A Different Vision

This month on WTWP radio, political commentator Mark Plotkin asked Ehrlich whether he would have selected Cox as his running mate if she weren't blind. This is what's known in the trade as a softball question -- one so easy that the candidate reflexively can spout a prepared answer. But Ehrlich didn't have one ready.

Did he choose Cox because she is blind? "No, but do I think the fact that she cannot see, do I see that as part of a paradigm for what I want to represent? Yes."

Then, unprompted, he continued: "I just want to finish the last question, because I think it's a really fair, good question. In my heart of hearts, I cannot answer honestly if Kris had sight, whether she would be the person I chose. I do not know that. Given my experience with her, my relationship with her, her expertise, her brains, she would certainly be on that list."

Not the ringing endorsement Cox might have expected.

Plotkin said afterward: "I was really quite surprised he didn't give the automatic response, which is 'Of course, Kristen Cox is qualified,' and that's kind of glaring." Cox is currently secretary of the Maryland Department of Disabilities, a cabinet-level position, and before that worked in government relations for the American Federation for the Blind. She has never held elective office.

Her adversary's campaign and its supporters immediately seized on the sound bite.

"I don't think anybody thinks Ms. Cox is ready to become governor at a moment's notice," said Tim Maloney, a lawyer in Prince George's County who is a prominent backer of O'Malley and his running mate, Anthony Brown.

Later, in an interview in her home, Cox responded to the notion that she might be a token, chosen simply as a demographic counterbalance to Ehrlich on the ticket.

"He and I were both ticked because they quoted one-third of the interview, took it out of context," she said. "I heard it played back. His response . . . was that, if I wasn't blind would I be on the list? He said absolutely. Did my blindness make me different and unique? Probably. There were some perspectives, history, that I had that made me who I am. But in the final analysis it was based on my accomplishments and what I could bring."

Learning Curve

It's hard to say what the qualifications of the lieutenant governor should be. It's a position that's simply defined, under the Maryland constitution, as whatever the governor wants it to be.

Lt. Gov. Michael Steele will leave the office perhaps best known for using it as a springboard to run for the U.S. Senate. Cox demurs on any future political ambitions. Instead, she likes to portray herself as a working mother who is raising her two sons, Tanner, 10, and Riley, 15 months, with her husband, Randy Cox -- while running a political campaign and a department with 28 employees. She has hired a nanny for the first time.

She is running on her record as a professional advocate for the blind, and her work at the Maryland Department of Disabilities. This is what she talks about the most at campaign events, private fundraisers and constituent meetings.