On page A3 of today's Washington Post, staffer Reid Wilson relayed the story of how "Voter discontent opens up more governor's races" in a reliably Obama-friendly corridor of the continental United States. "GOP offers surprising challenges in Northeast," notes the subheader for the story.
Of course Wilson waited until halfway through his 19-paragraph story to relay the discontent of Maryland voters, even though the gubernatorial race is occurring in the Post's backyard. Here's the relevant excerpt:
Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown (D) suffers from both an unpopular legislature and the legacy of an unpopular governor he’s trying to succeed. Brown is running to replace Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), whose approval rating has fallen from 54 percent in February to just 41 percent today, according to a Washington Post poll released this week.
A series of recent tax increases has given Hogan an opening: A plurality of Maryland voters say they support repealing recent tax hikes, and more voters trust Hogan, 47 percent, than Brown, 36 percent, to do a better job handling taxes. Thirty percent of voters named taxes as the most important issue they were considering when they evaluated gubernatorial candidates this year, higher than any other issue.
The Washington Post poll showed Brown running ahead of businessman Larry Hogan (R) by a 47 percent to 38 percent margin among likely voters, five points closer than his 13-point advantage among those same voters in a June survey. Hogan’s level of support is five points higher than the percentage of voters who view him favorably, suggesting at least some voters will cast a ballot for him before they even know where he stands.
“People in Maryland, including some Democrats, are bemoaning an uninspired, run-the-clock-out campaign by Brown, who has every structural advantage and needs only to not make any mistakes to win,” said Thomas Schaller, a political scientist at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. “I think voters want to hear more from him than ‘third O’Malley term.’”
Brown’s team says their candidate isn’t taking his lead for granted. “We’re very pleased with the direction the race is taking, and we’re encouraged by the polling numbers released by The Washington Post,” said Justin Shall, Brown’s campaign manager. Nonetheless, the Democratic Governors Association is spending millions on negative advertisements attacking Hogan, something a party committee doesn’t typically do for shoo-in candidates.
Of course, this story ran the same day the Post editorial board gave a less-than-enthusiastic endorsement for Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, the Democratic nominee to replace outgoing, term-limited (and unpopular) Gov. Martin O'Malley.
As we have noted repeatedly, the Post's modus operandi in the 2014 gubernatorial race has been to downplay and bury liabilities facing Democrats in Maryland generally and Mr. Brown as their nominee specifically. What's more, on at least one occasion, it has done Democrats a solid by hyping that party's "war on women"-style attack on Hogan.
Despite this assist from the Washington Post, it appears Mr. Brown is struggling to close the deal, although barring a miracle, it's quite likely the liberal Democrat will emerge victorious on election night. What is certain, however, is that the Post is not seeking to hold him to account for the failings and shortcomings of the 8-year-old O'Malley/Brown administration, even as polls show that voters place the blame for the state's woes on the incumbents.
