I had been skeptical of this for a long time, but it appears it’s going to happen:
Former Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich has decided to make another run for the governor’s office, an informed source tells ABC 7 News. A spokesman for Ehrlich said he could not confirm or deny our source’s information.
Incumbent governor Martin O’Malley is polling ahead of Ehrlich, but it seems safe to say Ehrlich is the only Republican who could make this a competitive race. A Clarus poll from November showed the Democratic governor in some trouble. O’Malley has been a classic, tax-hiking Democratic governor, running a deep-blue state; yet somehow, voters have noticed that one-party rule has yet to bring about paradise.
UPDATE: Not long ago, there was a bit of public controversy about Governor O’Malley visiting troops in Iraq while the state legislature was in session. Ehrlich offered a mild criticism: “Everybody has their own style,” Ehrlich said Saturday on his weekly WBAL show. “I just think governors belong in state capitals in session. That is all.”
I’m not sure I agree, but Maryland Democrats responded to his comment with their traditional good sense and clear-eyed assessment of what our troops on the battlefield really yearn for: “It is a hazardous environment. It can become tedious. It can be monotonous. A lot of anxiety. A lot of uncertainty,” said Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, an Iraq War veteran. “Even for soldiers who are not Marylanders, I bet a lot of them are saying, ‘I wish my governor was coming. Where is my governor?’”
Er, sure, Mr. Lieutenant Governor.