Posted on 02/11/2005 2:31:50 PM PST by NormsRevenge
BALTIMORE - Mayor Martin O'Malley, a charismatic white man elected twice in a predominantly black city, is a Democrat with a future — a rising star nationally, and perhaps the party's best bet to take back the governor's mansion in Maryland in 2006.
And that clearly worries the Republicans.
Demonstrating that the GOP already has O'Malley in the crosshairs, a Republican official was fired Tuesday by GOP Gov. Robert Ehrlich for spreading rumors on the Internet that the 42-year-old mayor had an extramarital affair with a TV reporter. On the same day, Republican officials pounced on O'Malley after he drew a loose comparison between President Bush (news - web sites)'s cuts in urban aid and the Sept. 11 attacks.
The initial assessment by some political observers was that this week's events would probably not have much effect on O'Malley's future. But they may have offered a preview of what could be a bruising governor's race.
Patrick Gonzales, president of a Maryland polling and consulting company, said that with O'Malley already the clear Democratic front-runner, "Republicans are focusing their energies on the person they perceive to be the biggest threat."
O'Malley and his wife, Catherine, held a news conference to denounce rumors of the affair, with the mayor calling the allegations "despicable lies." His wife decried the effect the rumors have had on the couple's four children, ages 2 to 14.
The mayor has seen his stock surge in recent years. He was picked by party leaders to speak at the Democratic National Convention last summer, and was easily re-elected in November.
O'Malley, who fronts his own seven-member Irish rock band in his spare time, is well-regarded for his ability to charm audiences. He is also famously blunt.
Last summer, he told an audience that he was "even more worried" about Bush than terrorists.
He once showed up unannounced at a Baltimore talk radio station and went on the air to respond to criticism from a caller, winding up in a sometimes-bitter exchange with the hosts. He ended by saying: "And gentlemen, if you enjoyed that, come outside after the show, and I'll kick your (expletive)."
This week, he harshly criticized Bush's plan to cut spending for community development programs by $2 billion.
"Back on Sept. 11, terrorists attacked our metropolitan cores, two of America's great cities," O'Malley said. He added that Bush "is attacking our metropolitan core."
State GOP Chairman John Kane charged that O'Malley was "spinning out of control" and that his "rhetoric is beginning to border on the bizarre."
But some experts said the mayor's remarks would have little effect, especially since Bush is not popular in Maryland.
"I think it's a one-day wonder for the Republican attack machine, but its long-term consequences are negligible," said Herbert Smith, political science professor at McDaniel College.
And some observers said O'Malley might actually get a boost from the fact that the infidelity rumors were spread by a longtime aide to Ehrlich, who is widely expected to run for re-election.
The governor said Wednesday that neither he nor anyone on his staff knew that Joseph Steffen was posting the rumors on the Internet. Ehrlich said he fired Steffen as soon as he found out, adding: "There's no room in politics for this kind of stuff."
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Democrat, said members of the governor's staff knew about the rumors and joked about them. "This was a planned, concerted attack," he said, although he did not blame anyone other than Steffen.
On Thursday, Steffen apologized in an e-mail to O'Malley for spreading "reckless, mean-spirited" rumors.
Republicans have also been quick to attack O'Malley's crime-fighting efforts in Baltimore, one of the nation's deadliest cities.
When O'Malley was elected in 1999, his top priority was reducing crime — especially a murder rate that was among the highest in the country. O'Malley had some early success in reducing murders, but the rate has climbed back; so far this year, the city is averaging almost a homicide a day.
O'Malley has said overall violent crime is at its lowest level since 1960.
The mayor has also gone through one police commissioner after another. His second commissioner pleaded guilty to conspiring to misuse money, and O'Malley fired No. 3 in November after he was involved in a dispute with his fiancee.
OK Laz...post that rumor
This is full blown MSM agitprop on behalf of the Baltimore mayor, O'Malley, whose administration has been horrible. They know the MD4BUSH rumor story is going to backfire (when everyone finds out that the DUmbocRATS were behind the whole thing).
Spare me the details. I've seen the reporterette's photos here and her strange name.
Is the Freeper consensus that they had an affair? Y or N?
Last summer, he told an audience that he was "even more worried" about Bush than terrorists.
He once showed up unannounced at a Baltimore talk radio station and went on the air to respond to criticism from a caller, winding up in a sometimes-bitter exchange with the hosts. He ended by saying: "And gentlemen, if you enjoyed that, come outside after the show, and I'll kick your (expletive)."
Isn't O'Malley the guy who said that Bush's budget was worse than the Al Qeada attacks? If so, I don't think his star will be rising much higher.
Do you think the offer is still open?
The Democrat School of Politics - just be ANTI-Bush.
Well, anyway, death to Osama Bin Laden and his running dog lackeys.
If he's the Donk's future, they better send out for seconds on Earthtone Al.
I know of no DNA tests results that can prove Yea or Nay, so far.
The line about the crime rate is amazing. Wish I knew what the latest murder rate was in Baltimore. Last I paid attention was 19 murders in the first 17 days of January.
This particular piece of propaganda really makes me want to puke.
Har har!!
I have lived in Maryland and I never heard of this POS until just the last couple of days, he sure is making the most out of it though isnt he?
I love neocommunist, left-wing media stories like this! The purpose, of course, is to establish for the record that the Republicans are out to get him. Then, when his sins are no longer rumored but matters of fact (pictures, for example, of him and his current girl friend frolicing au naturale in a public school, pictures that the dem media would never print), the media story will have nothing to do with O'Malley's failures but will deal with the known Republican vendetta to get him. And, you can bet that any story that deals with "Republican vendetta" will also mention Karl Rove and Tom DeLay! Oh, if only we had a clean, honest media!
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