Sunday, May 07, 2006
Duncan v. O'Malley
Every one in a awhile, I think it’s good to remind myself just how truly bad The Baltimore Sun, my hometown paper, is. So I perused the online edition today and came across this promising article: Race boils down to substance vs. style
That’s “race” – as in the race for the Democratic nomination to be Maryland’s next governor. The Sun, perhaps understandably, is solidly in Mayor O’Malley’s camp. And, to be fair, I expect the Washington Post will be a reliable endorser of Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan. However, both papers will endorse whoever of the two gets the Democratic nomination.
Anyway, the Sun focuses on the challenge facing Mr. Duncan to overcome:
“…a telegenic young leader with a national profile on homeland security issues.”
If the name Martin O’Malley didn’t immediately come to mind upon reading that description, welcome to my world - I had to read and re-read that statement several times in an attempt to remember just what Mayor O’Malley had to do with homeland security issues…I mean beyond this:
“I remember after the attacks of September 11, as mayor of the city, I was very, very worried about al-Qaida and still am. But I'm even more worried about the actions and inactions of the Bush administration."
Or this:
““We want to turn over the Port of Baltimore, the home of the 'Star Spangled Banner,' to the United Arab Emirates? Not so long as I'm mayor and not so long as I have breath in my body” Maryland Conservatarian: Martin "Nathan Hale" O'Malley
But no, what the Sun was referring to was this:
“He has headed a task force on homeland security for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.”
(Actually, I believe he is co-chair, along with Sugarland Texas Mayor David Wallace.) Now as prestigious as that may be, I challenge the Sun to find one person in a random hundred who would even mention “homeland security issues” in a discussion about Martin O’Malley.
The Sun ends with this sleight of hand:
“…said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, who pushed unsuccessfully to move the primary from September to June this year to avoid the kind of fight that is now under way.”
Mike Miller is complimentary of both candidates but his interest in an earlier primary was not just to avoid a protracted fight. More specifically, it was to avoid a protracted fight that could hurt the candidacy of the better-known Martin O’Malley. When the Mayor announced his candidacy, standing with him was Mike Miller and when the June primary was proposed, nobody was fooled. Admittedly, it would have had the added benefit of saving the candidates money and allowing whoever got the nomination more time to regroup and face-off against Governor Ehrlich. Fair enough – that’s politics…but it’s not altruism.
That’s “race” – as in the race for the Democratic nomination to be Maryland’s next governor. The Sun, perhaps understandably, is solidly in Mayor O’Malley’s camp. And, to be fair, I expect the Washington Post will be a reliable endorser of Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan. However, both papers will endorse whoever of the two gets the Democratic nomination.
Anyway, the Sun focuses on the challenge facing Mr. Duncan to overcome:
“…a telegenic young leader with a national profile on homeland security issues.”
If the name Martin O’Malley didn’t immediately come to mind upon reading that description, welcome to my world - I had to read and re-read that statement several times in an attempt to remember just what Mayor O’Malley had to do with homeland security issues…I mean beyond this:
“I remember after the attacks of September 11, as mayor of the city, I was very, very worried about al-Qaida and still am. But I'm even more worried about the actions and inactions of the Bush administration."
Or this:
““We want to turn over the Port of Baltimore, the home of the 'Star Spangled Banner,' to the United Arab Emirates? Not so long as I'm mayor and not so long as I have breath in my body” Maryland Conservatarian: Martin "Nathan Hale" O'Malley
But no, what the Sun was referring to was this:
“He has headed a task force on homeland security for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.”
(Actually, I believe he is co-chair, along with Sugarland Texas Mayor David Wallace.) Now as prestigious as that may be, I challenge the Sun to find one person in a random hundred who would even mention “homeland security issues” in a discussion about Martin O’Malley.
The Sun ends with this sleight of hand:
“…said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, who pushed unsuccessfully to move the primary from September to June this year to avoid the kind of fight that is now under way.”
Mike Miller is complimentary of both candidates but his interest in an earlier primary was not just to avoid a protracted fight. More specifically, it was to avoid a protracted fight that could hurt the candidacy of the better-known Martin O’Malley. When the Mayor announced his candidacy, standing with him was Mike Miller and when the June primary was proposed, nobody was fooled. Admittedly, it would have had the added benefit of saving the candidates money and allowing whoever got the nomination more time to regroup and face-off against Governor Ehrlich. Fair enough – that’s politics…but it’s not altruism.
