BALTIMORE – Former President Clinton implored a few thousand Marylanders on Thursday to avoid the apathy expected with November’s midterm election or risk undoing many of the economic and educational gains he says have been achieved by Gov. Martin O’Malley.
“Why would anybody even think about making a change?” he asked the crowd during an O’Malley rally at Baltimore’s Federal Hill Park, overlooking the downtown skyline and Inner Harbor. “Never mind who the competition is.”
Clinton focused on the 33,000 new jobs created in Maryland this year, the most since his last year in office, and O’Malley’s decision to freeze college tuition while the cost of secondary education skyrocketed nationwide.
“If ever there were a tale of two governors, this is it,” he said, referring to former Gov. Bob Ehrlich. “If there’s one thing that makes me want to gag, it is when the other party presents themselves as fiscal conservatives.”
Republicans, including Ehrlich, are hoping to ride a message of runaway spending — and voter frustration — into electoral gains similar to those experienced during the midterm of Clinton’s first stint in office.
Seemingly every Democratic officeholder in Maryland preceded the 42nd president. Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” blared from the speakers, reminding audience members of Clinton’s theme song when he won the presidency in 1992.
Clinton was the latest round of star power O’Malley has rolled out. President Obama joined the governor at an event in Bowie earlier this month, and Vice President Biden attended a fundraiser for the governor in Chevy Chase earlier Thursday.
Republicans weren’t especially impressed.
Audrey Scott, chairwoman of the Maryland Republican Party, labeled Clinton’s speech as a recurring way for O’Malley to “use other politicians as a crutch to cover his own failed record.”
A few protesters held up signs chastising the governor for not cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay rapidly enough. Another sign read, “Don’t blame me. I voted for Hillary.”
Jessica Damen, of Baltimore, said O’Malley likely will prevail but that Democrats are in trouble if they can’t hold on to a state as progressive as Maryland.
“Hopefully, they aren’t doing this out of necessity,” she said of Clinton’s trek to Baltimore. “I’m glad they are here, but it would be embarrassing if voters stayed home and [Ehrlich] pulled the upset.”
But Damascus’ Jim Davis, a self-described Ehrlich voter attending the event, was impressed with the former president.
“He hasn’t lost it,” he raved of Clinton. “He can still give one hell of a speech. If I didn’t know any better, I would almost be tricked into voting for O’Malley.”
