As he delivers the State of the State address
Thursday, Gov. Martin O'Malley reaches the midpoint of his term. On the morning
the General Assembly opened its 2009 legislative session, I sat down with him
in Annapolis to
take stock of the state of his governorship at the two-year mark.
As he munched a bacon-and-egg-on-rye sandwich in the specially designated
governor's booth at Chick and Ruth's Delly on Main Street, I asked him to rate his
performance. He rattled off various policies, assigning mostly A's
and B's on everything from public safety to energy
conservation. "There's a lot of second semester work to be done," he
acknowledged.
Then, in a very self-effacing moment, Mr. O'Malley issued himself a C-minus as a "communicator." But more on that in a
moment.
Earlier that morning, the governor conducted a radio interview with WEAA-FM's
Marc Steiner and a press conference during which he provided the gory budgetary
details now familiar to most political observers: a $1.9 billion deficit,
belt-tightening all around, hundreds of state employee layoffs and furloughs
for thousands more.
Surely Mr. O'Malley hoped the December 2007 special session he called would be
the biggest hurdle of his term. After approving new taxes, his approval numbers
dropped, then rose again after he shepherded passage of slots legislation.
But the 2008 economic downturn delivered another set of fiscal problems. Like
his 49 fellow state chief executives, Mr. O'Malley finds himself in a thorny
position.
On one hand, the governor is forced to bring bad news while offering
encouragement to beleaguered county and local officials struggling with their
own budgets. At a meeting with members of the Maryland Association of Counties
the week before the legislative session began, the former Baltimore
mayor warned local leaders to expect decreased aid from Annapolis. "I think I'm a much
better-informed governor on [many] issues because of my experience as
mayor," he told me.
On the other hand, he looks for hope while bracing for disappointment as the
federal government doles out the billions of dollars in spending the Bush and
Obama administrations have appropriated or will appropriate. Mr. O'Malley said
he was cheered by Barack Obama's presidential win, and will task state agencies
to develop lists of "shovel ready" public works projects so his
office can assess and prioritize them for funding worthiness.
"What gives me renewed optimism about how Maryland will come through this
recession is the meetings I've had with fellow governors from really hard-hit
states, and it's clear we're in a much stronger position than the vast majority
of states," he said, when asked if Maryland's well-educated, highly
unionized and federal-heavy work force will serve as a buffer during hard
times. Despite the fiscal situation, Mr. O'Malley seems determined to head into
his re-election campaign boasting that he invested $1 billion toward school
infrastructure and refused to increase college tuition rates.
He will need such talking points. In the 1998 cycle, as the tech boom swelled
state coffers, only two incumbent governors seeking re-election lost. The 2010
cycle, by contrast, could be an electoral bloodbath across the country. Few
voters like swallowing economic castor oil, but that is what governors - most
of whom are constitutionally bound to balance their budgets - will be
administering in the next two years.
I asked Mr. O'Malley how strong his Republican challenger next year might be.
He wouldn't discuss any names raised - from former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
and former Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele to state Sens. Allan H. Kittleman and E.J. Pipkin - saying only that his
campaign would prepare based on the assumption of a tough challenge. (He also
declined to comment on whether he thought the potential selection this Saturday
of Mr. Steele as Republican National Committee chairman would be good for the
state or the Republican Party generally.)
Masked as it is by his public image as the sleeveless, grinning Celtic rock
band frontman, wonkiness is Mr. O'Malley's most overlooked trait. He spews
policy details and figures like an auctioneer.
Ironically, he feels he could be communicating better to the public the
decisions of his administration and their meaning.
"It's much harder to communicate as governor than as mayor," he said,
explaining the poor grade he assigned himself. "It's not because the hours
are fewer or because we're working less. It's a much more diverse, diffuse
audience."
You can bet that audience will be listening carefully during the crucial two years
ahead.
