Political Leaders

City Councilman Martin O'Malley -- the leading white candidate in Baltimore's mayoral contest -- is picking up biracial support among state legislators in his bid to lead a city that is predominantly African-American.State Sen. Joan Carter Conway became the first African-American elected official to endorse O'Malley yesterday, saying it is most important that voters consider who the best mayor would be rather than focus on the race of the 27 candidates who are running."It is not about black and white," Conway, who represents the 43rd District, said during a public endorsement in a vacant lot across from Conway's district legislative office in Northeast Baltimore.

Perhaps, many Marylanders say, it's proper for Congress to scrutinize the president. We should hold the nation's leaders to high moral standards, they say.But for many, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal has created a tidal wave of bitterness. And in neighborhood diners and senior centers, beauty parlors and schools this week, Baltimore-area residents bemoaned the state of America's leadership and the political pessimism that young people are growing up with.As Congress begins debate today on whether to impeach the man who once worshipped John F. Kennedy and Thomas Jefferson -- presidents whose once secret sexual proclivities have long been tabloid gossip -- many are asking:Can it get any worse?

CAN ANY member of Congress honestly say that decision-making in the White House will be improved, that systematic wrongs will be righted, that the American people will gain enhanced respect for their leaders or that any other gain will be achieved from holding hearings on the Whitewater affair?The idea of a "serious examination of the issues" by Congress brings a smirk to the face of anyone over 12 years old.Such is the result of media-driven politicians and scandal-driven media, which together dominate and corrupt the political process in the United States today.

A task force of Marylanders trying to keep the Capitals and Bullets from moving to Washington met for an hour yesterday and reviewed the feasibility of the financing proposal now before the District of Columbia city council.Abe Pollin, owner of the sports teams, signed on Monday amemorandum of understanding with district business leaders calling for the teams to relocate from Landover to a publicly financed arena to be built in Washington.For the project to be accomplished, political leaders of the city will have to provide $18 million to cover up-front costs and $9 million a year in bond payments.

WASHINGTON -- Early in his contentious debate with Vice President Al Gore last night, Ross Perot observed that "this is not an athletic contest." What was equally obvious, if unstated, was that neither was it an educational experience.If there was a winner by the usual standards applied to political debates, it was the vice president, who showed himself as a confident and forceful advocate for the North American Free Trade Agreement, unsettling Mr. Perot repeatedly and hammering home the administration's basic message on several occasions by declaring "the politics of negativism and fear go only so far."

As our nation reflects on the significance of the 1992 congressional and presidential elections one thing is clear. A strong message was sent from the electorate. By giving Ross Perot 19 percent of the vote, sending George Bush to an early retirement, electing the first baby-boomer president, sending large numbers of new members to Congress and increasing the number of women and minority groups in the Senate and House of Representatives, Americans said with their votes: ''Politics as usual is no longer acceptable.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Angry soldiers attacked the legislative building where Senate leaders were meeting yesterday evening and forced them at gunpoint to name an interim president to replace ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.Shooting at windows and storming into the building, a mob of 100 soldiers trapped the legislators inside after hearing rumors that they had agreed to demands by the Organization of American States that Father Aristide, who was overthrown eight days ago, be restored to office.

Anne Arundel political leaders voted last night to file suit to block the General Assembly redistricting plan that splits the county into four congressional districts."

What do politics in this country need most now -- leaders or managers?Political leaders are people of conviction as well as talent. Their convictions enable them to inspire those whom they lead and their talents make them competent.Good political managers must also be talented but their effectiveness comes from getting contentious groups to work together.Good managers are needed when the body politic is basically sound but has a lot of problems. Leaders, on the other hand, are needed when people sense there is something basically wrong with their political community.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who became a symbol of opposition to apartheid when most black political leaders were in exile or jail, says he is happy to take a back seat now that the political leaders are free.The Anglican church leader, who was pictured regularly in the world press in the 1980s as he confronted white police authorities, chuckles as he remarks on "how infrequently now my name appears" in the news."We operated the way we did in order to give people space" when the church was the only route through which people could express political dissent, he said.

A Prince George's County state senator says the Wall Street bailout came up a lot last weekend at the Maryland City Volunteer Fire Department's fall bazaar. People were wondering why they weren't getting bailed out. Some just shrugged. What'd you expect? they said. Sen. Jim Rosapepe sympathized but heard a disturbing sense of resignation in some responses. The government's assertion that Main Street was, in fact, Wall Street came across like the old joke: We're from the government and we're here to help you. Yeah, right, people said.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Shiite political leaders agreed on a new nominee for prime minister yesterday, raising hopes for an imminent end to the two-month stalemate that has paralyzed Iraqi politics. The United Iraqi Alliance announced that it had chosen Jawad al-Maliki as its candidate to head the next government. He would replace incumbent Ibrahim al-Jaafari, whose refusal to relinquish the post had emerged as the biggest obstacle to the formation of a new government. Sunni and Kurdish political leaders who had strenuously opposed al-Jaafari's candidacy indicated that they would accept al-Maliki, meaning that the first posts in the government could be filled when the Iraqi parliament meets today.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi leaders worked yesterday to solve their impasse over who will rule the country, with a secular coalition proposing an emergency government that would supersede election results and Shiite clerics conferring on how best to preserve their sect's newfound power. Politicians remained deadlocked over Sunni Arab and Kurdish opposition to Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the main Shiite coalition's nominee for prime minister. The crisis has created a political vacuum, stalling critical reconstruction projects and contributing to the country's security woes.

Dear parents or guardians of the students in 11 Baltimore schools now facing heavy-handed treatment from the woman you've cast as the Wicked Witch of the West, state school Superintendent Nancy Grasmick: First things first: I hope you'll forgive the sarcasm dripping from that opening remark. But I'm still steamed at Baltimore's political leaders -- and I use that word leaders guardedly -- who've accused Grasmick of having a political motive for seizing four city high schools and seven middle schools with failing test scores.

LT. GOV. Michael S. Steele, a conservative Republican, and Montgomery County Council President Tom Perez, a liberal Democrat, will spend a lot of time together over the next two years. Steele and Perez are among the 24 promising young political leaders chosen for the inaugural class of the Aspen Institute-Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership. Candidates for the fellowship were nominated by business, political and civic leaders and were screened by a 50-member advisory panel that included Democrats Mario Cuomo, Ann Richards and Gary Hart and Republicans Alan Simpson, Jack Kemp and John McCain.

AS PEOPLE of faith, we disagree with public officials' use of the phrase "people of faith." A few weeks ago, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist spoke at "Justice Sunday: Stop the Filibuster Against People of Faith." The Senate leadership, using this mantra, threatened to exercise the so-called nuclear option, eliminating the use of the filibuster for judicial nominees. Recent articles in Time and The New York Times are also making much of "people of faith." We are pleased that the media are talking about issues of faith.

AT THE END of the first war with Iraq, in 1991, American intelligence agencies were caught by surprise when it became clear just how close Saddam Hussein was to developing a nuclear weapon. Understandably, they weren't going to make that mistake again, so when the idea took hold that the Iraqi dictator was once more pursuing weapons of mass destruction in the early years of this decade, who would have been so foolish as to downplay the threat? Virtually the entire intelligence community jumped over the cliff together on that one, and now a commission named by President Bush has helpfully pointed out that they were all "dead wrong."

WASHINGTON - All through the chaotic aftermath of President Bush's invasion of Iraq, he has been credited by supporters with "staying the course" - demonstrating his firmness by not wavering in his pursuit of a democratic Iraqi state. While it is true that he has said consistently that there will be an American presence in Iraq until that objective is ensured, the means of achieving it have fluctuated repeatedly. His performance in dealing with occupied Iraq has been a series of switches and retreats in his rationales for the war and in his administration's seat-of-the-pants decisions to find its way out of the morass created by his own hand, and/or those of his advisers.

MARYLAND'S highest court last week profoundly altered the political landscape of Maryland. By undertaking a wholesale redrawing of the legislative map produced by Gov. Parris N. Glendening, the Court of Appeals significantly impacted the state's largest city, Baltimore, and various political leaders. Though it could be appealed, this map will likely stand, because at this late date, another round of court proceedings would delay the election. While candidates check the new map to see where they live - and, thus, what district they must run in - political leaders should begin thinking about adjustments in the redistricting process that spurred the court to redraw the map in the first place.

City Councilman Martin O'Malley -- the leading white candidate in Baltimore's mayoral contest -- is picking up biracial support among state legislators in his bid to lead a city that is predominantly African-American.State Sen. Joan Carter Conway became the first African-American elected official to endorse O'Malley yesterday, saying it is most important that voters consider who the best mayor would be rather than focus on the race of the 27 candidates who are running."It is not about black and white," Conway, who represents the 43rd District, said during a public endorsement in a vacant lot across from Conway's district legislative office in Northeast Baltimore.