Oliver Willis

The Maryland delegation to the U.S. Senate, Ben Cardin & Barbara Mikulski talk about what’s coming.

Mikulski, now in her fourth term, will become the head of the Maryland delegation to Congress. She predicted a smooth transition for Cardin from the House of Representatives to the Senate.

"I’ll tell you what I’m excited about, is that after Ben is sworn in, that we put our Maryland jerseys on, and we’re on the floor of the United States Senate, I can see it, within that first 100 days, the Cardin amendment to change the Medicare prescription drug benefit to close the coverage gap, and I’ll be backing that Cardin amendment," she said.

"I’ll be over there working to double the Pell grants so that our kids can afford higher education. Ben will be my backup on that. Then we’ll go down together working with our Democratic leadership on really trying to create an economy where we’re keeping jobs in this country."

Mikulski, the dean of the Senate women, also said she was excited by the election of Democrats Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Claire McCaskill of Missouri. And she quipped that those who had predicted that Maryland was becoming a red state were now "red in the face."

Still, she said, "when the Democrats go in, we don’t seek revenge. We seek results."

I feel the excitement…

Though I wonder, which of these jerseys do Mikulski/Cardin plan to suit up in? Heh.