Townsend Is Democrats' Rising Star
By Bridget Gutierrez
Capital News Service
Friday, Feb. 19, 1999
ANNAPOLIS- One of the first things you notice about Lt. Gov. Kathleen
Kennedy Townsend is her firm handshake. She grips your right hand in hers
while holding your elbow with her free hand, and begins pumping your arm.
The whole time, she looks you squarely in the eye trapping you in her
deep brown eyes and making you feel you're the only two people in the
room.
It's that magnetism that political insiders say has helped make
Townsend's career. The consensus among Republicans and Democrats is that
Townsend has matured over the past four years into a polished campaigner
who is ready for higher office. Gov. Parris N. Glendening, recognizing her
transformation, has made Townsend the administration's point person on
economic development a job that positions her for a run for the state's
top seat.
"Anytime a person is a lieutenant governor, you have to ask if they
are qualified or prepared to step up to be governor," Glendening said. "In
my mind, the answer's `yes.'"
The eldest child of the late Sen. Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy,
Townsend is Maryland's first female lieutenant governor and the first
Kennedy woman to hold elected office. Despite her political heritage, it's
taken the 47-year-old Townsend 13 years to reach this point in her career.
Townsend's first campaign was in 1986 for a Baltimore County
congressional seat. Republican incumbent Helen Delich Bentley beat her
handily, but Townsend was commended for her funky, upbeat style: jogging
door to door in a dress and Nikes literally "running for office."
"I'm still the only person to beat a Kennedy in a general election,"
Bentley said recently.
Bentley labeled Townsend a "carpetbagger" then because Townsend who
grew up at the family estate in McLean, Va. had lived in Maryland for
just two years.
Bentley since has followed Townsend's career and said "she has
matured in a positive fashion."
After eight years during which she worked at the state Department of
Education and then at the U.S. Department of Justice Townsend ran for
office again. This time as Glendening's running mate.
Because Townsend had little political experience, critics said
Glendening chose her simply for her family roots: the Kennedy name draws
big contributions and is popular among blacks and liberals.
"Four years ago, some of the media did not give her a fair chance
because she was a Kennedy and had never run for statewide office,"
Glendening said. "I thought she was the very best (choice) and I have
never regretted it."
One of the reasons she wasn't used in the election was because she
wasn't a polished speaker, something she continues to work on.
"If you're open-minded and smart, you're going to improve the way you
present yourself," said Townsend's cousin, Delegate Mark Shriver,
D-Montgomery. "She's made an effort to improve and has done very well."
During last year's re-election campaign, Glendening featured Townsend
prominently in television commercials a sharp contrast to 1994, when he
was seldom seen with her.
"Notice how Gov. Glendening went out of his way (in the campaign) to
link his name with hers and to be seen with her at every opportunity,"
said Allan Lichtman, American University history department chairman.
"They were linked like Siamese twins. And Glendening, who is a very shrewd
politician, would not have done that unless it was to his advantage."
During her first term, Townsend concentrated on anti- crime
initiatives. Glendening said it was a natural fit because of her work as
deputy assistant attorney general in the Clinton Administration and her
law degree from the University of New Mexico.
In that role, Townsend instituted "HotSpots," a first- of-its-kind
program to intensify enforcement and prevention strategies in 35
high-crime neighborhoods, and "Break the Cycle," a program requiring
drug-addicted criminals to undergo more frequent drug testing and face
escalating penalties each time they test positive.
It was the first time that a lieutenant governor who has no formal
constitutional duties had been given such a substantive area to handle,
Glendening said.
"Some people say that the job of the lieutenant governor is just to
stand by and wait for the governor to die," Glendening joked.
It's true that even in Maryland's recent history, lieutenant
governors have had a mostly ceremonial role. Former Gov. William Donald
Schaefer and Lt. Gov. Melvin A. Steinberg, predecessors to the current
administration, had a contentious relationship in their final term.
Schaefer, known for holding grudges, successfully reduced Steinberg to a
$100,000-a-year figurehead after the two had a dispute.
Unlike Schaefer and Steinberg, Glendening and Townsend actually like
each other.
"I wouldn't use the word `co-governorship,'" said Townsend, "but I
think we've got a great team."
Townsend said she plans to attack economic development like she did
crime: establish a Cabinet, attend meetings, find out what the most
pressing problems are, and then develop programs to solve them.
Helping her in her efforts will be the new Secretary of the
Department of Business and Economic Development, Richard C. "Mike" Lewin,
and Schaefer, the new comptroller.
Lewin was Townsend's top choice for economic development secretary.
The two first met at a party in 1984 shortly after Townsend and her
husband, St. John's College teacher David Townsend, moved into Lewin's
Towson neighborhood, where the Townsends have reared their four daughters.
Lewin told Townsend when they first met how much he had admired her
father he was one of the organizers of the "Robert F. Kennedy for
President" campaign in Maryland, a few weeks before the senator was shot
to death in 1968.
"We became pretty fast friends," Lewin said.
Lewin seems to have true admiration for Townsend's intellect.
"Something I've noticed since I've been in government which has been only
two months is her ability, when we're dealing with complicated issues to
cut through to the critical variable," he said. "That's what I think is
truly demonstrated leadership."
But Lewin can't ignore the value of her political connections,
either. "She has the linkages," he said, "to some of the most
sophisticated business people in the world."
Those connections may serve Townsend well in future bids for
political office. She is being touted in political circles as the next
governor, the next congresswoman, even the next vice president of the
United States.
Political columnist Lichtman has talked to people on Capitol Hill
about the possibility of a Gore-Kennedy ticket in 2000, and when he does,
he said, "They actually know which Kennedy I'm talking about!"
Lichtman marvels at the strides Townsend has made.
"The criticism four years ago was that she was only a name," he said.
"She's far more than a name now. She's a person of consequence."
Copyright © 2001 University of Maryland College of Journalism.
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