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Schaefer hedging on O’Malley

Comptroller will support the Democratic nominee but says he didn’t find him to be a ‘good mayor’

Friday, Aug. 4, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Dan Gross⁄The Gazette William Donald Schaefer at a meeting with The Gazette this week. The comptroller talked about his primary race, the gubernatorial race and the controversies that have dogged him recently: ‘‘I’ve been calling people little girls since God created the Earth. I’m not going to stop. Anyone who takes that as an insult is a jerk.”

Schaefer said Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is as ‘‘honest as the day is long,” emphasizing their strong working relationship. But O’Malley, he said, has not been ‘‘a good mayor.”

Schaefer told The Gazette editorial board that he and Gene Raynor, one of Schaefer’s strongest allies and a Baltimore insider, worked to get O’Malley elected in 1999. But, he said, after the election O’Malley turned his back on them, which has led to their strained relations over the years.

‘‘Two of the strongest supporters for O’Malley was a man by the name of Schaefer and Gene Raynor,” Schaefer said. ‘‘We worked hard for this guy. I was a strong supporter. When the campaign was over, I didn’t find him to be a good mayor.”

‘‘Governor Schaefer has been in public life since the Eisenhower administration, and has certainly earned the right to his opinion,” said Hari Sevugan, an O’Malley campaign spokesman. ‘‘We respectfully disagree and think the facts show a renaissance in Baltimore.”

O’Malley has refused to criticize Schaefer directly, telling the editorial board last month that Schaefer did a lot for the city of Baltimore.

Despite hard feelings toward O’Malley, Schaefer said he is loyal to the Democratic Party and will support its nominee for governor.

‘‘I’m not supporting him. I’m supporting the Democratic candidate,” he said after being pressed. ‘‘I support the Democratic candidate because I’m a Democrat.”

O’Malley has had no opposition in the Democratic primary since Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan withdrew from the race in June. Schaefer had backed Duncan.

Schaefer said he is not a ‘‘stooge” for Ehrlich, but it was too early to endorse O’Malley. ‘‘We’re not close enough to the election,” he said.

‘My brain is still good’

One of Schaefer’s challengers in the Democratic primary, Del. Peter V.R. Franchot, seized on the comptroller’s arm-length relationship with the Democratic Party. Franchot, who is polling behind Schaefer and Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens (D) in the race, has been running for months using the theme that Schaefer is not a good Democrat.

Franchot (Dist. 20) of Takoma Park has been touting his endorsements from traditional Democratic activist groups and politicians while blasting Schaefer, who has Ehrlich’s backing.

‘‘Other than Bob Ehrlich, who has endorsed Don Schaefer?” Franchot said. He has also questioned Schaefer’s mental fitness for the job and bought ads in ethnic newspapers ripping Schaefer on minority affairs.

Schaefer said repeatedly Monday that while his age has taken a toll on him physically, his ‘‘mind is clear,” and as long as that is the case, he intends to work, preferably as the state’s comptroller.

‘‘My body isn’t as strong as it was, but my brain is still good,” he said. ‘‘If I didn’t think I could contribute, I wouldn’t run.”

Schaefer is known as a Democratic Party maverick with a history of moonlighting with Republicans. In 1992, he endorsed George H.W. Bush over Bill Clinton for president. In 2004, he accused the Maryland Democratic Party of not inviting him to attend the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

It’s unclear whether Schaefer’s decision to distance himself from O’Malley will have any impact on his re-election. Owens and Franchot both support O’Malley.

Whither the campaign?

A recent poll by The (Baltimore) Sun showed Schaefer leading Owens 31 percent to 22 percent, with Franchot polling at 11 percent. Thirty-six percent of the voters were undecided, which was viewed as a blow to Schaefer because he has near-universal name recognition built over his 50 years in public life.

The poll also showed that 38 percent of voters disapproved of Schaefer because of his ‘‘unacceptable behavior towards women and minorities” while 21 percent said he is too old and only 6 percent said that he was not a good Democrat.

Schaefer’s poll numbers are coupled with the concern among some allies that his campaign is not up and running with a little more than a month left before the primary. Some Schaefer supporters said the campaign is low on fund-raising, a fact that Schaefer acknowledged Monday. A fund-raiser is set for later this month.

Schaefer, 84, has landed in hot water in recent months after he ogled an Ehrlich aide when she brought him a cup of tea and refusing for days to apologize; offending Korean Americans for failing to differentiate between North Korea’s missile testing and South Korea; and referring to women as ‘‘little girls.”

Schaefer said Monday that he has long been a supporter of the Korean community and that the controversy was a setup by his political enemies. He also blamed the controversies on unfair media coverage.

As for the ‘‘little girl” comments that drew controversy, Schaefer said women in the comptroller’s office and other supporters held a counter-protest.

‘‘I’ve been calling people little girls since God created the Earth. I’m not going to stop,” he said. ‘‘Anyone who takes that as an insult is a jerk.”

Owens said Schaefer ‘‘doesn’t comprehend that the times have changed and that what may have been OK to say 30 years ago is not OK today.”