True-blue Maryland is about to see something unexpected this close to Election Day: someone actually on a presidential ballot. Two of them.
John McCain and Joe Biden will be in town at the Baltimore Convention Center to address the annual conference of the National Guard Association of the U.S. McCain is to speak Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Biden appears Monday at 11:30 a.m.
Usually a sure bet for Dems and a lost cause for the GOP, Maryland isn't on any presidential wannabe's must-visit list. But the Guard constituency apparently has more pull.
"We're certainly happy to have them here," said Wayde Minami, spokesman for the state Guard chapter. He said the convention has been in the works for a long time, but the candidates confirmed their attendance only "within the last day or so."
Biden's appearance came as a surprise to some Maryland supporters, who had expected him at a lunch fundraiser in Baltimore at the very moment - 11:30 a.m. Monday - he's supposed to address the Guard.
Lainy LeBow-Sachs, a longtime William Donald Schaefer aide involved in the fundraising event, said she'd already e-mailed invitations to the luncheon when she got news yesterday that Biden couldn't make it. The fundraiser was rescheduled, with Biden due to appear Tuesday night at the Hilton next to the Convention Center.
Tickets are $2,500 a head, or $10,000 for those who'd like to get their pictures made with the aspiring veep.
While Republicans and Dems might not bother stumping here, Maryland is the richest state in the nation. So maybe it is worth a visit, two days in a row if need be. Said LeBow-Sachs: "Our money is green, too."
The good and the bad - we've got them both
Washingtonian magazine's annual "Best & Worst of Congress" survey is out, and the Maryland delegation gets plenty of ink. In good ways and bad.
Based on a survey of top Capitol Hill aides, Washingtonian ranked Barbara Mikulski the Senate's top "fashion victim." It also deemed her the nation's "meanest" senator.
Ben Cardin, meanwhile, came in second "nicest."
On the House side, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was judged greatest "workhorse," "most eloquent," and "member I'd like to see as president in 2012."
How'd the rankings go over with the pols?
"He's actually disappointed he didn't get the best-looking designation," joked Hoyer spokeswoman Stephanie Lundberg. (That went to Brad Ellsworth, an Indiana Democrat, officially deemed top "Hunk.")
