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The Slots Debate's Other Leading Faces
Comptroller Peter Franchot, above, opposes slots. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. supports them.
(Richard A. Lipski - The Washington Post)
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-- John Wagner
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr.
During the past six years, there has not been a more powerful slots supporter in the General Assembly than Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. -- which makes it difficult to believe he is largely staying on the sidelines during the fall campaign.
"I give the people more credit than do most of my colleagues," Miller (D-Calvert) said about the referendum. "Consistently, the public has said, 'If you're putting the money into education, we're for slots.' "
Miller, who muscled ill-fated slots bills through the Senate several years in a row, acknowledged that he will not stay entirely silent about an initiative on which he and former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) were aligned during the previous administration.
Miller has agreed to debate slots opponents at a couple of public forums, and he will send a mailer to residents of his legislative district, which includes part of Prince George's County, voicing support for the passage of slots, as well as for the presidential candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
One person Miller said he has no desire to debate: Comptroller Peter Franchot (D), his Annapolis nemesis on slots and other issues.
"I won't give him that satisfaction," said Miller, who has presided over his chamber for more than two decades.
Something else longtime Miller watchers might find surprising: He is now cautioning about Maryland becoming too reliant on slots revenue.
"You can't get too dependent on it," Miller said.
"It's not the cake. It's the icing on the cake."
-- John Wagner
