eligible voters (total)
Turnout Assumption Implicitly acts like all 453k vote 14.55% actually showed up
Actual Voters ~453k (implied) ~90k total (across all parties)
The Devastating Conclusion: Barry’s "unbeatable army" of 453,000 Democrats shrinks to about 76,000 actual primary voters when you apply the Parrot Post's turnout rate.
Now, let's re-run his comparison to the 18 small counties:
• Barry said the 18 smallest counties have 297,000 registered Democrats.
• In rural Maryland, special election turnout is usually higher than PG's because the population is older, whiter, and more civically engaged. If those 18 counties turn out at just 30%, they produce ~89,000 actual Democratic voters.
That means the 18 small counties actually out-voted Prince George's in raw ballots in the 2025 special election. Barry had it completely backwards.
The Parrot Post's coverage of the 2025/26 special election should be required reading for every pundit in Annapolis. While Mr. O'Connell counts 453,000 registered Democrats as if they are votes in the bank, The Parrot Post correctly notes that 530,153 eligible PG voters did not participate in the last countywide election. That is an 85% no-show rate.
In a statewide primary, Prince George's does not deliver a 150,000-vote margin. It delivers a ~76,000-vote pool—provided a candidate spends millions to drag them to the polls. Meanwhile, the 18 rural counties he dismisses actually produce more actual Democratic primary voters because they show up.
Registration is not turnout. Turnout is the only currency that matters. The Parrot Post got it right: we get what we deserve because we don't show up.
Barry's math works great in a spreadsheet. The Parrot Post's math works based on Election Day data.
In the 2025 PG special election, 620,430 people were eligible. Only 90,277 voted. That's 14.55%. Barry is counting 453,000 Democrats as if they're all showing up—but 85% of them stay home.
In a primary, that 453k becomes ~76k actual voters. The 18 small counties he dismisses? If they turn out at just 30%, they beat PG's raw vote total.
Barry said PG is 'the ballgame.' The Parrot Post just proved the ballgame is actually waking PG up. Until a candidate solves that 85% apathy problem, PG is a liability, not a treasure chest. More, like a game without a ball besides the real ballgame is waking up the 85% who stay home, and if you can't do that, all 453,000 registrations are just dead weight.
Prince George's County doesn't have a 453,000-vote problem for Republicans; it has a 530,153-person apathy problem for Democrats.
Barry is worried about the size of the county. The Parrot Post is worried about the silence of its citizens. And silence doesn't win primaries—ballots do. Show up, or stop complaining about who gets elected.
Treat PG as a "Containment" zone, not a "Win" zone!
It’s unfortunate that it’s county government economic development and tourism staff don’t know how to respond to professional email inquiries. But then, that tracks with the state’s inability to provide government legibility to its tax paying residents.
Back in the Bill Clinton days I got a contract to help build the the first data warehouse HUD. We were doing a demo for Henry cisernos who was secretary at that point and we're getting all set. We have everything nailed down for a one city demonstration of how the data warehouse would work. He wanted Baltimore as the example so I go to the screen. I click on City and only Baltimore should show up on the list. It turns out that between eight different mainframe systems populated by government employees taking information, they came up with 56 different ways to spell Baltimore including my favorite was was bahlamo. But your version of balmer was a frequent addition to that list. I finally had to sort Baltimore by ZIP code and then hard code in the city name until we could get it cleaned up.
The Parrot Post just did what Barry O’Connell’s Maryland Wire piece refused to do: it ran the actual election data instead of the registration fantasy.
• Barry says: "PG is a unified bloc of 453k!"
• The Parrot Post says: "530k people didn't even bother to vote for County Executive."
Barry built his entire thesis on 453,000 registered Democrats. The Parrot Post just proved that in the 2025 Special General Election, only 90,277 total cards were cast out of 620,430 eligible voters—a stunning 14.55% turnout.
That means 530,153 people sat on their hands.
Let’s use The Parrot Post’s data to completely dismantle Barry’s argument—
The Corrected Math (Barry vs. Reality)
Metric Barry's Thesis (The Maryland Wire) The Parrot Post's Reality
The Base 453,000 registered Democrats 620,430 eligible voters (total)
Turnout Assumption Implicitly acts like all 453k vote 14.55% actually showed up
Actual Voters ~453k (implied) ~90k total (across all parties)
Democratic Voters (Est.) 453k ~76k - 80k (assuming 85% Dem)
The Devastating Conclusion: Barry’s "unbeatable army" of 453,000 Democrats shrinks to about 76,000 actual primary voters when you apply the Parrot Post's turnout rate.
Now, let's re-run his comparison to the 18 small counties:
• Barry said the 18 smallest counties have 297,000 registered Democrats.
• In rural Maryland, special election turnout is usually higher than PG's because the population is older, whiter, and more civically engaged. If those 18 counties turn out at just 30%, they produce ~89,000 actual Democratic voters.
That means the 18 small counties actually out-voted Prince George's in raw ballots in the 2025 special election. Barry had it completely backwards.
The Parrot Post's coverage of the 2025/26 special election should be required reading for every pundit in Annapolis. While Mr. O'Connell counts 453,000 registered Democrats as if they are votes in the bank, The Parrot Post correctly notes that 530,153 eligible PG voters did not participate in the last countywide election. That is an 85% no-show rate.
In a statewide primary, Prince George's does not deliver a 150,000-vote margin. It delivers a ~76,000-vote pool—provided a candidate spends millions to drag them to the polls. Meanwhile, the 18 rural counties he dismisses actually produce more actual Democratic primary voters because they show up.
Registration is not turnout. Turnout is the only currency that matters. The Parrot Post got it right: we get what we deserve because we don't show up.
Barry's math works great in a spreadsheet. The Parrot Post's math works based on Election Day data.
In the 2025 PG special election, 620,430 people were eligible. Only 90,277 voted. That's 14.55%. Barry is counting 453,000 Democrats as if they're all showing up—but 85% of them stay home.
In a primary, that 453k becomes ~76k actual voters. The 18 small counties he dismisses? If they turn out at just 30%, they beat PG's raw vote total.
Barry said PG is 'the ballgame.' The Parrot Post just proved the ballgame is actually waking PG up. Until a candidate solves that 85% apathy problem, PG is a liability, not a treasure chest. More, like a game without a ball besides the real ballgame is waking up the 85% who stay home, and if you can't do that, all 453,000 registrations are just dead weight.
Prince George's County doesn't have a 453,000-vote problem for Republicans; it has a 530,153-person apathy problem for Democrats.
Barry is worried about the size of the county. The Parrot Post is worried about the silence of its citizens. And silence doesn't win primaries—ballots do. Show up, or stop complaining about who gets elected.
Treat PG as a "Containment" zone, not a "Win" zone!
It’s unfortunate that it’s county government economic development and tourism staff don’t know how to respond to professional email inquiries. But then, that tracks with the state’s inability to provide government legibility to its tax paying residents.
Excellent. This analysis nails it on why there will never again be a Balmer powerhouse politician without PG's stamp of approval.
Back in the Bill Clinton days I got a contract to help build the the first data warehouse HUD. We were doing a demo for Henry cisernos who was secretary at that point and we're getting all set. We have everything nailed down for a one city demonstration of how the data warehouse would work. He wanted Baltimore as the example so I go to the screen. I click on City and only Baltimore should show up on the list. It turns out that between eight different mainframe systems populated by government employees taking information, they came up with 56 different ways to spell Baltimore including my favorite was was bahlamo. But your version of balmer was a frequent addition to that list. I finally had to sort Baltimore by ZIP code and then hard code in the city name until we could get it cleaned up.