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Duncan To Declare Run, Amid Skepticism
Montgomery Executive Douglas M. Duncan greets local officials during a visit last month to Cecil County.
(By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)
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"On the surface, I understand the argument" about O'Malley, said Del. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Montgomery). "But I don't think people understand Doug's life story and how that will appeal to those in Baltimore County. Doug had very humble beginnings. In many ways, his story is very much like Ehrlich's."
It is a story that Duncan will seek to highlight today during a planned announcement in front of his childhood home in the modest Twinbrook section of Rockville.
Across the state, Duncan has told prospective voters how he grew up as one of 13 children whose father taught in the public schools and whose mother worked 27 years in the county courthouse.
Ehrlich appealed to blue-collar voters by highlighting his upbringing as the son of a car salesman in Arbutus, Md.
Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Montgomery), another Duncan supporter, argued that Duncan also has general election strengths that could sway some primary voters once they get to know him. Garagiola suggested that O'Malley would be far more vulnerable to Republican attacks about his stewardship.
"I think Ehrlich is more afraid of Doug Duncan, because what does he attack him on?" Garagiola said.
Republicans remain skeptical about claims that O'Malley can counter Ehrlich's popularity in Baltimore's suburbs, where Ehrlich grew up. Some also suggest that the nomination of a Democrat from Baltimore could make it easier for Ehrlich to pick up votes in the Washington region.
"I don't know that O'Malley is as popular in suburban Baltimore as he'd like to believe," GOP consultant Carol Hirschburg said.
"He's certainly more liberal than the suburbs of Baltimore," Hirschburg added.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) said he believes that either Duncan or O'Malley could beat Ehrlich next year. But, Miller said, if the primary fight becomes lopsided, the candidate in trouble should step aside.
"If it becomes obvious that one is clearly the favorite," he said, "either one should step aside and say, 'Look, I care more about the future of the state than about beating up another Democrat.' "
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