Political analysts say voters should expect positive “spin” from state agencies during a governor’s re-election campaign, after a Maryland jobs agency was caught removing negative language from its monthly economic analysis.
“One of the advantages of the incumbency is, in part, controlling the message of the administration you appoint,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “The disadvantage is voters may hold you accountable for their mistakes.”
The Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation — whose secretary is appointed by the governor — mistakenly posted the draft of a July jobs report that characterized Maryland’s economy as “stalled.” Top agency officials had ordered that positive job gains be emphasized in the final report, according to agency spokesman Bernie Kohn. After the draft appeared online, officials hurried to remove any negative wording, a string of e-mails among agency employees shows.
No numbers were changed in the revised version.
“There’s nothing inappropriate with a state agency interpreting a set of numbers that is consistent with policy as long as they are intellectually honest about it,” said Jerry Pasternak, senior political and policy adviser to former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan.
Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is running for re-election against Republican Bob Ehrlich, says he was not aware the draft — available on the DLLR Web site for five hours in August — had been pulled until after it was removed.
But that doesn’t relieve the governor of responsibility for the agency’s fumble, analysts said.
“By definition a governor is responsible for everything that happens in his administration,” Sabato said.
And agencies feel equally responsible for the governor, said Matthew Crenson, professor emeritus of political science at Johns Hopkins University.
O’Malley, like any Maryland governor, is legally barred from mobilizing state employees to campaign for him.
“But his agencies are headed by political appointees,” Crenson said, “and you can’t tell them they can’t be concerned about the reputation of the governor — who, after all, gave them their jobs.”
The sensitive relationship between governors and their agencies is rarely challenged, said Robert Hahn, the O’Malley-appointed chairman of the Maryland State Ethics Commission. “The way our system of government works, the administration is there to carry out the policies of the governor,” Hahn said. “Could there be abuse? Sure. But that would have to be investigated on a case-by-case basis.”
Republican leaders in the state legislature are pushing for an inquiry into DLLR’s revisions.
Sabato said it’s unlikely the agency will be persecuted.
“On the list of political sins, I’d put this way down on the list,” Sabato said. “Manufacturing data — that’s lying. This is spin. Spin is a permanent part of politics.”
