Dougy in Marty's Sandbox

When Montogomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan questioned the proposal to
build a multi-million dollar convention center hotel with
public financing in Baltimore, Baltimore politicians
pounced:

"I find it offensive that County Executive Duncan is coming
up here and popping off about something he doesn't know
about," Councilman Robert W. Curran said. "The Baltimore
City Council is reviewing this, not the Montgomery County
Council."

"On a day when you would expect that most local executives
are concerned about protecting our cities and counties,
especially so close to the nation's capital," O'Malley
campaign manager Jonathan Epstein said, alluding to the
bombings in London, "it's surprising that Doug Duncan is up
in Baltimore meddling in issues he knows nothing about and
distorting the mayor's position on slots."

They aren't offended by Duncan's carpetbagging. They are
offended because Duncan is Mayor O'Malley's greatest
challenge to the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial nomination,
and the hotel issue is one that could hurt our mayor in the
primary. Tens of community and church leaders in the
alliance BUILD have demanded "that if Baltimore leaders
support a $305 million revenue bond for the downtown hotel,
they should devote equal resources to wiping out blight from
depressed neighborhoods."

So, to those who are expressing their dismay that a state-
wide candidate would visit a part of the state to discuss a
local issue: Cut the bullshit. O'Malley is going to win
thousands of more votes in the city than Duncan; if the MoCo
exec takes a position contrary to that of the mayor's,
that's not carpet bagging - that's smart politics. Any
extra city votes he peel from the mayor are going to pay off
in the long run. So stop attacking Duncan for speaking
about a Baltimore issue and just attack him for the position
itself.

From The League: Reassembled