Gov. Martin O'Malley speaks at a press conference. — The Baltimore Sun
In today’s morning roundup, we mentioned a new poll showing Gov. Martin O’Malley’s approval rating at 48 percent. A casual observer might see this and assume O’Malley is vulnerable in 2010 gubernatorial race. But yet, even against two of his strongest potential challengers — former Gov. Robert Ehrlich and former Lt. Gov. (and current Republican National Committee Chairman) Michael Steele — O’Malley leads by more than 10 percentage points.
So what gives? A minority approves of O’Malley’s importance, but a plurality still thinks he should be re-elected. This looks good for O’Malley. There are a few reasons for this: