O'Malley Lays Out Social ProposalsEhrlich Campaign Wants to Know Cost of Plans By John Wagner Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley offered a wide-ranging list of proposals yesterday on health care, education and other issues in an effort to refocus the Maryland governor’s race away from attack ads on television and toward his policy agenda. The Democratic challenger’s release of “An Action Plan for Maryland Families”—a mix of mostly previously aired proposals—came amid a barrage of negative advertising from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R). Even many Democrats acknowledge that the ads, which focus on O’Malley’s record, have put the mayor on the defensive over continuing struggles with crime and public education in Baltimore. Joined by his running mate, Del. Anthony G. Brown (Prince George’s), O’Malley released his 21-page blueprint at a news conference atop Federal Hill Park in Baltimore, with its sweeping view of a city skyline punctuated by construction cranes. “Maryland families have a clear choice in this election: the new ideas that an O’Malley-Brown administration will bring to the table or the same old, tired attacks that Bob Ehrlich and George Bush offer up,” said O’Malley, flanked by supporters wearing his trademark green T-shirts. O’Malley, who leads Ehrlich in polls, presented a similar message earlier in the day to more than 400 people at a “Democratic unity breakfast” in Prince George’s County. The jurisdiction is home to more Democrats than any other in Maryland, and turnout there Nov. 7 will be crucial to the chances of the party’s statewide candidates. Ehrlich aides noted the absence of price tags in O’Malley’s plan and the mayor’s refusal to rule out raising taxes during his tenure. “He left open the possibility of a tax increase,” Ehrlich told reporters later in the day in Annapolis. “It’s one of the differences between us. . . . The last time I checked, the working families of Maryland do not feel undertaxed.” The repackaged initiatives in O’Malley’s document include increases in school construction funding, the creation of health-care insurance pools for small businesses and additional funding for Maryland’s primary land preservation program. The most notable new initiative was a pledge to apply Baltimore’s nationally recognized CitiStat program—used to measure the performance of government agencies—to state government. The program won an “innovation” award from Harvard University in 2004, and visitors from across the country have streamed to Baltimore to watch sessions in which city leaders grill agency heads about statistical trends in areas they oversee. O’Malley offered few specifics yesterday when pressed by reporters about how he would pay for his plan. He said some initiatives would rely on federal funding, and he said it would be irresponsible to promise not to raise taxes or fees, although he did not propose doing so yesterday. “If there is no vision, the people perish,” O’Malley said. “This is our vision. This is our plan for moving Maryland forward. The pace of that plan, how quickly we can afford to do these things, is going to depend upon a lot of variables.” Aides said yesterday’s event was also intended to call attention to the lack of initiatives Ehrlich has proposed for the coming four years. In campaign appearances, Ehrlich speaks mostly about accomplishments of the past four years, including his support for a Chesapeake Bay restoration program and stem cell research funding. O’Malley aides noted that Ehrlich’s campaign Web site includes no detailed proposals for what he would do if reelected. Ehrlich spokeswoman Shareese DeLeaver replied: “The governor is a man of action, not rhetoric, unlike his opponent. What speaks most about Governor Ehrlich’s vision for the future is his record to date. It’s easy for Martin O’Malley to run solely on vision when he has a failed record.” Yesterday’s unity rally in Prince George’s put a spotlight on a jurisdiction important to both O’Malley and Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. Ehrlich won about 23 percent of the vote in Prince George’s in 2002 but has vowed to improve his showing this year in the heavily Democratic county. In the Democratic Senate primary, Cardin won less than 19 percent of the vote in Prince George’s, which was dominated by Kweisi Mfume, the former congressman and former NAACP leader, who garnered nearly 70 percent. Cardin, who is white, urged people at the breakfast to make “the right choice” next month when he faces the Republican Senate nominee, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, who is an African American from the county. © 2006 The Washington Post Company |
