O'Malley was a great governor. However, Republicans will paint him as a tax and spend liberal, and that is true. Even though Maryland has done well in general, even many so-called liberal Democrats here are a little impatient with O'Malley in several respects:
1. The schools: The schools are still good in Maryland overall, but they are not great, compared to Virginia. The schools in Virginia are slowly becoming better than Maryland, when Maryland held that record--specifically, Montgomery County where I live. The taxes here are very high. The schools are very competitive. The public services are great. I love living here. However, affordable housing is scarce. It's harder to find quality jobs. Some industries are leaving, going to VA where taxes are lower and there are more housing options. Land is more plentiful to build. Builders have more leeway and aren't constrained. Because taxes are lower, schools are becoming better in Fairfax County, VA and other places. Montgomery County is becoming less competitive. That has hurt O'Malley and Democrats in some respects.
2. ACA/Obamacare implementation: O'Malley/Brown administration botched the implementation of Obamacare in the state. It was one of the reasons why Brown lost. Brown was put directly in charge of the administration of the program and failed miserably. There's no excuse for this, quite frankly. The state Republicans pounced on this failure, and there's still problems.
3. Crime: Brown hails from Prince George's County. O'Malley hails from Baltimore City. Both areas are plagued with crime, low performing schools, substandard public services--and yet, taxes are still high. Republicans have used this to pounce on the two men. Hogan exploited the issue, in part, to win this past election. Voter turnout in both areas was abysmal.
4. Charisma: O'Malley was great on the t.v. talk shows. He lacks charisma when it comes to the worldwide stage. His presentation before the DNC wasn't great. And though he was the head of the Democratic Governor's Association, he doesn't have any other nationwide prominence. He's done great things for Maryland, but that's about it. He'll be tainted by Republicans, like I said, as a tax and spend liberal, and there's very little he can do to combat those charges. While I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with that, the fact that Maryland has declined somewhat in terms of a competitive edge might make him look bad--not to mention the loss to Hogan.
I think Schweitzer, even with his recent gaffes, may be better.
Mark Warner isn't charismatic, but he could be considered a safer bet. He's noncontroversial.
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