O'Malley Has Made Enemies For Himself, Allies for EhrlichBy Matthew Mosk and John Wagner Prominent Baltimore lawyer William H. Murphy usually reserves his powerful rhetorical skills for the courtroom, but this year he’s hitting the airwaves to try to sway voters. “I don’t think anybody understands the criminal justice system better than I do, and that’s why I’m not voting for Martin O’Malley for governor,” he says in a 60-second radio ad that has been airing for weeks in Maryland. The former judge, a confidant to Baltimore’s elite and a lifelong Democrat, has something in common with a number of influential figures in his city: He can’t stand the brash young man who became mayor at 36, and now, at 43, is his party’s nominee for governor. Although scores of party insiders adore him, O’Malley’s lightning-fast ascent has left a trail of wounded egos and bitter opponents. Several have become vigorous campaigners for incumbent Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., O’Malley’s Republican opponent in this year’s race for governor. “Not everybody can be Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm all the time,” said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), an O’Malley supporter. “If you’re going to be a leader, you have to have the guts to be disliked at times. To stand up to powerful people for things you believe in and risk criticism.” O’Malley has done that, confronting business owners over plans to redevelop some of Baltimore’s blighted downtown neighborhoods and challenging the city’s law enforcement orthodoxy over how best to tackle inner-city crime. In the process, he made an enemy of Baltimore Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos, who was once one of the most prolific supporters of Democrats in the nation but who now has hosted a series of fundraisers for Ehrlich. His pointed words helped turn two former Baltimore mayors—Kurt L. Schmoke and William Donald Schaefer—into outspoken backers of O’Malley’s primary opponent, Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan. Schaefer, whom Ehrlich has courted for four years, is still brimming with bile. He says O’Malley treated him “like I have cholera.” O’Malley has openly sparred with Baltimore’s prosecutor, and three of his former police commissioners have become critics. Murphy has criticized the mayor’s crime-fighting tactics, particularly the arresting of people for offenses such as loitering. Murphy backed an O’Malley opponent in the 1999 mayoral race and has done legal work for the Ehrlich administration. In an interview yesterday, O’Malley acknowledged that he has acquired detractors since becoming mayor, but said that it has been an inevitable byproduct of trying to improve a troubled, lethargic city. “There was a fair amount of confrontation, particularly in that first year, because there were a lot of people pleased with the status quo,” he said. “In order to break through that, I did have to take on some battles,” O’Malley said. “Over the long haul, I think people have generally been very fair and patient with me as I’ve done this job and hopefully grown in this job.” Daniel M. Clements, a Baltimore lawyer, said that although the mayor does “speak his mind, people like that about him. A lot. “He’s not afraid to bring bad news to other people in power, and those people may not appreciate it, but the public finds it commendable.” O’Malley’s popularity among the broader population is indisputable. He was reelected as mayor in 2004 with 88 percent of the vote and has won plaudits for his ability to work with the Baltimore City Council, an unwieldy body with a history of challenging the mayor’s authority. Still, questions about O’Malley’s diplomatic skills date to the earliest days of his mayoral tenure, when he first went to Annapolis and asked then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening for $25 million for drug treatment in the city, more than twice what had been budgeted for the entire state. To punctuate the request, he proposed rounding up Baltimore addicts, busing them to Annapolis and dumping them on the State House steps. “You can’t run the risk of being a wallflower down here,” O’Malley told reporters at the time. “You’ve got to be the squeaky wheel.” State Sen. Lisa A. Gladden (D-Baltimore), who called O’Malley “childish and rude” at the time, said he has matured. “He’s learned that if you don’t work with people, they’re going to continue to make life difficult for you,” she said. On the campaign trail, O’Malley said he has “been moving our city to the politics of performance.” “Some people have felt their special interests should outweigh any benefits to the entire city,” he said. It is a transformation that he said has unnerved the city’s old guard, including Orioles owner Angelos. It is unclear what incited their disagreement. City Hall officials point to a dispute over redevelopment plans near where Angelos owns a skyscraper. Angelos did not return telephone calls requesting comment. Neither Angelos nor O’Malley has hidden his enmity. In 2003, as Duncan planned a bid for governor, Angelos threw a fundraiser for him. When the time came to tell guests why he backed Duncan, he turned talk to O’Malley. The mayor is not “the presumptive heir to the governor’s chair,” he said. “I think we need to disabuse him of that idea.” Nine months later, O’Malley announced that he would support a new baseball club in Washington. The Orioles could count on fan support, he said, if the team would produce a “good product.” Miller, who is close to both men, says the dispute boils down to two powerful figures with differing visions for Baltimore. “There are certain people who feel the city owes them special concessions,” Miller said. “No one has ever accused Martin O’Malley of giving away the store for anyone.” Schaefer, who said he started out as a supporter of the mayor, chalked up O’Malley’s early struggles to arrogance, calling the mayor “a big kid who forgets friends as fast as he makes them.” City Hall officials said Schaefer wanted to be O’Malley’s liaison to the business community and grew frustrated when it didn’t work out. Schaefer also feuded with Schmoke, who succeeded him as mayor. O’Malley, a former prosecutor, also has sparred with State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy. The relationship tanked in 2001, when the mayor lashed out at Jessamy for dropping a police corruption case that O’Malley wanted prosecuted. “She doesn’t even have the . . . guts to get off her [rear] and go in and try this case, and I’m tired of it,” he told a reporter. He later apologized, saying he had “allowed my tongue to get ahead of my head.” Since then, O’Malley and Jessamy have traded blame for the city’s stubbornly high homicide rate, with O’Malley suggesting that the prosecutor was never fully committed to his goal of reducing the city’s murder count. Jessamy, in turn, has become increasingly cozy with Ehrlich and rallied troops for Duncan. O’Malley has had several high-profile falling-outs with former allies, including former police commissioners Edward T. Norris, Kevin P. Clark and Ron Daniel. His relationship with Norris soured after the commissioner left to serve as Ehrlich’s state police superintendent. Norris later spent time in jail for misusing a city police account. Clark was fired amid allegations of domestic abuse. Daniel didn’t support the mayor’s plans for overhauling the department and resigned after 57 days. Still, those relationships have left lingering political trouble for the mayor. Norris now hosts a popular radio talk show whose guests have included both Ehrlich and Duncan. Daniel recorded a radio ad for Ehrlich this week, in which he says: “I believe that Bob Ehrlich is a stronger leader, and I think that he would be a better governor.” © 2006 The Washington Post Company |
