By John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 23, 2006; C05
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."
While on the campaign trail, O'Malley said, Duncan's name "rarely comes up, and people rarely ask me about the primary."
During two recent appearances in Prince George's County, in fact, Duncan's name surfaced only once.
At a community meeting, O'Malley was asked about his position on the legalization of slot-machine gambling. He volunteered that it fell between that of Duncan, who opposes slots, and that of Ehrlich, who has made the gambling expansion a top priority. O'Malley said he supports allowing a limited number of slot machines, at racetracks only.
The rest of O'Malley's remarks focused on his background, his work in Baltimore, his vision for the state -- and Ehrlich's perceived shortcomings.
"Sad to say, for the last few years, the only times we're able to make progress," O'Malley said, "is when we muster a supermajority to overcome the governor's veto."
Duncan, by contrast, does not hesitate to take shots at O'Malley, particularly when he is campaigning in the expansive Baltimore media market, where he has made headlines in recent months by inserting himself into debates on crime and the schools.
The contrasting styles of the two Democrats was also evident last week as they separately put forward plans to deal with Maryland's sharp increase in electric rates.
Duncan knocked Ehrlich for the problem, then added: "And I know that Martin O'Malley doesn't want to take on the energy giants."
O'Malley unveiled his plan in a working-class neighborhood in Baltimore County -- a key general-election battleground -- and made no mention of Duncan. All of his firepower was directed at Ehrlich and regulators appointed by the governor.
"A candidate wants to project inevitability but not look like they're taking anything for granted. That's very difficult to juggle," said Thomas F. Schaller, a political science professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Schaller, who is active in Democratic politics and supports O'Malley, said he believed that the mayor was doing the right thing, at least for now.
"Engaging Duncan just elevates him," Schaller said. "Until or unless Duncan is within 5, 6, 7 points of O'Malley in the polls, it makes sense for O'Malley to run a general-election strategy."
Duncan's campaign manager, Scott Arceneaux, said O'Malley's tactics were "unfortunate for voters." "Clearly, he's running a classic front-runner's campaign," Arceneaux said. "He thinks he can avoid other candidates and issues."
Duncan aides have pointed to a couple of recent polls as evidence that the county executive is gaining traction.
One conducted early this month showed O'Malley leading Duncan, 47 percent to 33 percent, with 20 percent undecided. The 14-point margin declined from 22 points in a June poll conducted by the same firm, Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group.
The poll was commissioned by Montgomery Del. Peter Franchot, a Democratic candidate for comptroller, who shares a pollster with O'Malley.
Another recent poll showed O'Malley with a 9-point lead over Duncan, 44 percent to 35 percent, with the remaining 21 percent undecided. Aides to O'Malley have sought to discredit that poll, conducted by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies, because it was conducted over 10 days, longer than the typical survey, and contacted fewer Democrats than other recent polls.
O'Malley aides say that from a strategic standpoint, they are not looking past the primary. Plenty of effort is still being put into recruiting volunteers and building an organization in areas that will be key to the primary result.
The campaign has devoted a section of its Web site to responding to "misleading attacks" from both Duncan and Ehrlich.
But the aides also say O'Malley stands to gain from the current dynamic, which could lead some voters to believe that the outcome of the primary is a foregone conclusion. That perception is one obstacle Duncan faces, some observers say.
"It appears to me that Duncan is running against O'Malley, and O'Malley is running against Ehrlich, and . . . Doug seems to be suffering as a result," said Harry Weitzel, a former trustee at St. Mary's College of Maryland, who attended speeches at the campus by the two candidates a week apart.
Staff writer Robert Barnes contributed to this report.