Democratic Senators Lisa Gladden & Bobby Zirkin Endorse Allan Kittleman, GOP Candidate for Howard County Executive

UPDATE: The commentary below appeared in this month's issue of Business Monthly, but it turns out the piece was written by Maryland Reporter's Len Lazarick, who has mirrored the full article on his own website (additional excerpt below):

MARYLAND REPORTER: It’s no secret that Sen. Allan Kittleman will need lots of Democrats to vote for a Republican for Howard County executive for him to accomplish what the GOP did 23 years ago — take over the county government.

“If Allan Kittleman can’t have a chance in Howard County, no one has a chance,” said attorney Michael Davis, who was campaign chairman for Republican Chuck Ecker when Ecker defeated Democrat Liz Bobo during her re-election bid for executive in 1990. Four years later, Republicans controlled the County Council, the courthouse offices and a majority of legislative seats.

Davis was involved in a poll taken last year that he said showed Kittleman “has good name recognition; he’s got high trust factors and likability factors.” But he’s still got “a tough fight”....

Maryland Juice previously noted that GOP State Senator Allan Kittleman was running for Howard County Executive in 2014, and that he would likely be facing off against Democratic HoCo Councilmember Courtney Watson. But we highlighted a report in Patch.com that Democratic State Senator Bobby Zirkin had crossed party lines to endorse Kittleman for Executive. There were rumors that another Democratic State Senator Lisa Gladden would be supporting the Republican candidate for HoCo Exec, but we never saw confirmation of that story until today. In fact, I only heard that Gladden was supporting Kittleman through an unverified report on Twitter about a month ago:

Last night a Maryland Juice reader forwarded us a scanned copy of an interesting article that appeared in the July 2013 edition of Business Monthly, which features interviews with Senators Zirkin and Gladden highlighting their endorsements for Allan Kittleman. The article, titled "Kittleman's Uphill Fight" does not yet appear in the online edition of Business Monthly, but we provide some excerpts from the newsprint below:

BUSINESS MONTHLY: "It's the content of your character, it's not a 'D' or 'R' behind your name that makes a difference, said Zirkin.... Zirkin said he also asked Kittleman whether he could bring up same-sex marraige. Kittleman was only one of the dozen Republicans in the state Senate that supported the measure...."

Sure enough, Gladden, with a more liberal voting record than Zirkin's is a Kittleman fan. "Allan is a whole different breed of Republican," Gladden said in an interview.... Gladden recognizes there's a whole range of issues on which she and Kittleman disagree, but he supported her position on an issue she's passionate about, abolition of the death penalty....

Notably, Zirkin highlights Kittleman's support for marriage equality, while Gladden highlights his support for death penalty repeal. But one Democratic commenter in the article below highlights other issues where Kittleman conflicts with mainstream Democratic politics. In the article, Howard County Democratic Party Chair Michael McPherson called Kittleman a "flaming Tea Party zealot" who opposes gun control and works to restrict women's access to health care.

More on the HoCo Exec battle soon!

CD6: John Delaney's New Radio Ad Talks Bi-Partisanship // Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's Democratic Opponent Claims Independence

Maryland's 6th Congressional District candidate John Delaney is out with a new radio ad in his race against Rep. Roscoe Bartlett. In the 60-second spot, which appeared on Delaney's YouTube channel, the Democratic challenger claims he will "work across party lines" to get things done. The new ad also states "John Delaney will be independent. In the Democratic Primary, he took on the candidate backed by the political machine and Delaney won." See the ad below:



Maryland Juice hopes that engaging in bipartisanship and standing up for core Democratic values are not mutually exclusive.

DNC Juice: Meet Our Convention Correspondent Jed Millard // WATCH: Gov. Martin O'Malley Speech and Harold & Kumar Vid

UPDATE: According to today's DNC schedule, three Marylanders are scheduled to speak tonight before President Bill Clinton takes the stage. You can watch the proceedings online.

• U.S Senator Barbara Mikulski: 7-8 pm
• Rep. Steny Hoyer: 8-9 pm
• Rep. Chris Van Hollen: 9-10 pm
  

MARYLAND AMONG TOP 5 "POWERHOUSE" STATES IN CHARLOTTE: Today Charlotte, North Carolina played host to the first day of proceedings at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Maryland Dems should have a few reasons to keep tabs on what's happening in Charlotte this week. After all, Politico rated Maryland among the top five "powerhouse" states at the DNC this year (excerpt below):

POLITICO: All 50 states are represented in Charlotte, but they’re not equal in relevance.... For a state with just 10 electoral votes, solidly Democratic Maryland packs a serious punch.

It’s not just the five speakers that Maryland will put forth on the convention stage. The delegation features two top former labor leaders ... and several top congressional Democrats....

The Democrat cutting the highest profile in the delegation, however, is Gov. Martin O’Malley, the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association... And as a 2016 prospect, O’Malley is keeping an aggressive speaking schedule to other states’ breakfast meetings.

FLASHBACK TO 2008: Democratic Party Platform is Full of Talk on Civil Liberties // In 2012, Will They Walk the Walk?

UPDATE: Two Senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee are sounding the alarm bells about improper government surveillance using Patriot Act powers:

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Mark Udall (D-Colorado) warned that the government is secretly interpreting sweeping surveillance powers in section 215 of the Patriot Act. They also warned that this "top secret intelligence operation" as the New York Times reported, is "not as crucial to national security as executive branch officials have maintained." The senators said Americans would be "stunned" to learn of the nature of this intelligence program.

Today, Washington Post columnist Jonathan Bernstein talks about the growing push to include marriage equality in the Party's platform this year. In Maryland, U.S. Senators Cardin & Mikulski have endorsed the effort. But rather than focus on marriage equality, per se, Bernstein pivots his column to talk about the state of civil liberties in the Democratic Party, more generally.

He notes that the 2008 Democratic Platform is full of many unfulfilled promises, and so he encourages us to read it again. Maryland Juice has answered the challenge, and I encourage you to join us in reading the Democrats' 2008 platform. Perhaps we can encourage our Party to actually show some resolve on these ignored issues:

2008 Democratic Party Platform:
Reclaiming Our Constitution and Our Liberties

As we combat terrorism, we must not sacrifice the American values we are fighting to protect. In recent years, we've seen an Administration put forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand. The Democratic Party rejects this dichotomy. We will restore our constitutional traditions, and recover our nation's founding commitment to liberty under law.

Senators Ben Cardin & Barbara Mikulski Call on Democrats to Add Marriage Equality to National Platform

Maryland Juice recently reported that the National Young Democrats are calling on the Democratic Party to place marriage equality in the party platform. The movement is gaining steam, as The Washington Blade reports that twenty-one U.S. Senators have joined the effort -- including both of Maryland's Senators:

A group of U.S. senators is joining the wave of LGBT rights supporters calling for an endorsement of marriage equality in the Democratic Party platform.

The Washington Blade received statements from the offices of 21 Democratic senators....