For the next few months Governor Martin O’Malley will be trying to convince Marylanders that decisions he made during the worst economic downturn in generations put the state on solid footing. At the same time, his political foes will be trying to define his time in office differently – “a disaster,” according to former Governor Robert Ehrlich, who wants his old job back. “I think he runs with his record rather than away from it,” said Donald Norris, chair and professor of public policy. “Ehrlich is going to claim O’Malley is Satan incarnate, and O’Malley will claim the same thing about Ehrlich,” Norris said. “It’s going to be absolutely great theatre.”
The article, “His record complete, O’Malley goes before voters,” ran Saturday, April 17, in the Baltimore Sun.
O’Malley will officially begin his reelection bid next week with a three-day, 11-stop tour paid for with a slice of his nearly $6 million in campaign funds. But after that, aides said, he plans to quickly return to several weeks of “official” events as governor, such as his Jobs Across Maryland Tour, which highlights his hiring tax credit recently adopted by the General Assembly, and his Capital for a Day program, which, like a program used previously by Ehrlich, takes the state’s Cabinet on a roadshow for face time and picture-taking with local officials. “It’s the power of incumbency — and it’s powerful,” said Norris. “Sometimes it can look like campaigning; sometimes it can look like governing. Often, it’s a gray area.”
The article, “O’Malley logs many miles for appearances he says aren’t to boost reelection bid,” ran Thursday, April 22, in the Washington Post.
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