Today's breakfast for the Maryland delegation comes courtesy of Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, a young leader who presumably wants a long career after term limits force him from his current office.
Ulman said his finance director raised the $20,000 from the WolfBlock LLP law firm, Aetna insurance and Enterprise Rent-a-Car. WolfBlock has a government affairs practice, Ulman said, and Aetna is the county's health insurance provider and, through a foundation, a participant in the Healthy Howard effort to provide coverage for the uninsured.
"My philosophy on campaign finance is, when things are disclosed, voters get to make educated decisions," Ulman said. "If the state party wants to disclose [the source of donations] even further, that would certainly be fine with me."
FOR THE RECORD - An article in the Aug. 28 editions of The Baltimore Sun misidentified the source of funding for a Democratic convention party in Denver co-hosted by Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler. The financing came from John Delaney, chief executive officer of CapitalSource, and not from the company itself. THE BALTIMORE SUN REGRETS THE ERROR
The breakfasts and late-night parties become something of a brag-fest to see who can get the prime slots and the most famous guests.
When Comptroller Peter Franchot was organizing his party, he made sure to promote a special guest: actor Wendell Pierce, who played Detective William "Bunk" Moreland in the Baltimore-based HBO series The Wire.
Moreland was a big hit with guests such as former Prince George's County Executive Wayne K. Curry, who pumped the actor's hand in a receiving line. "I worked in Billy Murphy's law firm," Curry gushed, making a connection based on a subplot in the show. "That episode was fantastic."
Like events such as the Maryland Association of Counties annual summer meeting in Ocean City, the conventions allow lobbyists and other special interests to mingle with politicians in intimate, casual and friendly settings away from the public's view.
Maryland lobbyists in Denver this week include Joel Rozner and Josh White of Rifkin Livingston Levitan & Silver; David Carroll of Capital Strategies and Sean Looney of Comcast.
"My first question when I hear this is, why wasn't I invited?" said Ryan O'Donnell, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, which tracks the influence of money in politics.
O'Donnell said the system seemed similar to the practice of bundling, where supporters gather checks from donors and present them to candidates en masse. Greater disclosure of bundling is needed, he said.
"Big money gets into the system in any number of ways, and this is just another way," O'Donnell said.
Former Gov. Parris N. Glendening, a veteran of political conventions since 1984, acknowledged the potential for appearance problems.
