Owens Slams Schaefer

The Washington Post reports that Janet Owens attacked William Donald Schaefer's latest slip-of-the-tongue:

Maryland comptroller candidate Janet S. Owens denounced her opponent yesterday for dubbing her "Mother Hubbard," characterizing the remarks by incumbent William Donald Schaefer as "coarse and insulting."

Schaefer told Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher in comments published yesterday that Owens, the Anne Arundel County executive, is a "prissy little miss" who wears "long dresses, looks like Mother Hubbard -- it's sort of like she was a man." Schaefer made similar comments in a taped interview with NewsChannel 8. "She's got these long clothes on and an old-fashioned hairdo," he said. "You know it sort of makes you real mad."

Schaefer may have just given away his last gasp at holding on to his job and handed the job to Owens who was already poised to take his place according to the polls. The comments both lower Schaefer's standing further and raise Owens profile even as she gains sympathy. Many women who are around the same age as Owens are mighty tired of people like Schaefer assuming that their experience and ability count for nothing. The wild card is the endorsement of Franchot by the Post and the Sun.