Lieutenant Governor

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has no illusions that her first book might serve as a springboard back into elected politics. The book - a reflection on her personal faith mixed with a broader look at America's religious traditions - argues that the Catholic and Protestant churches have lost their way in recent decades, falling short of the Christian concept of social justice as they've been "hijacked" by political conservatives. "This is a book you can only write when you're out of politics," says Townsend, who served two terms as Maryland's lieutenant governor and is the eldest daughter of Robert F. Kennedy.

EVER SINCE Gov. Parris N. Glendening killed the Intercounty Connector in September, his lieutenant governor has limited her views on the matter to a terse sentence or two.But at a town meeting for the Asian-American community in downtown Silver Spring last week, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend found her tongue.With little prompting, she launched a spirited defense of Glendening's decision, saying the governor "could spend 10 years and millions of dollars on litigation or spend the money on getting [other]

Maryland Comptroller William Donald Schaefer stepped up his criticism yesterday of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's plan to abandon the proposed Intercounty Connector to link Montgomery and Prince George's counties.During a meeting of the Board of Public Works, Schaefer attacked Glendening's "erroneous decision" to kill the 17-mile, $1.5 billion highway and sell some of the land the state purchased for its construction.In an unusual upstaging of the governor, who heads the three-member board, Schaefer and state Treasurer Richard N. Dixon voted to pass a resolution supporting the connector, known as the ICC."

WINDHAM, N.H. -- Texas Gov. George W. Bush, facing renewed questions about his Vietnam-era military service, said yesterday that neither he nor his father asked a family friend to help him get into the Texas Air National Guard."

LT. GOV. KATHLEEN Kennedy Townsend is riding high these days. Three years before the 2002 election, she's raising money with Kennedy-esque ease, and polls show her with a comfortable lead over her likely Democratic rivals.But before she starts selecting new drapes for the governor's office, Townsend should adopt a two-word mantra:"Mickey Steinberg."You remember him? Lt. Gov. Melvin A. Steinberg.Steinberg didn't make it to the governor's office, of course.But at this point in the 1994 election campaign, it looked as if he might.

JOE ROGERS must have whipped up some of his best oratory and saved it all for us little old Baltimoreans. He was in town this week, speaking on the 21st floor of the World Trade Center and presenting a striking image with his neatly pressed black suit, short Afro and stocky build.Rogers is black and Republican, the highest-ranking African-American elected state official in the country. The lieutenant governor of Colorado was in Baltimore as part of city Republicans' Lincoln Day celebration.

GEORGE W. BUSH is the Eliza Doolittle of American politics. He isn't ready to be president, but with the coaching of a couple of dozen would-be Professor Higginses, he probably can learn to talk like one.You have to admire the man's chutzpah. It takes chutzpah to put yourself forward as a candidate for the presidency after serving just a single term as governor of a state in which the lieutenant governor is the real power. (The lieutenant governor in Texas runs the legislature.)Ah, but this governor has a famous last name.

Democrat Eileen M. Rehrmann's gubernatorial campaign stepped up its criticism of Gov. Parris N. Glendening yesterday, as her new running mate questioned the governor's character and whether he is "capable of telling the truth."As he was formally introduced as Rehrmann's candidate for lieutenant governor, Sidney Kramer sharply criticized Glendening's integrity and ethics in office."I don't think the man is capable of telling the truth," Kramer said in an interview.Rehrmann, the Harford County executive, is one of several Democrats challenging Glendening in the Sept.

Georgia's anti-sodomy law conforms to the U.S. Constitution but not to Georgia's constitution. Next question.The stock market is a yo-yo that just hit the top. Guess where it's heading next.Don't look now, but the Glendening cabinet is starting to resemble a Townsend cabinet. He could become her lieutenant governor in four years.Cheer up. British beef is coming back on the market.Pub Date: 11/25/98

Weary and short of time, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend rehearsed out loud her final speech of the day as she hurried into Washington. Her voice trailed off. She didn't like the sound of what she was saying.She scratched out a few sentences in her prepared remarks. Then, as she stared out the car window, the right words came to her, words she knows by heart, the words of her father."Moral courage," she said a half-hour later at an Israeli tribute to her father, Robert F. Kennedy, "is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence.

Michael Steele's multi-tasking kid sister billed his Senate campaign more than $37,000 for "catering/web" services provided by her investment company. Serving up coffee, coding in Java and betting on Jamaican Blue Mountain futures - all in a day's work at Brown Sugar Unlimited LLC. Even with all that catering, Web wizardry and investing going on, Monica Turner somehow found time to be a pediatrician, mom and ex-Mrs. Mike Tyson. How did she keep all those balls in the air? Sibling rivalry, baby.

TV viewers vote Stalin third-greatest Russian MOSCOW: Television viewers have voted Soviet dictator Josef Stalin - who sent millions to their deaths in the Great Purge of the 1930s - Russia's third-greatest historical figure. Rights activists have blasted Stalin's inclusion in the 90-day, nationwide project by the state-run Rossiya channel. They say authorities are trying to gloss over Stalin's atrocities and glorify his tyranny. The project, called "The Name of Russia," culminated with the announcement last night that Russian medieval leader Alexander Nevsky had been voted the greatest Russian, with more than 524,000 Internet and SMS votes.

Iraqi gunman who killed 2 U.S. soldiers is slain BAGHDAD: Two U.S. soldiers were killed and six others were wounded by an Iraqi soldier in an attack in the northern city of Mosul yesterday, according to the U.S. military, Iraqi security officials and witnesses. The shooter was immediately killed by other U.S. soldiers, they added. While the deaths of the U.S. soldiers were confirmed by the U.S. military, the circumstances surrounding the Mosul shooting remained in dispute. Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commander of U.S. troops in northern Iraq, said it began when two platoons of U.S. soldiers stopped at a combat outpost staffed by Iraqi soldiers.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Deprived of sleep and the chance to change his clothes, Michael S. Steele landed here Sunday night and was whisked to the cavernous Fox News tent at the Republican convention for yet another national television appearance. The former Maryland lieutenant governor hugged Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and bumped fists with conservative commentator Sean Hannity as he took his seat on an elevated, red-carpeted stage. Clad in linen slacks and a purple shirt beneath his blazer, Steele delivered the kind of smooth defense of John McCain that has made him a regular on the network.

If Anthony Brown ever gets his fill of politics, he might consider a second career as a tuxedo model. The lieutenant governor has already appeared, decked out in a snazzy penguin suit, in a magazine ad for Kustom Looks Clothier. Makes sense, since the Landover haberdashery bills itself as "The Official Clothier for Prominent Professionals." Except for that bit in Maryland law that prohibits state officials from using the "prestige" of their office for private gain. Brown spokeswoman Nancy Lineman said the lieutenant governor's office only recently became aware of the ad, which has run several times in Prince George's Suite magazine.

How many bigwigs can live under one roof? There's already a governor and a judge chez O'Malley. Now, residing in the same household, is a lieutenant governor. Grace O'Malley was elected lieutenant governor this week at the statewide Youth and Government program in Annapolis. She is the 17-year-old daughter of Gov. Martin and Judge Katie, not to mention granddaughter of a former lieutenant governor, Joe Curran, though he was the grown-up variety. Grace O'Malley's term as youth LG begins next year.

The O'Malley administration is reviewing its options for getting private developers on military bases to share the costs of highway upgrades and other infrastructure needed to accommodate growth, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown said yesterday. Speaking at a base-realignment planning meeting in Annapolis, Brown said private developers winning long-term leases from the Army and other military services to build offices, laboratories, hotels, restaurants and stores on bases in Maryland need to "shoulder their responsibility" for handling the off-base traffic generated by their projects.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown will lead a trade mission to China next week, an effort that officials said is designed to spur greater investment in Maryland by Chinese companies. The expedition is the first major overseas trip by the O'Malley administration. David Tillman, a spokesman for the Department of Business and Economic Development, said it is designed to do more than increase the import and export of goods between Maryland and China. "This is about creating jobs," Tillman said. "This is an invitation for direct investment where they're getting Chinese-headquartered companies to have operations in Maryland and we're trying to get Maryland corporations a presence in China."

The O'Malley administration's effort to prepare Maryland for the arrival of thousands of defense-related workers and their families began in earnest yesterday, with a tight six-month deadline to come up with a plan for accommodating the looming migration. Gov. Martin O'Malley opened the first meeting of the state's Base Realignment and Closure Subcabinet with a call to "maximize the opportunities" presented by the expected influx in the next several years of 45,000 to 60,000 defense-related jobs as a result of a nationwide military base reorganization.

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)