Heather Mizeur

ROCKVILLE - Slot machines would be nothing but bad news for Maryland's economy and residents, according to some Montgomery County Democrats.

A group of elected officials gathered Monday afternoon to criticize the so-called benefits of approving gambling in Maryland to help cure a looming budget deficit.

"The idea of slots in Maryland is an invitation to a race at the bottom," said state Sen. Brian Frosh in front of the Red Brick Courthouse. "The message you get from the referendum is ‘let's dive in.'"

Ehrlich in oilIt's time for PolitickerMD.com's Winner and Losers, and as Barbara Mikulski could attest lately, you win some, you lose some. Also: scandals account for two losers, while Al Wynn cashes in and Bob Ehrlich takes his place in history.

All in Maryland's Winners and Losers for June 6, 2008. | CLICK HERE

Mizuer with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on the front page of today's Washington Post

Endorses Obama

Some would argue that having your cellphone deluged by sales calls is not such a bad thing, especially when the tele-marketers are senators, governors a former president and two of the most sought after people on the planet.

In a long front-page article in today's Washington Post, by Philip Rucker chronicles state Del. Heather Mizeur's five month DNC superdelegate odyssey. She kept a detailed diary noting the phone calls, letters and on-the-street interactions she had with people trying to sway her one way or the other.

Mizeur bounced back and forth between candidates, voting for Hillary Clinton in the Feb. 12 primary, and waiting to endorse Barack Obama until after the primaries ended, out of respect for Clinton.

"I felt, you know what, if I came out now for Obama, it'd feel like I was kicking her in the teeth. I'd just be another one of the bullies telling her to get out."

On picking Obama, Mizeur tells The Post, "The visual I kept coming back to was a moving truck pulling up in front of the White House. When I would think of Barack, Michelle and their kids jumping out of the moving truck, it excited me. It represented a new start and change, versus Bill and Hillary dusting off all of their things and putting them back where they were."

This week's Democratic congressional win in Mississippi has some in Maryland smiling and others frowning. Here are this week's Winners and Losers.

ANNAPOLIS- The House Health and Government Operations Committee held a hearing this afternoon to discuss House Bill (HB) 1391, the Kids First Act, which, if enacted, would strive to achieve universal health care for Maryland’s nearly 140,000 uninsured children.

Del. Heather Mizeur (D-Takoma Park), the chief sponsor of the legislation, said the state ranked 31st in children’s access to health care, which she called “a mark of great shame.”

“We must do better than that,” she said.

As the ‘Phantom 50’ seems to have been a myth all along, but Mark Halperin is speculating Obama – and maybe even Clinton – will announce several new superdelegate supporters today.