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O'Malley Assails Ehrlich on Race
Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley accused Ehrlich of "belittling" the progress of Baltimore schools and students.
(By Linda Davidson -- The Washington Post)
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"The mayor and the governor have both failed us and our children because they have not come together," he said in an interview. "They need to set aside the politics."
Exchanges between the Senate candidates, who shared the stage, also grew testy at times.
Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) argued that Steele would do President Bush's bidding. Steele (R) responded that Cardin's long tenure in politics has left him out of touch.
Cardin said their biggest policy difference was on the Iraq war. "I opposed the war in Iraq four years ago," Cardin said. "Michael Steele to this day believes it's the right thing to do."
Steele later said that a lack of international involvement in Iraq had made it "a mess" and cautioned against pulling out too soon. "We need to focus on bringing our troops home but be mindful of the Iraq that we leave behind," he said.
O'Malley's remarks came after Ehrlich has spent months airing ads about Baltimore's low-performing schools. O'Malley has expressed frustration with the tactic, noting that scores are improving, particularly in younger grades. Yesterday's remarks were his most spirited thus far.
"Why is he spending so much money belittling the progress of our people, talking in coded, charged language about those city kids and those city schools, as if the children of our city are not blessed with the same brains that God has given the children in every part of our state?" O'Malley asked.
O'Malley also brought up a 2001 letter that Ehrlich, then a congressman, sent to the IRS asking the agency to follow up on a request for an investigation of the NAACP's tax-exempt status. Ehrlich's fundraising chief, Richard E. Hug, was among several Republicans who made the request.
"Rather than work to bridge the divide, he decided to use his wealthy and influential friends like Dick Hug to try to influence the IRS to shut down the NAACP," O'Malley said yesterday.
The mayor criticized Ehrlich's veto of legislation increasing the minimum wage and said Ehrlich's record on promoting use of African American contractors is "abysmal" -- something Ehrlich aides strongly dispute.
