Maryland Politics

Below are some highlights from this week's entries on The Baltimore Sun's Maryland Politics Blog, along with selected comments from readers. The first motions in the state's case against Sheila Dixon were Friday morning. So what's a mayor to do on such a potentially stressful day? Hold a fundraiser! According to an e-mail from Friends for Sheila Dixon, the mayor hosted a breakfast fundraiser for her re-election campaign hours before her attorneys were in court. Tickets were $250 for individuals or $1,000 for sponsors of the event.

It was early in the campaign last year for Maryland's open congressional seat, and John Sarbanes was in Boston for a fundraiser. Appearing before an audience that included classmates from Harvard Law School and fellow Greek-Americans, he spoke about how the nation's reputation in the world depended on a foreign policy that was respectful of other countries. That talk - not just the ideas, but the reasoned and deliberate way he expressed them - put at least one old family friend in mind of Sarbanes' father.

WASHINGTON -- House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, already the highest-ranking congressman in Maryland history, became the longest-serving yesterday. "I guess if one lives long enough and stays put ... , " the Southern Maryland Democrat said with a chuckle over the telephone from New York, where he was helping a pair of freshmen raise money for re-election in 2008. "It's surprising because it doesn't seem that long to me." It was 26 years and a day, in fact, since Hoyer was sworn in to replace the ailing Rep. Gladys Noon Spellman.

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.

IT BEGAN 20 years ago on this page. Since then, more than 900 columns have been published under my name, most dealing with Maryland politics and government.So much has changed in those two decades, and even more has changed since I came to this newspaper and began covering local political gatherings in 1969.Maryland politics isn't what it used to be. Much of the entertainment has been removed.Back in the early 1970s, the General Assembly was populated by muldoons -- legislative denizens elected by their local political club ("the machine")

CRISFIELD -- Anybody who is anybody in Maryland politics -- and plenty more who want to be somebody in Maryland politics -- converged yesterday on the seafood capital of the Lower Eastern Shore.Up to their elbows in Old Bay, almost 5,000 visitors wielded crab mallets at the 23rd J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clambake, a shindig that raises as much as $70,000 for the local Chamber of Commerce and for one day each summer turns the waterfront town of 2,700 into ground zero for campaign-style schmoozing, even in a nonelection year.

IT BEGAN 20 years ago on this page. Since then, more than 900 columns have been published under my name, most dealing with Maryland politics and government.So much has changed in those two decades, and even more has changed since I came to this newspaper and began covering local political gatherings in 1969.Maryland politics isn't what it used to be. Much of the entertainment has been removed.Back in the early 1970s, the General Assembly was populated by muldoons -- legislative denizens elected by their local political club ("the machine")

WITH THE NEW term of the Maryland General Assembly beginning tomorrow, it seems appropriate to provide an updated lexicon of the political parlance of the state.To wit:Arm-breaking: Lining up "the votes" persuasively, the old-fashioned way. Used to ensure leadership gets what leadership wants.Bell-ringer: A bill or amendment proposed to the legislature to exact favors and money (as in ringing the cash register bell) from those whose interests are threatened by the legislation.B'hoys: Originally the Irish ward heelers of the large Eastern cities such as Baltimore.

Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has been described as the "crown princess" of Maryland politics -- a broadly popular figure who has avoided any taint from a string of embarrassing incidents that has troubled the Glendening administration.But recent revelations of a pattern of abuse at the state's juvenile boot camps have landed on her doorstep -- presenting the possible gubernatorial candidate with the most serious test of her career in public office.As Gov. Parris N. Glendening's coordinator of anti-crime efforts, Townsend is responsible for overseeing a juvenile justice department that the administration acknowledges has had serious managerial problems.

When Anne Arundel County had a conservative Republican as its county executive, business owners would explain their contributions to his campaign by saying they supported his pro-development philosophies.But voters in November elected a moderate Democrat backed by unions and environmentalists. Some of the same business owners are now giving to the new executive, and a few no longer are claiming philosophical reasons.Asked about their change of colors, some are candid: They write checks to buy access and influence policy.

It's been a busy week in Maryland politics, with the General Assembly session heating up and more news about the possible sale of the state's thoroughbred tracks. Here are some highlights from The Baltimore Sun's Maryland Politics blog, along with selected comments from readers: Shopping center magnate Carl Verstandig plans to bid on Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park and wants to redevelop them into retail centers. His preference, he says, is to raze Pimlico, and he doesn't seem all that enamored of keeping Laurel running, either.

Below are some highlights from this week's entries on The Baltimore Sun's Maryland Politics Blog, along with selected comments from readers. The first motions in the state's case against Sheila Dixon were Friday morning. So what's a mayor to do on such a potentially stressful day? Hold a fundraiser! According to an e-mail from Friends for Sheila Dixon, the mayor hosted a breakfast fundraiser for her re-election campaign hours before her attorneys were in court. Tickets were $250 for individuals or $1,000 for sponsors of the event.

In horse racing, the term "abandoned" refers to a race that's canceled and all bets returned. Many in Maryland's horse racing industry will be disappointed to find out their abandonment by Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. involves no return on investment. The former governor's recent decision to oppose his successor's plan for legalized slots hit his former allies at the tracks like a thoroughbred owner whose jockey just got called for interference of his own horse. One local racing lobbyist, a man who served time in prison for fraud, told a Washington Post reporter that Mr. Ehrlich's performance marked "a new low in Maryland politics."

WASHINGTON -- House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, already the highest-ranking congressman in Maryland history, became the longest-serving yesterday. "I guess if one lives long enough and stays put ... , " the Southern Maryland Democrat said with a chuckle over the telephone from New York, where he was helping a pair of freshmen raise money for re-election in 2008. "It's surprising because it doesn't seem that long to me." It was 26 years and a day, in fact, since Hoyer was sworn in to replace the ailing Rep. Gladys Noon Spellman.

It is customary at the start of Board of Public Works meetings for members to make personal comments, so Comptroller Peter Franchot took advantage last week by introducing his daughter. In case those in the packed State House reception room couldn't locate her, Franchot noted that Abbe, 25, was modestly "hiding behind the television cameras." Gov. Martin O'Malley, sitting at Franchot's side, grinned broadly and said, "A quality she got from her mother." As laughter filled the room, Franchot - the state's unapologetically outspoken Democratic comptroller - responded with a smile, "It is very unFranchot-like."

?We in the FBI, myself in particular, fell short.? FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee Article, PG 4a Up Next Tomorrow Joyner Show Live in B-more Gospel and R&B singer Shirley Murdock headlines the Tom Joyner Morning Show at Morgan State University. In Live! Disney movie milestone Disney recently unveiled information about its next animated film in production, called The Frog Princess, scheduled for release in 2009. But the most awaited element is that the lead character will be Disney's first African-American princess.

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.

It was early in the campaign last year for Maryland's open congressional seat, and John Sarbanes was in Boston for a fundraiser. Appearing before an audience that included classmates from Harvard Law School and fellow Greek-Americans, he spoke about how the nation's reputation in the world depended on a foreign policy that was respectful of other countries. That talk - not just the ideas, but the reasoned and deliberate way he expressed them - put at least one old family friend in mind of Sarbanes' father.

John T. Willis, 60, who served two terms as Gov. Parris N. Glendening's secretary of state, is now teaching undergraduate students the eccentricities of Maryland politics, often as reflected in the state's demographics. He's on the faculty of the University of Baltimore's School of Public Affairs and does research for the William Donald Schaefer Center for Public Policy. (Willis challenged Schaefer in the Democratic primary for state comptroller four years ago. Willis lost.) These days, Willis is tying up the ends on a book, Maryland Politics and Government, that he's writing with fellow political science professor Herb Smith.

In Maryland politics, 2006 was not exactly the Year of the Woman. No major statewide office was captured by a woman. The eight-member congressional delegation remains all-male. And after the number of women serving in Maryland's General Assembly reached the highest peak in the history of the state legislature, Election Day reduced that number by more than 10 percent. "Women had a very bad year in Maryland," said Paula C. Hollinger, a former state senator from Baltimore County who gave up her safe seat to run for Congress, losing in the primary to a man. "We've made big gains.