Lieutenant Governor

Will 1994 be the year of the lieutenant governor? Will candidates for that exalted obscurity help Marylanders decide how to vote in the race for governor?The case for such a breakthrough is straightforward:At the start of the race, candidates for governor were little known outside their home turf. They were seen as one-dimensional characters who might gain luster from just the right partner, someone with a bit of star quality, a geographic base, a useful legislative skill or some other distinguishing quality.

After years of talk, BRAC has finally arrived. Effective this week, Aberdeen Proving Ground has officially made the transition from a $3.5 billion a year installation to a $20 billion facility. Make no mistake about it: this is a big deal. Anyone who has visited the post in recent months and years can see massive new construction that has replaced a lot of decidedly ancient-looking buildings that had lingered until about a decade ago. Out with the Cold War architecture, in with the new. The changes on post have come gradually.

An item in Notes From Annapolis in yesterday's editions of The Sun incorrectly reported that Gov. William Donald Schaefer failed to recognize Lt. Gov. Melvin A. Steinberg before delivering his annual State of the State address last week. In acknowledging the presence of various dignitaries, Mr. Schaefer mentioned "Mr. Lieutenant Governor."* The Sun regrets the error.Before Gov. William Donald Schaefer began his State of the State address last week, he recognized the dignitaries -- the House speaker, the Senate president, the chief judge of the Court of Appeals, and so on until he had mentioned everyone who was anyone.

On the same day that Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown announced his engagement to Karmen Bailey Walker, theft charges were dropped against Walker's sister, Karen Yvette Bailey. Coincidence? Well, yeah, probably. I love a good scandal as much as the next gal, but when The Baltimore Sun's Scott Calvert looked into the matter, Montgomery County Assistant State's Attorney Stephen Chaikin made a pretty convincing case that there was no connection between dismissal and betrothal. Chaikin did say that Bailey wasn't shy about her connection to the lieutenant governor.

When Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown took his oath of office on a bitterly cold day in January, he urged Marylanders to "walk good" and "let good walk with you." His own do-gooding, though, is still a work in progress - and that's not for lack of effort. Since the swearing-in, Brown has been running, not walking - to prayer breakfasts, blood drives and the solemn funerals of Maryland soldiers killed in Iraq. He has jumped into his key assignment - leadership of the subcabinet created to manage the influx of military jobs created by the Base Realignment and Closure process (BRAC)

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Maryland's lieutenant governor, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, joined the parade of presidential candidate surrogates into Iowa yesterday on behalf of Vice President Al Gore, praising him as a man "who knows what is going on and knows what he's doing." Townsend visited two senior citizen centers, the Iowa State Education Association and attended a reception of the Polk County Democratic Party in a one-day trip to the Iowa capital on behalf of Gore. Her visit came after a swing across Iowa on Friday by her uncle Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, accompanied by the vice president.

More noteworthy than the "Women of Steele" coalition launched yesterday by Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's U.S. Senate campaign was the appearance by his side of the shy woman who introduced the candidate to his audience. Reading from prepared remarks to a room of 40 or so admirers in Annapolis, Andrea Steele, the lieutenant governor's wife, explained that she was initially none too thrilled at the prospect of her husband's Senate bid. "When Michael first announced that he was going to run, I have to admit I had some reservations," she said, prompting laughter from her husband and knowing supporters.

DAVID Townsend suffers the fortune and misfortune of having the state's second highest elected official as his spouse. Had his wife been anyone other than Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the driver of the Baltimore County snow plow would never have let Mr. Townsend use his radio last week to speak to a supervisor about plowing Crosmorr Lane. Because his wife is lieutenant governor, a disproportionate amount of attention has been focused on whether the county should plow that dead-end street in Ruxton.

NEW ORLEANS - The joke being swapped here at the National Lieutenant Governors Association conference is that the group's members do nothing but drive around all day with a Bible, waiting for the governor to die or resign so they can finally get some attention. But two of the nation's newly elected lieutenant governors - Maryland's Michael S. Steele and Ohio's Jennette Bradley - are poised to smash that stereotype. The pair share two key characteristics: They will be the nation's only black lieutenant governors, and they're Republicans.

Polls show that Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's name is recognized by about 95 percent of Marylanders. Alan Fleischmann is known by so few that nobody's ever bothered to ask, and he would just as soon keep it that way. Chief of staff is his job, but that title doesn't begin to describe his role in Townsend's professional life. Just about anywhere the lieutenant governor goes on public business, the relentlessly cheerful Fleischmann is likely to be at her side -- providing advice, support, unwavering devotion and occasional damage control.

Over the last 40 years, Maryland and the entire country have seen groundbreaking advances in the fields of medicine and health care. We have developed life-sustaining treatments for previously fatal diseases, including many types of cancer, HIV, and heart disease. Life expectancy has climbed, and infant mortality has fallen. But these successes are not enough. They are not enough when so many of our accomplishments in health are shadowed by unacceptable disparities. It is not enough that we have new tools for early diabetes detection and kidney care when in Maryland about twice as many blacks suffer from diabetes compared to whites.

Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. led trade missions to Singapore, China and Israel. His lieutenant governor, Michael S. Steele, went to Ghana, South Africa, Paris, Barbados and Israel. Former Gov. Parris N. Glendening took overseas trips with an aide who would later become his wife, and former Gov. William Donald Schaefer traveled to Europe, the Soviet Union, Canada, the Middle East and Asia. All of them raised some eyebrows, but it is Gov. Martin O'Malley's recently concluded trip to China, South Korea and Vietnam that seems to be getting the most scrutiny.

One thing about Michael Steele: He's not afraid to mix it up. Push the former Maryland lieutenant governor in an interview, and he'll come right back at you. That's how it went last week with the Johns Hopkins University graduate when he was asked for his reaction to those who say MSNBC hired him recently to be the channel's token conservative — a right-wing, Republican version of the role Alan Colmes played on Fox News. "What's my reaction?" Steele said. "Tune in, that's my reaction.

Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus was elected chair of the Republican National Committee on Friday, defeating four other candidates — including incumbent Michael S. Steele — in seven rounds of voting. Priebus never trailed in the voting, slowly building on his tally until he surpassed a majority of the 168 voting members. Steele, the gaffe-prone former lieutenant governor of Maryland who was elected as chairman in January 2009, dropped out of contention after the fourth round of balloting.

When his election opponent tried to court veterans last month with a promise of a military pension tax exemption, Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley turned to his own military spokesman: Anthony G. Brown. Maryland's lieutenant governor is also a colonel in the Army Reserve — and, as the O'Malley campaign is fond of repeating, the highest-ranking elected state official in the nation to have served a tour in Iraq. Brown quickly convened a news conference to blast what he described as just another of former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s "budget-busting promises.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown has been elected leader of the National Lieutenant Governors Association. A Prince George's County Democrat and the nation's highest-ranking elected official to have served a tour of duty in Iraq, Brown takes the reins from Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican. Brown has been lieutenant governor for four years under Gov. Martin O'Malley and is his running mate again this year. The association was organized in 1962. Brown was elected Friday at its annual meeting, held this year in Biloxi, Miss.

Errol Flynn he's not, but Michael S. Steele swings a meaner sword than your average lieutenant governor. Reviving a brief and less-than-stellar collegiate career as a fencer, Maryland's No. 2 has picked up the blade again in recent months - dueling students, a fellow politician and even challenging his boss, a gridiron star - and says he is discovering new joys in the ancient sport. "It really is like riding a bike," Steele said. "That skill never leaves you." In March, with Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in attendance, Steele thrust and parried with members of the St. John's College fencing club.

People who lost loved ones to drunken drivers, street criminals, angry spouses and a deranged multiple killer met yesterday at a Rosedale diner to share their concerns about the criminal justice system with Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.Many struggled to keep emotions in check as they relayed their experiences, bringing frequent questions from the lieutenant governor. Some spoke of their involvement in helping other victims.After cheerfully thanking those who turned out for the session at the Double-T Diner, Ms. Townsend's voice quavered briefly in her closing remarks when she told them, "As you can imagine from my own life, I am a big believer in sharing and getting involved."

Let us first make the obligatory caveat: People vote for governors, not lieutenant governors. That said, Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. made a pretty smart pick in selecting Mary Kane as his running mate. She brings geographic and gender diversity to the ticket, softens the hard edges that turned off many voters during Mr. Ehrlich's term and combines the qualities of an outsider with someone still well versed in Maryland's political system. Democrats can point with some justification to Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown as someone with a more extensive Annapolis resume.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele spoke briefly at a state party fundraiser Thursday evening and repeatedly urged audience members to work hard for a victory in November. "My friends, don't screw this up," Steele told a roomful of about 700 at the BWI Airport Marriott. "We've got work to do. Don't take a good night for granted. This is going to be work. Hard work. We've done it before." The night saw the closest public interaction between Steele and Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in recent months.