Growing up is hard to do. 

Earlier this year, Mayor Martin O’Malley announced with great fanfare that he needed to focus his “creative energies” on his day job – serving the people of Baltimore.  This revelation, made nearly six years after taking over as head of the State’s most troubled jurisdiction represented a milestone in Mr. O’Malley’s political and professional maturity.  Or so we thought.

On Friday, September 16^th, O’Malley took to the stage with the band the Baltimore Sun has dubbed Machiavelli’s March, strumming the night away as his crime-plagued city lost another life to violence.  Just hours before the Mayor would take time from the pressing business of running Baltimore, a 56-year-old man was beaten to death with a cane, the City’s 195^th homicide this year. 

When the Mayor steps on stage again tonight, two days before announcing for the most important job in Maryland, the cycle of violence will continue to spiral out of control.  Most people struggle just to do their day job and find time to spend with their family.  Now Mayor Martin O’Malley wants a promotion to a job with even greater responsibility, yet he just can't seem to give up the band gig.

Maryland is at a crossroads.  Ours is a State with so much going for it – a highly motivated workforce, top-rated colleges and universities and extraordinary natural resources.  However, the decisions we make today will determine whether we move Maryland forward, or turn backwards in time.

It’s time to think bigger. 

By Authority, Friends of Doug Duncan, Robin A. Clark, Treasurer