Are the Gloves Off Already?

Last night's bizarre Baltimore City Council meeting involving Councilman Kraft and State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy makes one wonder how nasty the Democratic Primary for Governor truly is going to get.

Last night's meeting, from watching the proceedings on the news, looked very much like a set-up to get at Jessamy. One wonders how high in the city administration, or how high in the O'Malley campaign, this idea came from. It is no secret that O'Malley and Jessamy do not get along. It is also no secret that both the O'Malley's crime-fighting tactics and Jessamy's prosecutorial decision making are highly suspect. Given Jessamy's endorsement of Doug Duncan, it is no surprise that the O'Malley camp might take the gloves off this soon. And Jessamy formally calling for an audit today was no surprise either.

Frankly, it looks like a desperate attempt from the O'Malley camp to make it seem like the crime rate is all Jessamy's fault. Sure, some of it can be attributed to her lackadaisical prosecution of certain crimes. However, the Office of the State's Attorney has nothing to do with the underreporting of crimes, and that is where O'Malley's administration is weakest at the moment. Trying to change the subject is good politics, but it is just another petty action taken by a campaign that has been full of petty actions.

Unfortunately for the Mayor, the question remains the same: What does Martin O'Malley have to hide?