Duncan, O’Malley play nice at party breakfast

Friday, Oct. 28, 2005

GREENBELT — The Democratic contenders in the 2006 governor’s race took only subtle jabs at each other Tuesday at a party breakfast meeting, saving their haymakers for the Republican incumbent.

‘‘I look at our governor and see a public policy that is best described as public relations. Maryland, it is time to think bigger,” said Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, who entered the governor’s race last week.

‘‘Are we moving forward or moving backward when we attack, demonize, smear and belittle our opponents instead of talking about the big questions we face as a people?” asked Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, whose private life was the subject of rumors circulated by a fired state employee.

The two men spoke to the Prince George’s County Democratic Central Committee breakfast, before an audience of about 700, including many potential running mates: former Prince George’s county executive Wayne K. Curry, State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey and Del. Anthony G. Brown (D-Dist. 25) of Mitchellville.

County Executive Jack B. Johnson and former Del. Rushern L. Baker III were absent.

The contenders’ talks come as a new poll shows either man has the potential to beat Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who is the first Republican to live in the governor’s mansion in almost 40 years.

O’Malley leads Ehrlich, 48 percent to 42 percent, with 10 percent undecided and a margin of error of 3.5 percent, according to data released by Gonzales Research and Marketing Strategies.

Duncan, too, edges Ehrlich, 45 percent to 44 percent with 11 percent undecided and the same margin of error.

Ehrlich’s approval rating reached a high of 57 percent in August 2003. Polls since then show a slow glide to 49 percent in October, the Gonzales data show.

Duncan and O’Malley have been sparring ever since O’Malley entered the race in September.

The Duncan campaign issued statements trying to minimize O’Malley’s highly praised tenure as Baltimore mayor. O’Malley’s supporters objected, calling Duncan’s tactics ‘‘negative campaigning.”

At his entry into the race Thursday, Duncan defended his statements. It would be a ‘‘disservice” not to thoroughly review Baltimore’s troubles, he said.

None of that Tuesday morning. In fact, the two men were downright delicate with each other.

Although Duncan’s remarks closely hewed to his announcement speech, he avoided any criticism of Baltimore.

He included only this: ‘‘Rhetoric is not a plan. Optimism alone is not a strategy. And it takes a lot more than just believe that things are going to turn out OK.” O’Malley’s City Hall has used ‘‘Believe” as part of a public relations campaign to combat the city’s documented problems.

O’Malley poked at Montgomery County’s lofty status as the state’s richest jurisdiction: ‘‘There are some who confuse the concept of accumulated wealth with the concept of progress.”

The statement then launched into O’Malley’s summary of how Baltimore has improved since he first took office in 1999: drops in violent crime and drug-related emergency room admissions, and elevated reading and math scores among elementary school students.

‘‘The spirit demonstrated by our people in the last six years is the true spirit of Maryland. The spirit that when faced with the choice of moving forward or drifting back, always chooses to move forward,” O’Malley said.

Duncan continued his education-first campaign, restating the themes he had put forth since joining the gubernatorial race.

He pledged that his state budgets would fund schools because good jobs follow good schools. He would make college tuition more affordable and create a scholarship program so that any student who makes good grades and stays out of trouble will be able to attend college, regardless of ability to pay.

Duncan also promised to give preference in state contracts to companies that have family-friendly policies that allow employees to spend time in their children’s schools.

‘‘Doug swayed lots of folks here today with his message on education,” said M.H. ‘‘Jim” Estepp, president of the Prince George’s County Business Roundtable and former County Council member.

On Friday, O’Malley released a six-point plan for education at the Maryland State Teachers Association convention in Ocean City. In it, he proposed improvements to the teacher pension program, smaller classrooms, loan repayments for new public school teachers and new teacher mentoring programs.

Staff Writer Tiesha Higgins contributed to this report.