JUICEBLENDER - Pundits Pick Political Winners: O'Malley, Mizeur, Raskin, Hucker // Plus, Harford Exec for 2014 Gov?

Here's a random blend of political tidbits from the current news cycle, starting with an analysis of potential fallout from Maryland's current budget standoff:

JUICE #1: SENATE PREZ MIKE MILLER HARMS DEMOCRATIC BRAND - The Baltimore Sun's Annie Linskey recently published a lengthy write-up of the finger-pointing in the aftermath of Maryland's stalled budget negotiations. She printed speculation about the potential harm that a protracted budget battle could have on the reputations of political leaders, but most of the blame still seems to be hovering over Senate President Mike Miller. It seems clear that he is a poor brand-manager for the modern Democratic Party, and his ward boss political tactics are sullying the efforts of others. See an excerpt from The Sun's piece below:

Editorial Juice // Blaine Young for Gov?, Prince of Darkness Endorses Marriage Equality, The Sun Disses English Laws

UPDATE: A Maryland Juice reader calls into question whether Blaine Young is actually planning a run for Governor. They point out that his name was also incorrectly floated for CD6. The allegation originally comes from Frederick politico Joe Volz's Gazette column (noted below).

Maryland Juice presents two tidbits of editorial commentary from the Free State's politico pipeline.

Editorial Juice #1: Prince of Darkness Endorses Marriage Equality - Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich's hatchet-man Joe Steffen (aka the Prince of Darkness) recently endorsed marriage equality in Maryland. He also weighed in on Cowardgate (aka the GOP's cover story for hate) and defends First Lady Katie O'Malley's remarks:

Look, no matter where you stand on the marriage equality issue – and for the record, and despite the fact it’s going to light up about half of my friends, I favor passage of the bill – I think the question should be “Why did she apologize?”

The way I’m hearing it, there were a few legislators who switched sides at the last minute out of fear of reprisals if they voted for the bill. To those legislators who have strong beliefs either in favor of or in opposition to the bill, that’s fine. Vote your conscience. BUT, if you’re going to jump at the last moment out of fear of what may happen if you don’t – you’re a coward.  And no apologies will be forthcoming from this end.

Maryland Juice agrees with Mr. Steffen and doesn't think there was need for an apology. Either way, I'm glad that The Prince of Darkness is no coward!

Editorial Juice #2: Blaine Young for Governor? Plus, The Baltimore Sun Disses "English Language" Stunts - The Sun's editorial board yesterday called out the stupidity of Frederick and Anne Arundel County proposals to designate English as the official language of County government (excerpt below, full article at The Sun):

Arundel English-only bill: A hostile, empty gesture
Our view: Proposals to make English the 'official language' are code for demonizing immigrants

County Councilman Jerry Walker wants to make English the official language of Anne Arundel County. That would make perfect sense if English weren't already, for all practical purposes, the county's official language. When was the last time you heard someone complain they couldn't read a county parking ticket or other official document because it was written in Urdu or Farsi?

The fact that this never occurs ought to be a clue: This is not serious legislation but rather a piece of political theater that would achieve nothing more than puffing up the councilman's reputation among the anti-immigrant crowd....

Advocating such laws is, as Mr. Walker openly admits, code for "you're not welcome here," and politicians embrace the tactic because it's a way of giving the appearance of responding to voters' concerns about illegal immigration without actually doing anything about it....

Former Ehrlich Aide's Wild Accusation: Underage Intern Got Wasted in Rep. Andy Harris' Office, Chief of Staff Supplied Booze

Former Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich once employed Joe Steffen, a shadowy GOP operative who later became known as "the Prince of Darkness." At one point, Steffen's job was to target Democrats for firing from government jobs, and he was ultimately canned for spreading rumors about Martin O'Malley. Mr. Steffen now writes a Maryland politics blog, and a Maryland Juice reader forwarded us a WILD new blog post from the so-called Prince of Darkness.

Joe Steffen is alleging that Congressman Andy Harris' Chief of Staff bought booze for an underage intern's goodbye party in their Congressional office. According to Steffen, the intern supposedly got trashed and was then thrown out of the program -- on her last day. Steffen also claims Rep. Harris's Chief of Staff tried to blame the whole affair on another aide. You should read Mr. Steffen's accusations at his blog. He claims his version of the "facts" is supported "by three very reliable sources." We reprint some excerpts from his piece below, but you'll have to read the original to see his full accounting of the alleged events:

A little background: Kevin Reigurt is Andy Harris’ Chief of Staff, a top gun position that involves him overseeing Harris’ Washington DC office....

Late last summer (and I’d previously heard bits of the story – can you guess which parts were just recently brought to my attention?) Kevin Reigurt did something that boggles the mind....