Anti-O'Malley Ad Shows Baltimore in a Grim Light

Mayor Martin O'Malley may be the target but Baltimore also takes a beating in a television ad launched yesterday by the Republican Governors Association, a 30-second tableau of urban decay that declares Maryland's largest municipality "the most dangerous city in America."

The ad, the first the group has aired in the state, features footage of a cemetery and a crime scene. The camera bounces erratically as the images lose and regain focus. The schools are in shambles, a female voice says, and the homicide rate is six times higher than New York City's. "Baltimore," the voice says, "Martin O'Malley's legacy of mismanagement. And now he wants a promotion so he can do for the entire state of Maryland what he did for Baltimore."

The O'Malley campaign was quick to condemn the ad, which they said perpetuated stereotypes about a city they said Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) is "essentially disowning."

"It's essentially unheard of for a governor to allow an outside group to attack the biggest city in his state," said Hari Sevugan, an O'Malley spokesman.

A recent Ehrlich ad raised similar issues far more delicately: A Baltimore resident -- with a criminal record, it later emerged -- describes himself as a Democrat so concerned about crime and the city schools that he intends to vote for Ehrlich.

Ehrlich spokeswoman Shareese N. DeLeaver declined to comment on whether the campaign has misgivings about Baltimore being portrayed in such a light. The ad, she said, "isn't about Baltimore, it's about Martin O'Malley's failure of leadership of Baltimore."

The governors association is barred from coordinating its activities with the campaign.

"The intent of this advertisement is not to trash Baltimore," said Phil Musser, the association's executive director. "The intent is to point out what's clearly a lackluster record."

The Democratic Governors Association contributed $290,000 to the Maryland Fund, an independent group that has spent nearly $1 million on negative ads linking Ehrlich to the policies of President Bush.

Yesterday, Democrats pointed out that the Republican group received a $100,000 contribution Sept. 29 from a prominent Maryland developer and Ehrlich supporter, Kingdon Gould. Gould, developer of the Konterra project in Prince George's County, has contributed $50,000 to Ehrlich through various companies since 1999. He was traveling yesterday and did not respond to calls seeking comment.