'He's almost an intellectual, and the next minute, he's a thug.' President of contradictions Mike Miller, state's longest-serving Senate, president, is an old-time politician in-a modern Annapolis "If you read history and read Blair Lee, Montgomery County's BY JOSH KURTZ about heroic everts, it makes you former State House lobbyist. "He's a hero," he says, eyes still shut. almost an intellectual, and the next minute, he's a thug." It's Cartfer Day at Mattaponi Gary Alexander, an Annapo­ Miller has been in public of­ Elementary School in Upper lis lobbyist who represented the fice for 31 years, the past 27 in the Marlboro, and Thomas V Mike same district as Miller in the state Senate. His district, as he Miller Jr., the longest serving House for 12 yoars, says Miller likes to put it, "begins at Mount president in the history of the embodies many of the qualities Vernon" (because Maryland Maryland Senate, is pacing of historic figun s. owns the Potomac River). He around a sixth-grade classroom "He's the greatest political represents the slice of old agri­ like a caged wild cat. general that I\e ever known," cultural southern Prince George's Alexander says. "Stonewall Jack­ County that his family has called On this muggy May after­ son, George S. I'atton, Robert E. noon, Miller is giving a rambling home for generations. He also Lee, Ulysses S. (rant—he's got it represents part of Calvert Coun­ dissertation on his life. all wrapped up n himself." "Understanding Mike Miller," ty, where he has recently moved, Gov. Parris N. Glendening ob­ and a sliver of Anne Arundel serves, "is understanding his 'Bundle of contradictions' County. In the past, his district three great passions: the state of has included portions of Charles Maryland, the Democratic Party Mike Miller i i one of the most County, and may again after and the Maryland Senate." enduring men in state politics — Glendening and the legislature and one of the most powerful. Glendening (D) quickly adds draw new legislative boundaries His fingerprints can be found all next year. a fourth to the list: trie University over the state. But he will never of Maryland at College Park. Miller has been president of be governor. the Senate for 15 years. He is be­ Miller (D-Dist. 27) of Clinton Any hopes he had of run­ talks about all of these during his coming increasingly visible in na­ ning for statewide office prob­ tional Democratic politics. He was half-hour presentation: ably ended ir 1989 when — •How the Mattaponi Indians close to Bill Clinton, and serves on just before his first major fund­ the executive board of the Demo­ got along so well with Mary­ raiser in Baltimore — he told a land's first settlers (he shows the Washington TV reporter that cratic National Committee. students some arrowheads he Baltimore wa> a "(expletive Miller is also a lawyer, with a found on the beach near his deleted] ghetto" and a "war tliriving personal injury and de­ Calvert County property). zone." He meant it to sound fense practice in Clinton and •How he got admitted to Col­ sympathetic, en acknowledge­ Dunkirk. lege Park: "Back then, the public ment that the city needed extra Miller uses all of these posi­ colleges had to take everybody." state help, but Baltimore took tions and all of these associations •The war within his house­ it the wrong way. to gather and radiate power hold — and his soul — between statewide and in the jurisdictions his mother's New Deal liberal­ Without Baltimore, no gover­ he represents. ism and his father's Dixiecrat nor's mansion. This past year has been par­ conservatism. Instead, Miller must content ticularly eventful for Miller. He himself with being one of the •His reverence growing up moved from his brick home in state's major power brokers not Clinton into palatial new digs for the local state senator, Lans- unlike the statesmen whose biog­ dale Sasser. reminiscent of Monticello ("I raphies he devours. have a big house," Miller confess­ Several days later, in his bur­ He has a passion for history gundy-colored State House of­ es when one of the sixth-graders and can recite the stories of Mary­ asks him if he lives in a mansion). fice, Miller takes a visitor on a land's founding families. He is similar tour. One minute, he's The Senate this year christened also, in an increasingly sanitized its new $22 million Thomas V. describing a meeting he just had and suburban ;zed State House, with the Prince George's County Mike Miller Jr. Senate Office one of the few practitioners of old- Building ("the Taj Mikhail"). And Senate delegation, planning for school, bare-knuckle politics, un­ the 2002 elections. Miller has proudly seen one afraid to use incendiary language daughter, Melanie, gain political The next minute, he's closing to scorch an opponent. his eyes reverentially, conjuring prominence as head of the Mary­ "He's this bundle of contradic­ land Young Democrats, and an­ up the image of one of his he­ tions," says political commentator roes, Benjamin Disraeli, the leg­ other, Melissa, join his law firm endary 19th-century British after eight years as a prosecutor prime minister. in the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office. CODT But politics were never far "He was an enemy of the gov­ from his mind. In 1962, Miller ernor," Schaefer says of Miller volunteered as a driver for Frank today. Small, the Republican candidate Miller counters that as an only for governor. The sacrilege of child who never married and But there have been setbacks working for a Republican was ex­ never had children of his own, as well: Late last year, Miller beat cused by the fact that Small was a Schaefer was unable to compro­ back an attempted coup by Senate Clinton guy who had known mise. Finance Committee Chairman Miller's family for years. But Miller was determined not Thomas L. Bromwell (D-Dist. 8) of After College Park and law to let the same thing happen with Perry Hall, an effort that continues school, Miller worked in Annapo­ the next governor. to leave the Senate jittery. And he lis as a bill drafter for the Prince saw an old friend and former top George's County House delega­ Working with the governor aide, Gerard E. Evans, sent to tion. When a House of Delegates prison on federal corruption seat became available in 1970, the Parris Glendening and Mike charges^ warring factions of the Prince Miller were products of different For all the difficulties, Miller is George's Democratic establish­ parts of the Prince George's De­ poised to exert even greater influ­ ment agreed that Miller should be mocratic machine, predisposed ence than usual in the months the candidate. Then-state Sen. not to get along. During Glen- ahead, as the governor and legisla­ Steny H. Hoyer helped him. When dening's early years as Prince tive leaders redraw congressional hew district lines were drawn be­ George's executive, Miller said, and legislative district lines. It is a fore the 1974 election and no "The higher a baboon climbs up ready-made task for the hyper-po­ other elected official represented a tree, the more of his butt he litical Senate president. the southern Prince George's area shows." "He has extraordinary political carved into a new Senate district, Today, Glendening attributes antennas," says Bruce C. Bereano, Miller ran and won easily. their early difficulties, to institu­ a veteran State House lobbyist and "Timing is everything in poli­ tional, rather than personal, ten­ former aide to two of Miller's pred­ tics," he says. sions. Miller insists that Glenden­ ecessors. Miller rose steadily into Senate ing has changed. Yet for all his seniority and acu­ leadership. After Melvin A. "Mick­ Although Miller supported men, for all of his talent — which ey" Steinberg became lieutenant Steinberg in the 1994 Democratic even his harshest critics will ac­ governor in 1987, Miller was the primary for governor, he and knowledge — Miller does not have consensus choice to succeed him Glendening have become the a long list of legislative accom­ as Senate president. closest of allies. plishments. Glendening calls Miller a reli­ "Other than his own tenure, The Schaefer years able compass of where the legisla­ what does Mike stand for?" Lee ture is heading on an issue. asks. "I can't think of anything." In the 1986 gubernatorial elec­ • "He is not as progressive as I," tion, Miller was a strong supporter the governor says. "He will rou­ of Baltimore Mayor William Don­ tinely recommend that I have to Rooted in Clinton ald Schaefer. moderate myself a little more." He was born Dec. 3, 1942, in "I thought I was going to have Miller contrasts working with Clinton, the oldest of 10 children. an in," he says. Glendening to working with The Millers and their kin have long But when Schaefer took office Schaefer: "The difference is like been prominent in Southern in early 1987, the new Senate the difference between heaven Maryland. The focal point of their president gave him a framed and hell." small-town empire was B.K. copy of the Maryland Constitu­ Certainly, Miller has played a Miller's, a grocery and liquor store tion, as if to warn Schaefer that pivotal role in Glendening's recent that opened in 1913 and stands he should not plan to roll over successes. today at the corner of Old Branch the legislature. Although he sided with his to­ Avenue and Woodyard Road in The relationship went down­ bacco-growing constituents and Clinton. hill from there, and reached its opposed Glendening's attempts Politics was always a hot topic nadir when Miller, at a Legislative to raise the cigarette tax by $1 a in the Miller household. His Follies performance, made ribald pack in 1999, Miller helped bro­ grandfather's barn was the town jokes about the governor's sex life ker a compromise that led to a 30 polling place. — while Schaefer and his com­ cents-a-pack increase. He quietly It was so southern that Miller panion, Hilda Mae Snoops, sat aided a filibuster by tobacco tax decided to model himself after At - aghast in the front row. opponents for a time, but also let ticus Finch, the lawyer hero of the Schaefer and Miller feuded Glendening set up a command novel "To Kill a Mockingbird." over matters large and small. post in his office just off the Sen­ "I just came back to my home­ Miller soon found himself isolated ate chamber to woo wavering town and hung up a shingle," he as Schaefer became close to the senators. tells the Mattaponi sixth-graders. two Speakers of the House he "It's kind of like the invisible "I did everything, took on all served with — first R. Clayton hand," says Sen. Christopher Van kinds of clients. I would try my Mitchell of the Eastern Shore, and Hollen Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensing­ very best to help them, you see, then Casper R. Taylor Jr. (D-Dist. ton, a leader in the fight to pass because they were my friends, 1C) of Cumberland. the tobacco bill. "You know he's they were my neighbors, they driving toward a certain end were people I knew from the game, but you don't see any community." brickbats." In 2000, Miller endorsed a plan to use a rare parliamentary ma- hotel and motel tax to pay tor serv­ lario Jr. (D-Dist. 27) ot Upper Gont- ices needed by the growing coun­ Marlboro pushed through a law ty. And he seems to be feuding at that would make it tougher for one time or another with half the Charles County prosecutors to local officials in Southern Mary­ convict people accused of drug neuver to circumvent the Judicial land. possession. State's Attorney Proceedings Committee and Owens recently said that she Leonard Collins complained at bring Glendening"s controversial wishes Miller's Senate district the time that Miller and Vallario's gun control bill directly to the Sen­ would be redrawn so that it no bill would benefit their defense ate floor — despite the fact that longer includes Anne Arundel clients. Miller vigorously denied Beretta has a gun manufacturing County. And sources say that the charges. plant in his district. And this year, Miller — who recruited a Repub­ Gerard F. Devlin, a Prince despite his own ambivalence to­ lican County Council member to ward gay rights legislation, Miller George's County District Court run in the Democratic primary judge, says he has never known smoothed the way for the gover­ against Owens in 1998 — has ap­ nor's bill to pass in Judicial Pro­ Miller to take advantage of his po­ ceedings. proached at least four prominent sition when he tries a case. county Democrats about the Miller's alliance with Glenden- "He's just Mr. Miller in the possibility of running against her courtroom," Devlin says. ing has caused sharp criticism by in 2002. Senate Republicans. Sen. Thomas M. Middleton (D- "They are bills that I think the Charles) of Waldorf and Chesa­ Focusing forward Mike Miller of 10 years ago would peake Bea^h Mayor Gerald W. have opposed," says Senate Mi­ He may be just Mr. Miller in a nority Leader Martin G. Madden Donovan both call Miller an asset courtroom, but when it comes to (R-Dist. 13) of Clarksville. "But to Southern Maryland. politics, Miller will have tremen­ Mike has seen a lot of pressure "Mike is really well-respected dous influence over the redistrict- from the left wing of his party, and in the three Southern Maryland ing process, where his goals in­ party loyalty now plays a bigger counties," Middleton says. "They clude adding one and possibly role in his agenda." like Mike — he's gutsy." two Democrats to the state's eight- Says Donovan: "He knows member congressional delega­ The alliance with Glendening everybody in the state of Mary­ tion, and supplementing the De­ has had its rewards. In 1996, land you need to know to get mocrats' robust majorities in the Glendening appointed Miller's things done." legislature. son, Thomas V Miller III, to the Miller will also work to ensure state parole board. Glendening Out of Annapolis that the Democrats run their has appointed one of Miller's law strongest possible ticket for partners to the state workers In addition to all the politick­ statewide offices in 2002. While compensation board. Melanie ing, Mike Miller has a healthy law some political observers are spoil­ Miller recently got a job as a practice — primarily in Prince ing for a fight, hoping someone spokeswoman for state-run Balti­ George's, Charles, Calvert and St. challenges the frontrunner in the more-Washington International Mary's counties. Democratic race for governor, Lt. Airport. Glendening has also Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, committed millions of dollars to But sometimes the job of law­ maker and the job of lawyer may Miller wants potential challengers one of Miller's pet projects, a new to fall in line. arena for the College Park cam­ cause conflicts of interest. pus. And, according to several As one of the top officials in "In Mike's view, he'd like every­ State House and Prince George's state government, and a close ally body to be happy," says John E County sources, Glendening has of Glendening's, Miller is consult­ McDonough, a Prince George's given Miller plenty of say in the ed by the governor before he ap­ lawyer and a longtime political appointment of judges and state points judges to the circuit and operative. "He'd like to see [Mont­ patronage jobs for Prince district courts. Miller and his part­ gomery County Executive Dou­ George's Democrats. ners may appear before these glas M.] Duncan happy. He'd like same judges. to see Dutch [Ruppersberger, Bal­ It is illegal for legislators to timore county executive] happy. Weighing In locally lobby state agencies on behalf of He'd like to see Kathleen happy. paying clients. But no such re­ Mike counsels consensus." Things are often less harmo­ striction exists for lawyer-legisla­ Miller says, "The Democratic nious for Miller on the home tors appearing in state courts. In Party is blessed with many fine front, thanks to his penchant for fact, legislators who are lawyers potential candidates for gover­ injecting himself into local con­ are routinely granted "legislative nor." troversies. continuances" — meaning cases But the list doesn't include He fought throughout this are delayed during the three- Mike Miller. If it bothers him, he year's General Assembly session month General Assembly session isn't letting on. Politics is a tough against a proposal to build a Safe­ in Annapolis, and for a short peri­ game, and you need a thick skin. way supermarket in the small od before or after. This can work "There's an old Jewish expres­ town of Deale, earning the enmity to a client's benefit, and can help sion," the devout Catholic says. "If of Anne Arundel County Executive the lawyer-legislator shop for a you can't smile, you shouldn't go Janet S. Owens (D) and other friendly judge. into the retail business." county powerhouses. The super­ In 1997, the Maryland Inde­ market chain canceled the devel­ pendent reported that Miller and opment. powerful House Judiciary Com­ Miller has been highly critical mittee Chairman Joseph F. Val- of Calvert County commissioners for their unwillingness to raise