Reporters Noteboook: Maybe he’ll come up with a special session theme song

Martin O’Malley is trying to do a lot of consensus building these days — even with us ink-stained wretches.

‘‘Mark Plotkin, my favorite radio talk show host ...”

‘‘Governor, um ...”

‘‘With an office near Wisconsin Avenue ...”

‘‘Governor, um ...”

‘‘Except for [WAMU radio host] Kojo Nnamdi.”

Plotkin asked about GOP support for slots. ‘‘Are they now on board with you?”

‘‘We will have disagreements,” O’Malley replied. ‘‘That does not mean we cannot have some consensus on other aspects.”

Plotkin pressed: ‘‘If slots are not part of the package that you actually pass or decide to pass in special session, will you then come out for a referendum and when would the referendum be?”

‘‘Yeah, stay tuned. We’ll have other things on how we’ll resolve the slots issue and put it behind us,” O’Malley said. ‘‘And I don’t mean to put you off, but I’m putting you off.”

At the end of the news conference, O’Malley extended this olive branch. ‘‘I really appreciate all the members of the media, your patience in allowing us to roll out the components of this one at a time and hanging in there and expecting the best from all of our representatives of both parties,” he said.

O’Malley is getting his last vacation in before the session. On Wednesday, he flew off to Ireland to speak to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce — which is reportedly footing the bill — and to attend a dinner honoring Robert Gallo, director of the Institute of Human Virology and Division of Basic Science at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute.

Not that he’s putting us off, but he crossed a bloody ocean.

— Sean R. Sedam

Gone and forgotten

Two months after leaving the legislature, it’s like P.J. Hogan was never here.

During a forum with college students and faculty at UMBC Wednesday, O’Malley referred to the higher education panel that Hogan helped create and used to chair as the ‘‘Bohanan commission” after its new head, John Bohanan.

Quipped Hogan, who was in the audience: ‘‘It’s the commission du jour.”

— Alan Brody

Zippity Doo Dah, indeed!

Mike Busch isn’t wild about a special session, but he still had an extra pep in his step early this week, thanks to his alma mater’s recent gridiron performance.

His Temple Owls, who have long been a doormat in the college football world, won their second straight game last week at Akron (the Zips — a name that may be a self-fulfilling prophecy), causing Busch to get nostalgic.

The former tailback popped into the press pit on Tuesday reliving the crowning moment of his collegiate career, which came against Akron in 1967.

An archived copy of that year’s Nov. 20 Gettysburg Times confirmed Busch’s account.

‘‘Temple sophomore Mike Busch scampered 84 yards with a kickoff then caught a two-point conversion pass with about two minutes left in the game to give the Owls a 22-21 win over Akron ...”

We also found an Associated Press recap that erroneously credited the winning score to Frank Busch?

Yeah, we like Mike better, too.

— Alan Brody

Conspiracy bump

Maybe all the talk about O’Malley having national aspirations is a tad premature.

The guv raised about 500 large last week at an M&T Bank Stadium reception, aides told us. Donation levels ranged from $500 to $4,000.

Just to clear any suspicions, the cash goes to his state account, which had about $175,000 at last report.

— Alan Brody

New guy in town

Downtown Annapolis eateries may be a little emptier than usual during the special session.

That’s because Morton’s The Steakhouse opened last week just in time to become the capital’s power lunch hot spot for wining and dining.

Located in the Westin Annapolis at the new Park Place development, you’ll need walking shoes if you’re coming from the State House. The steakhouse seats 150 and has two private rooms that can accommodate 75, or in Annapolis-speak, three House committees or the entire Senate.

— Alan Brody

The soul of wit?

Pat McDonough has his ‘‘NUT” campaign — that’s ‘‘No Unnecessary Taxes.” His dancing partner across the hall is E.J. Pipkin, who last week unveiled a new Web site to protest O’Malley’s deficit plan.

StopMarylandTaxHikes.com is essentially a repository for all anti-tax news, from the daily newspaper headlines and a survey on raising taxes during a special session to contact information for key policymakers.

There’s even a page called ‘‘The Pipkin Press,” which doesn’t impress us. It boasts a mere 38 words. Our editor likes that part.

— Alan Brody

Lining up

Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign officially named its Maryland leaders last week.

As expected, it’s David Brinkley and Tony O’Donnell. Their endorsement puts them at odds with Bob Ehrlich, who’s stumping for Rudy Giuliani.

Also, Baltimore County GOP Chairman Chris Carvey will be Thompson’s state coordinator.

The trio’s ‘‘combined experience and knowledge of Maryland-specific issues are a great foundation for our growing Maryland operation,” Randy Enwright, Thompson’s national political director, said in a statement.

Not wanting to be left out, Mitt Romney’s campaign announced that Louis Pope and Joyce Lyons Terhes will co-chair its Maryland operation. Pope is the state party’s national committeeman; Terhes, a former chairwoman of the state GOP, is the national committeewoman.

‘‘I am pleased to have two such talented, dedicated Republicans working to make sure voters in Maryland know I am the candidate who can bring conservative change to Washington,” Romney said in a statement.

— Alan Brody

Piling it up

Hillary Clinton raised nearly twice as much money in Maryland as her nearest competitor during the third quarter.

Marylanders contributed more than $966,000 to Clinton’s kitty between July and September, according to campaign finance filings posted this week.

Barack Obama collected almost $500,000, the second-highest total in Maryland. John Edwards amassed nearly $80,000 and Bill Richardson eclipsed $71,000.

Thompson led the way among the GOP, raising about $160,000. He was followed by John McCain ($122,000), Giuliani ($118,000) and Romney ($105,000).

— Alan Brody

Erin go bleah!

They may have a shared heritage, but Tony O’Donnell isn’t so fond of the guv’s decision to go to Ireland after calling the special session.

‘‘I’m hopeful that he’ll receive some schooling on basic economics,” the GOP leader said wryly.

Isn't heritage thicker than political party? asked fellow Irishwoman Susan O'Brien, an Annapolis media consultant. "I just would have hoped there was a little more love for the home country."

— Alan Brody

Incoming!

Republicans have griped that they haven’t had a seat at O’Malley’s table in deficit discussions. And it’s unlikely to improve with comments like these.

Asked on Tuesday if there had been any further talks between O’Malley and the GOP leaders, Allan Kittleman, who said a few weeks back that one of the two times he heard from the guv was when his stepmother was about to be canned, offered the following quip: ‘‘I don’t have any more relatives left to fire.”

— Alan Brody

And the bashing continues

What does the special session have in common with ‘‘Seinfeld”?

‘‘I think we can look at Oct. 29 as the beginning of ‘Tax Festivus,’” Kittleman said.

And Dick Sossi offered another comparison of O’Malley’s statewide tour to outline his deficit-busting plan: ‘‘It’s sort of like Paul Revere running around the state saying, ‘The British are coming, the British are coming!’”

— Alan Brody

Wipeout!

It has been said Mike Miller will break legs to get votes, but we always thought that was just an expression.

Then, Rona Kramer hobbled into a recent Senate Budget and Taxation Committee meeting on crutches.

‘‘I broke my foot,” Kramer explained, by slipping on some wet ceramic tile.

Two blessings: First, it was her non-pedal foot. ‘‘I can still drive,” she said. Second, it happened after she dressed for services on Yom Kippur.

When she arrived at Montgomery General Hospital in Olney she saw some familiar business acquaintances. ‘‘Good thing I was dressed well,” said the routinely soignee Kramer.

‘‘I’m getting the hang of the crutches,” she said, adding, ‘‘Just when I get cocky, watch me, I’ll wipe out in front of a big group.”

— Sean R. Sedam

In the Navy?

Miller had rowing on his mind during a meeting with reporters before Monday’s special session announcement.

Which seems appropriate given that O’Malley apparently has a lot of upstream paddling to do to get his budget proposal passed. (Or maybe you were thinking of the saying about being up the creek without a paddle.)

‘‘Again, this is a crisis situation,” Miller said of the deficit. ‘‘Everybody’s got to pull an oar here, the House, the Senate, the governor to make this boat go forward. And I intend to do my part.”

He adjourned the interview with his trademark ‘‘OK?” only to get a return volley from a veteran television news cameraman.

‘‘Thanks, captain,” the cameraman said.

— Sean R. Sedam

Trip crisis

As O’Malley was being chided about traveling to Ireland in the midst of a budget crisis, MoCo Exec Ike Leggett put the kibosh on international trips until next year.

Leggett was expected to go to India later this year, but says the special session has changed those plans.

— Janel Davis

Adding it up

Seems we need computers for everything these days.

Educators lament the lack of basic math skills because kids are so used to using the machines for the simplest calculations. Watchdog groups lament the technology behind voting machines.

Now comes a way to tally that combines the fun of a calculator with the democratic process.

VAJoe.com, a Web site devoted to ‘‘all things military” has an online application that matches voters with the presidential candidates who best match their stances on issues.

The ‘‘Candidate Calculator” can be found at www.vajoe.com⁄candidate_calculator.html.

Only 13 percent of the calculator’s users said they are supporting the candidate that best matched their stances, according to a news release from the Web site.

As of Wednesday evening, the top candidate was Mike Gravel, followed by Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Dennis Kucinich and Joe Biden.

Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner in most polls, was ninth, just ahead Barack Obama.

Fred Thompson, who is running behind Giuliani in most Republican candidate polls, is 14th.

Abortion, Iraq, free trade, embryonic stem cell research and same-sex civil unions, were the top issues for the calculator’s users.

— Sean R. Sedam