O'Malley Theme: Duncan Who?

Front-Runner Keeps Aim on Ehrlich, Even as Primary Race Tightens a Bit

Martin O'Malley, left, promoted his environmental stance in a visit to state-owned land that Gov. Robert Ehrlich weighed selling. With him are Sen. Roy P. Dyson, center, Robert Jarboe and Linda Vallandingham. (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)

On a crisp, sunny day, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley climbed aboard an all-terrain vehicle and whirred a mile into heavily wooded state parkland that Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s administration sought to sell two years ago at a bargain rate to a well-connected developer.

The event in St. Mary's County was designed to contrast the Democratic hopeful's commitment to the environment with that of the Republican incumbent. It was followed by stops in which O'Malley laid out "stark differences" with Ehrlich on college tuition, health insurance and sprawl.

The campaign swing could have come in the closing months of the fall election. But it was just last week -- nearly five months before a Democratic primary against Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan. In the course of a very full day, Duncan's name barely crossed O'Malley's lips.

And that was not by accident.

Leading in polling, fundraising and endorsements, O'Malley's camp has decided that its best course is to ignore Duncan to the extent possible. Engaging him, O'Malley's advisers believe, would only serve to raise Duncan's profile and detract from what is expected to be a bruising and costly general-election battle against Ehrlich just two months after September's primary.

But the strategy is not without risks, particularly as polls show that a race O'Malley had been leading by 20 percentage points a few months ago has tightened some.

The mayor has begun taking flak from some Democratic activists for declining to appear alongside Duncan.

That happened as recently as last week, when a Democratic club at Leisure World, the mammoth Montgomery County retirement community, sought to spotlight the two gubernatorial candidates together. Only Duncan attended the forum.

"I was irritated," said Sandy Rovner, the club's program director. "We wanted [O'Malley] to be able to discuss points of disagreement with Duncan."

Duncan tried to make hay of O'Malley's absence, telling the crowd that "that's been happening a lot to me lately."

O'Malley's aides are quick to brush off such criticism, noting that the two Democrats have appeared together in the past and that there is still plenty of time for debates. For now, they say, the campaign is focused on raising money -- as of January, it had three times as much in the bank as Duncan -- and broadening O'Malley's exposure across the state.

"The biggest battle in our mind has always been the general election, so that's what I've tried to stay focused on," O'Malley said in an interview. "We believe that the best campaign for both the primary and the general is to offer an alternative to Bob Ehrlich and his lack of leadership."