Debate No Longer in Debate

By John Wagner and Ann E. Marimow
Thursday, October 5, 2006

After much posturing by their respective camps, Maryland’s two leading gubernatorial candidates agreed yesterday to participate in a debate held by a Baltimore television station. But viewers won’t get to see it until a couple of days after it happens.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) and Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley (D) are scheduled to tape the debate Oct. 14, said Jay Newman , vice president and general manager of WJZ TV, the CBS affiliate in Baltimore. He said the debate would probably air Oct. 16.

Numerous details remain to be worked out, including whether reporters will be allowed to cover the event live and whether viewers in other parts of the state will have an opportunity to watch it.

The agreement was announced yesterday afternoon after the campaigns accused each other of ducking debates. Hours earlier, O’Malley told reporters in Baltimore that “the governor is afraid to do a televised debate, so he continues to run away.”

For weeks, Ehrlich’s team has held firm in its desire to finish debates by mid-October so the governor can spend the final weeks of the race interacting with voters.

As of yesterday morning, aides said the governor was willing to join in two live televised debates next week, before his imposed deadline. O’Malley aides said the mayor’s schedule would not permit that, but he was eager to participate in debates until the election Nov. 7, including one held by the NAACP.

“We’re looking forward to getting on with it, to debating the issues and not debating debates,” O’Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said yesterday, adding that the mayor would have preferred the WJZ debate be broadcast live.

Ehrlich spokeswoman Shareese DeLeaver said her side was happy to have one debate scheduled and declined to speak about the prospect for others.

Ehrlich and O’Malley have shared a stage twice, in untelevised forums with limited opportunity for direct interaction.

Ehrlich’s running mate, Kristen Cox , meanwhile, experienced an awkward moment yesterday in a forum before the AARP in Cambridge, when she seemed to suggest that the gas tax had been raised under Ehrlich. It has not. Prince George’s County Del. Anthony G. Brown (D), O’Malley’s running mate, had just finished ticking off tax and fee increases under Ehrlich when Cox took her turn to speak.

She noted that Ehrlich inherited a large backlog of transportation projects and said: “There had been no inflationary adjustment to the gas tax for years. That was one thing. . . . It was a painful decision to make, but we had to make some difficult decisions.”

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