Mikulski named an 'intimidator' by fellow Democrats

At the heavily attended press conference called by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a large wall map identified Sen. Barbara Mikulski as a "Democratic Intimidator."

Actually she was one of nine "Democratic Intimidators" – along with Sens. Leahy of Vermont, Schumer of New York, Dodd of Connecticut, Bayh of Indiana, Lincoln of Arkansas, Dorgan of North Dakota and Wyden of Oregon.

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So, I asked Sen. Jon Corzine of New Jersey, chairman of this Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Vice Chair Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan:

QUESTION: Senator, your map has as one of nine "Democratic Intimidators" Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski. I have a two-part question --

SEN. CORZINE: She is pretty intimidating as far as I'm concerned. (laughter).

QUESTION: Have your investigators talked to one of the Maryland legislature's most powerful incumbents, former State Senator and Judiciary Chairman Democrat Walter Baker, about new state Sen. E.J. Pipkin, who upset him and is now running against Mikulski?

SEN. CORZINE: We are aware of who the candidates will be. And we don't take anything for granted. Even among the intimidators. But if you looked at the position of Sen. Mikulski relative to anyone, she is extraordinarily popular and has served the people of Maryland extremely well. And I feel like she's going to be a fairly intimidating force in the November election.

QUESTION: Since Maryland just recently elected a Republican governor who defeated a Kennedy, why do you believe it impossible for Maryland to retire Sen. Mikulski?

SEN. STABENOW: First of all, the primary that just happened: Sen. Mikulski took 90 percent of the vote. You don't get much better than that. This is somebody who has unified the base of Democrats, of working-class people, of those who understand that she fights for them every single day. I am very confident, along with Jon, that she is one of our strongest candidates. She is somebody who takes nothing for granted. She is fund-raising. She is actively involved in campaigning. And this is not somebody to be taken lightly. And I am very confident that she is going to be re-elected.

SEN. CORZINE: By the way, that term – "intimidator" – just means that the numbers are very long odds on other individuals being able to take them out. It doesn't mean that we're not paying attention or taking anything for granted, or that the candidates are not working very hard. If we were looking at that on the opposite side, we might want to use our resources someplace else.

Later in this press conference, by way of illustrating how very, very far from objectivity are these two Democratic senators, I asked:

QUESTION: Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state is not an "intimidator" (laughter).

SEN. STABENOW: I think she is.

QUESTION: You do? Who did she intimidate?

SEN. STABENOW: I think she's a tough strong campaigner, fund-raiser, fighter for Washington state.

QUESTION: You liked that speech she gave at the Vancouver High School? (After which she became widely known as "Osama Mama" Murray).

SEN. STABENOW: Well, I think it was unfortunate that that was taken out of context.

QUESTION: Out of context?

SEN. STABENOW: I think it was very unfortunate that people were focusing on that and not focusing on her record, which is an excellent record of fighting for the people of Washington.

Which makes me wonder whether Sen. Stabenow believes that Sen. Murray's outrageous speech was off the record.

In Maryland, Republican U.S. Senate nominee Pipkin is no more intimidated by Sen. Mikulski than he was by state Senate Chairman Baker – or Gov. Bob Ehrlich was intimidated by a Kennedy.

In Annapolis, in debate with two particularly articulate Democrat arguers, Pipkin declared: "I think the biggest job creation in the state and in the nation is with small business – small business owners who are impacted most by a lot of the federal tax policies." So, let's look at the incumbent senator's record on taxes:

• In 1993, she was the deciding vote for the largest tax increase in history. (Delegate Sandy Rosenberg: "That balanced the budget").

• She's also on the record as consistently voting for tax increases for Social Security.

• She has consistently voted against marriage-penalty relief.

• Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, when you look at the president's tax cuts of 2003, we're beginning to [see] some of the biggest economic numbers unseen in 20 or 25 years. And job growth is beginning to happen. And you know, as we roll closer to November and these jobs increase, the president's going to get more credit for that. And the incumbent junior senator voted against that tax cut. And you know it's that anti-business policy – anti-small business policy that hurts job growth in the state of Maryland.

Conclusion: E.J. Pipkin is not at all intimidated. Will Barbara Mikulski dare to debate him?