Good afternoon, LoM readers.
Here's the extended version of my story today on why Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley was unable to successfully transfer the political strategy former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner used to raise taxes and his poll numbers.
Some choice quotes from the players involved:
Former Warner spokeswoman Ellen Qualls, on the intensive communications and political strategy that ultimately propelled the former Virginia governor onto the national stage:
"It was an unrelenting, eye-on-the-ball communications effort, all four years, to make sure an overall tax increase wasn't a bad thing, but that Virginians saw it was getting the government they deserved without having that big a hit on their pocketbooks."
Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Southern Maryland Democrat, on O'Malley's choice not to make severe budget cuts:
"It would have helped him politically to do that, that's what Mark Warner was able build momentum in Virginia with. The governor didn't want to do that. He'd been through pain in Baltimore City — he didn't want pain spread around the state — he just wanted people to keep the state moving forward. He was willing to sacrifice his political capital to make progress occur."
Here are the original slideshows the two governors used in their respective tax tours: the Warner plan and the O'Malley plan. Adobe Acrobat required for both.
