Duncan Raises Profile At O'Malley's Expense

By John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 21, 2006

After settling into a Baltimore area radio studio last week and slipping on some headphones, Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan offered a candid admission about his bid for governor: Too many people in that region still know him only as "the other guy in the race."

"I think it's the biggest disadvantage I have," Duncan told listeners more familiar with the other Democratic candidate, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley. "But that's changing."

To the extent that Duncan is right, his growing visibility has come not so much from what he is telling voters about himself as from what he is saying about the issues of the day in Baltimore.

In recent weeks, Duncan has voiced solidarity with Baltimore students skipping school to protest run-down facilities. He has repeatedly taken to the airwaves to question the validity of O'Malley's crime statistics. And with television cameras rolling, Duncan stood by the city's top prosecutor, after her leadership was aggressively challenged in a City Council hearing by two of the mayor's allies.

"Duncan has found some cracks in O'Malley's support, and he's doing everything he can to exploit them," said Matthew Crenson, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Most analysts say they expect O'Malley to dominate the Baltimore region in the September primary. But they see potential for Duncan to make inroads among pockets of Democrats who are disillusioned with the mayor.

In 2004, O'Malley won reelection with 88 percent of the vote in the majority-black, heavily Democratic city of Baltimore. But in the Democratic primary, an African American high school principal drew 32 percent of the vote with just a fraction of the campaign money O'Malley raised.

More recent polls suggest that O'Malley remains popular in the Baltimore area, but he has had fallings-out in recent years with several high-profile Democrats, whose help Duncan is now enlisting.

Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy has appeared with Duncan several times, including this weekend at a Women for Duncan meeting in Baltimore. He also has won endorsements from Kurt L. Schmoke and state Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, two former mayors who are considered foes in a city where politics is often intensely personal.

Last week, Duncan made his third appearance on a radio show hosted by Edward T. Norris, a former police commissioner who returned to the city after serving a prison sentence and who is no longer on speaking terms with O'Malley. It was one of two dozen appearances Duncan has made on Baltimore radio stations in the past three months.

Before going on the air, Duncan told Norris that more people in Baltimore recognize him after "all the TV and radio" that showcased the county executive questioning whether violent crime in the city has decreased as rapidly as O'Malley claims.

Duncan's efforts to insert himself into debate on Baltimore issues "is as good as anything else for a guy who's mostly unknown here," said Carl Stokes, a former Baltimore City Council member who ran against O'Malley in the 1999 mayoral primary. "No one's paying attention to dry policy statements right now. It doesn't resonate."

Duncan has released an education plan, a crime initiative and several other policy proposals. But his attacks on O'Malley have generated the most attention.

Stokes said that the mayor is "obviously popular" in the city but that "a strong minority" of black voters who opposed his 1999 election have never warmed to him. With help from Jessamy and Schmoke, Duncan could win over those voters, as well as some more recently disillusioned with the mayor, Stokes said.

Others argue, however, that Duncan has appeared naive at times about urban challenges and could alienate as many Baltimore residents as he attracts.

"It is somewhat unseemly for the county executive of a very wealthy county to come to the state's poorest city and pick on us, and, to a large extent, that is how people see this," said Jon Laria, president of a nonprofit group that promotes living in the city.

O'Malley campaign manager Jonathan Epstein said voters recognize the difference between a candidate who "has taken a page out of the Karl Rove Republican playbook of nasty politics" and someone who "is running for governor to do something about . . . challenges facing our families."

Some Democrats say that Duncan's attacks are primarily helping Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), by legitimizing GOP criticism of O'Malley and weakening his chances in the general election. Duncan counters that all candidates' records deserve scrutiny.

O'Malley is seeking to make inroads on Duncan's home turf, as well, and has made several appearances recently in Montgomery, where he grew up and where his campaign posted hundreds of signs over the weekend. He has an event planned Thursday in Silver Spring.

But the tenor of O'Malley's visits are different. He has fielded questions about issues affecting the Washington suburbs, such as the planned intercounty connector. But O'Malley, aides say, makes no attempt to insert himself into local controversies, such as violations at a Clarksburg development.

Duncan recently traveled to Baltimore and stood with Jessamy outside a juvenile justice center. The media had been summoned for an announcement about drug courts, but the focus soon changed to a flare-up at a City Council hearing.

Two council members who support O'Malley had questioned Jessamy about the performance of her office, prompting an angry exchange. Duncan characterized the encounter as an "ambush" to divert attention from questions about O'Malley's crime statistics.

Duncan was also referring to a 2001 episode in which O'Malley unleashed a profanity-laced tirade about a decision by Jessamy not to pursue a police corruption case.

The incident infuriated Jessamy supporters, who still point to it when explaining their problems with O'Malley.

Jessamy is not without detractors in the city. Seeking reelection in 2002, she ran against two challengers in the Democratic primary and won with just 44 percent of the vote. Jessamy's most loyal constituency, however, is elderly and middle-aged black women, who tend to be reliable voters.

Duncan said his campaign is doing nothing new in speaking out about Baltimore issues. "We've got a more receptive audience than we did a year ago, but the strategy hasn't changed," he said. "We're talking about what people are interested in."