After Queen Anne's County State's Attorney Frank M. Kratovil Jr. won the Democratic primary in Maryland's 1st Congressional District he packed up his family and drove to the only place to go after winning: Disney World.

Kratovil, who now faces state Sen. Andrew P. Harris, a Republican, drove to Orlando, Fla., with his wife and four boys. They also visited Universal Studios, he said yesterday.

Disney started the now-cliched ad campaign with Super Bowl MVPs spouting the phrase "I'm going to Disney World!" back in 1987.

No word yet on whether Harris also took his family.

Comptroller Peter Franchot, who dove into the spotlight last week after hearing rumors Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller wanted to get rid of two of his three deputy comptrollers, appears to have had good reason to be worried, although not because of anything Miller did.

Miller was expected to target the Position Identification Numbers (PINs) of two top Franchot aides for removal — effectively firing them. PIN targeting has generally been frowned on in Annapolis.

Franchot is no stranger to targeting PINs. In 2005, when he was a subcommittee chairman of the House budget committee, Franchot targeted 56 PINs for removal, most of whom were appointed by then-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

Senate lawmakers this called Franchot on his apparent reversal on the merits of PIN-targeting, but hen demurred, saying he had learned the demerits of micromanagement.

The antagonism between Franchot and Miller grew after Franchot took over the state comptroller's office last year.

Miller last week called the state Comptroller's office a "one-stop politics shop" for Franchot, a man he said is "an embarrassment to the state of Maryland."

The Association of Government Accountants does not agree Miller's assessment. The group is awarding Franchot the William R. Snodgrass Distinguished Leadership award.

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The inspiration comes from Republican lawmakers occasionally quiping that Annapolis and it's one-party rule by Democrats is "Moscow on the Severn."

Former O'Malley spokesman Steve Kearney and Democrat colleague Damian O'Doherty's shop, KO Public Affairs LLC, now has a Web site called KO Punch. Get it?

OK, but who's view are the expressing? They weighted in on the O'Malley-Grasmick feud and today on the Eastern Shore congressional race.

Yet here's the disclaimer: "Views expressed on KO punch are not necessarily the views of KO Public Affairs. Likewise, those appearing on KO Punch are not making any endorsements of KO Public Affairs LLC. "

— Tom LoBianco, Maryland politics reporter, The Washington Times

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced today he has ended his effort to ouster state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick.

O'Malley at a news conference instructed the Democrat-controlled General Assembly not to proceed with legislation to restructure Grasmick's contract so he could remove her.

O'Malley, a Democrat, had made it clear he wanted to remove Grasmick, whom he inherited in his first year as governor, despite a recent study showing Maryland has the fifth-best public school system in the country.

The governor's dissatisfaction with Grasmick is perceived by some people as personal, considering she tried to take over Baltimore's troubled school system when O'Malley was mayor.

The issue is whether O'Malley really wants a state goverment that works together, or didn't have the political clout to remove Grasmick.

— Tom LoBianco, Maryland politics reporter, The Washington Times