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Some may have doubted that they'd ever see Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's name in connection with an election again.

But there the former looie was this week with two other "formers"— former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and Barbara Roberts, the former governor of Oregon. The trio sent a letter to attorneys general and election officials in all 50 states calling for them to speak out against false "lose your home, lose your vote" messages.

The letter asks state officials "to rule in writing or by means of other public statement within the next two weeks that any attempts to block the voting rights of Americans in foreclosure are not permissible under state law. We are so concerned by reports of a possible lose-your-home, lose-your-vote campaign …"

The effort is organized by NoVoterLeftBehind.net, a project of Democrats for America's Future, which counts Townsend, Moseley Braun and Roberts among its board of advisers.

In a statement launching the effort, Townsend's brother, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., wrote "No more 2000s and 2004s! … The Republican Party mounted a coordinated, criminal campaign to steal the 2004 Presidential election — and it worked. Now, as another election approaches, you and I need to stand together to make absolutely certain it doesn't happen again."

Maryland is already taking steps to extinguish voter intimidation efforts.

AG Doug Gansler recently wrote a letter making it clear that people do not lose the right to vote if their home is in foreclosure.

The letter is posted on the state Board of Elections' Web site, under a "Rumor Control" section that dispels other myths about voter eligibility, such as voters not being allowed to wear campaign buttons or T-shirts to the polls.

— Sean R. Sedam

Cut it out

He's not crazy about the term "Bohanan Commission," but Del. John Bohanan has been doing things his way after taking over the Commission to Develop the Maryland Model for Funding Higher Education.

Originally dubbed the "Hogan Commission," after former senator and commission chairman turned University System of Maryland lobbyist P.J. Hogan (and for the obvious reason of brevity), the commission is to deliver a final report on higher education funding by year's end.

The report is "bubbling up" from work groups focused on things like "Economic Competitiveness" and "Appropriate Funding Shares" and formed after Bohanan took over last year.

"That's my job title — delegate," Bohanan said this week. "So I've delegated it out."

Bohanan didn't say much about what the report might recommend. But in light of a $1 billion budget gap that analysts say the state could face by fiscal 2010, he did offer this tidbit: "We struck the chapter that said we need an additional billion dollars," he said.

— Sean R. Sedam

A new day in America

It was a bizarre, seemingly backward week in politics, with a Republican presidential administration further injecting government into the national economy and John McCain advocating that the government buy up mortgages.

Then, there was Gov. Martin O'Malley, who stole a line from the Republican playbook, or at least an old script from the Reagan years.

"Good morning, everybody," O'Malley said at a Tuesday news conference to urge voter registration. "Or is it afternoon? Who's counting? It can be morning in America if all of us get out and vote."

The reference to the Reagan-era television ad did not go unnoticed by reporters who raised their eyebrows as if to ask: "Who are you? And what have you done with our Democratic governor?"

— Sean R. Sedam

Pulse of the state

The economy may be experiencing arrhythmia, but the political beat goes on.

Host Charles Duffy welcomes O'Malley to "Political Pulse" this week to talk about the Wall Street bailout, slots, the budget, energy efficiency and Comptroller Peter Franchot's call for a blue-ribbon committee to study spending in Maryland.

The show will run at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, 9 p.m. Thursday and 9:30 p.m. Oct. 21 on Montgomery Municipal Cable Channel 16.

— Sean R. Sedam

On the Road Again

(without Willie Nelson)

The Maryland State Highway Administration this week opened an exhibit at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, titled "100 Years of Modern Roadbuilding in Maryland."

Although features include "timeline models," no mention is made of the Intercounty Connector, whose unbuilt history spans roughly half those 100 years.

"It's not political — that would be a book itself," said SHA spokeswoman Valerie Burnette Edgar, explaining that the exhibit is more "generic."

Designed to interest young people in transportation and careers as civil engineers, the science center skips ICC battles in favor of the evolution of road-building materials and the like.

But two works coming out later this year do not forgo the rocky story of the long-debated, recently started road.

"Moving Maryland Forward, a Century of Modern Road Building" is the working title of both a book and a documentary to be aired Nov. 13 on Maryland Public Television, she said.

— Margie Hyslop

Facebook funnies

The next legislative session can't begin fast enough.

Seems Del. Saqib Ali's got some time on his hands. When he isn't fielding questions from his District 39 constituents, the delegate is updating his Facebook page. And what a Facebook page it is.

Instead of the boring drivel that usually accompanies anything associated with a politician, Ali's page includes all sorts of funny tidbits and riffs on popular culture. For example: "Saqib loves Fridays like a fat kid loves cake." And, "Saqib feels strange confusing emotions when Sarah Palin winks at him."

Fortunately, that's not him speaking in the third person, just the way the social networking site begins each new entry on a person's page. Just as fortunate, the Maryland Politics Watch blog picked up on Ali's page and posted the entries for everyone's reading pleasure.

"More than just my constituents look at it. It's goofy and people recognize it as a joke," Ali told us.

We sure did laugh, especially at these entries: "Saqib just bought several cans of Ax (sic) bodyspray to attract the ladies." "Saqib gets it from his Momma!" And, "If a woman's work is never done, I must be a woman … a really, really hot woman!"

In case you're wondering, Ali is married, so attracting the ladies is out; and, about him being a really, really hot woman: no comment. But his wife does read each entry before it posts to make sure it's PC, he said.

"I think I started a trend among legislators. I've noticed others have started adding creative things on their Facebook pages," Ali said. "I'll consider that my legacy."

— Janel Davis

Now you see him …

MoCo Fire Chief Tom Carr has gone Hollywood.

A week after the chief announced his new gig heading up the fire department in Charleston, S.C., Carr was hanging out in the County Council building going from meeting to meeting with a friend in tow. Seems the Charleston paper sent a reporter up to good ol' MoCo to shadow the chief during his last days in the county for a feature story.

We're hoping The Gazette sends us down to Charleston for a similar "feature," but with the cash-strapped economy, we'll probably have to settle for the messages we get back from our fleet of carrier pigeons.

If only we could see Charleston from our house …

— Janel Davis

Making jokes

The MoCo Council took a few swipes at the GOP veep choice at this week's meeting.

During a round of debate on special taxing districts, then again later in the day, one of the members included, "you betcha" in remarks, setting off lots of laughs. Others joined in with their own Palin-isms, saying things like "Joe Six-pack" and "golly."

With a fully Democratic council, laughing at the Republicans is that much easier.

— Janel Davis

Ambulance fees?

Not a Core value

MoCo resident and radio host Chris Core took on the county's proposed ambulance fee on his "Core Values" segment on WTOP radio this week.

Seems the Value Man is not on board with the fee and wants us all to know it.

I don't ask a lot of my county, he said, just basic services like good schools and good public safety. But an ambulance fee is over the limit. Even with insurance companies on the hook for the costs, that just doesn't cut it, Core said.

And then he invoked Robin Ficker. The tax activist's ballot question requiring the full council to approve a property tax increase just might pass this time, Core said.

And if it doesn't, let's just wait for Core to weigh in on that, too.

— Janel Davis

In our cups

FreshÎns, the smoothie and health food chain, introduced a new drink container at its University of Maryland, College Park site recently with an eye toward being eco-friendly.

The chain, based in Atlanta, is halting its use of environmentally evil polystyrene foam in favor of the new "ecotainers," which are made of a material that landfill microbes can consume.

The miracle material? Paper. Who knew?

— Douglas Tallman

Brand-name radio

Only in Washington would two politically oriented talk radio stations rebrand themselves like this in an election year.

Red Zebra Broadcasting, which purchased a group of local AM stations from Clear Channel this summer, has temporarily changed the call letters of its two political stations to "McCain 570" and "Obama 1260."

Little has changed besides the names, as both stations will continue to air their previous lineup: conservative syndicates Bill Bennett, Laura Ingraham, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Miller and Michael Savage, along with Fox News radio and Dow Jones Financial reports on "McCain 570," nee WTNT. Progressive pundits Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz, Lionel, Rachel Maddow and Ron Reagan, along with news updates from CNN and CNBC, will be heard on "Obama 1260," nee WWRC.

But don't get used to the name changes. The stations will revert to their old call letters after the election.

— Alan Brody

Draft shark

There's no shortage of lobbyists in Annapolis, but Don Hogan hopes to fill a void that he believes exists around State Circle.

The longtime House Judiciary Committee counsel, who served as deputy legislative officer under Bob Ehrlich, is returning to the capital city after a year as a private attorney to build his law practice, which specializes in bill and amendment drafting.

"I wasn't looking for a complete career change when Bob Ehrlich lost the election," he said. "I'd like to continue in some fashion with what I was doing, and this is a perfect opportunity for me."

The Chevy Chase resident sent a letter last week to several hundred registered lobbyists introducing his firm and soliciting potential clients. He already does bill drafting and provides legal counsel for the Maryland Retailers Association and hopes other special interest groups and lobbying shops value his legislative expertise.

"I'm hoping there's a little niche market," Hogan said. "The question is whether there's a market in the current [economic] climate."

Some larger outfits employ a full-time bill drafting expert, but others can only afford someone during the 90-day session, especially at a time when money is tight.

Hogan, who composed Ehrlich's doomed slots legislation, believes he can be an asset in dealing with minor bill changes.

"Rather than going into a hearing or to a chairman and saying, ‘Look, we need this fixed and we'll be glad to work with staff,' I can go and say, ‘If you adopt this amendment, we're fine with it,'" he said.

In the letter, Hogan makes it clear that he is not the competition. "I am not providing a lobbying practice," he wrote. "My intent is to give you the tools and resources you need to achieve your goals for your clients. I do this by ensuring that bills and amendments are properly drafted to achieve your desired intent and meaning."

Welcome the new kid on the block.

— Alan Brody

Who's No. 1?

Here's a top 10 list in which Baltimoreans won't mind being at the top.

Despite being the nation's 26th-largest market, Baltimore placed Numero Uno in the Nielsen household figures for the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain and the vice presidential faceoff between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.

The market logged a 47.7 rating for the Sept. 26 presidential debate at the University of Mississippi and a 59.1 rating for last week's veep showdown, beating out top markets New York and Los Angeles and many other major metropolitan areas. One rating point equals 1 percent of the total television audience. That works out to roughly 522,000 households for Obama-McCain Round 1 and about 651,000 viewers for the sole Biden-Palin scuffle.

Charm City nearly pulled off the trifecta, ranking third in the overnight Nielsen ratings for Tuesday's second presidential debate at Belmont University, behind only host city Nashville and cross-state sibling Memphis.

Overall, 45 percent of all homes watched the VP debate compared with 34.7 percent that tuned in to the presidential debate. Of course, the latter affair was on a Friday night, when ratings are typically lower than on a Thursday, when the VP hopefuls tussled.

Bragging rights? In comparison, D.C., the ninth-largest TV market, ranked 13th for the vice presidential debate and 12th for Tuesday's presidential town hall debate. Who woulda thunk it?

— Alan Brody

Paul's party

Ron Paul didn't fare so well at the polls in Maryland — or any other state for that matter — in his quixotic bid for the White House (6 percent, if you're wondering).

But the quirky GOP congressman from Texas with a Libertarian tilt was scheduled to headline a rally and fundraiser Thursday night at the University of Maryland with the state's Republican congressional candidates. Curiously, the two GOP candidates with the best chance of winning Nov. 4 — Roscoe Bartlett and Andy Harris — had not confirmed their attendance.

The four candidates who did plan to attend have their hands full: Richard Matthews faces Dutch Ruppersberger in the 2nd District, Peter James once again challenges newbie Donna Edwards in the deep-blue 4th, Collins Bailey goes up against Majority Leader Steny Hoyer in the 5th, and Mike Hargadon wants to unseat the fiery orator Elijah Cummings in the Dem-rich 7th.

A press release announcing the reception notes that all four challengers share Paul's values of limited constitutional government, fiscal responsibility, economic and personal liberty and national sovereignty.

It also states that enthusiasm surrounding their campaigns has grown since Congress passed the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan last week, which all four opposed.

— Alan Brody

Capital for … always

With O'Malley traipsing across the state of late bestowing "Capital for a Day" honors on Hagerstown, Leonardtown, Pocomoke City, Chestertown and Port Towns, the everyday capital might have felt a little left out.

So O'Malley spent Wednesday in his backyard of Annapolis, touring schools, a creative arts center and businesses on Main Street, and meeting with local officials to discuss public safety efforts. (We note that Ehrlich took frequent strolls down Main Street when he lived in Government House, chumming with the locals and regularly accompanied by us ink-stained wretches.)

The inclusion of Annapolis on O'Malley's tour schedule was not lost on Mike Busch, who escorted the guv around the city. "We can't call it Capital for a Day because we're the capital every day," he said.

— Alan Brody

Cabinet crystal ballin'

Still distraught that Mike Steele was passed over as McCain's running mate?

Buck up Maryland GOPers, because the folks over at Congressional Quarterly foresee a spot for the ex-light guv in McCain's Cabinet should he win the White House.

Sure, Election Day is still three-plus weeks away, but that hasn't stopped CQ from playing Nostradamus and predicting each candidate's department heads. Actually, they selected the three most likely picks for each of 18 posts and asked online visitors to take it from there.

And it's none other than Steele who's considered the top choice for Housing and Urban Development secretary among CQ web readers, far outpacing former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and Corporation for National and Community Service board chairman Stephen Goldsmith.

Neither O'Malley nor Ehrlich is among CQ's top three picks for Cabinet posts in an Obama or McCain administration. But a possible candidate for Obama's education secretary, according to CQ, is former North Carolina guv Jim Hunt, who is Ehrlich's law partner at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice.

— Alan Brody